Nyck de Vries was pleased to “get back into a rhythm” during Formula E pre-season testing, following his return to the championship for season 10.

It was a massively compromised week for the Dutchman and everyone at Mahindra Racing, as the side were impacted by the battery fire which took place in the WAE (formerly Williams Advanced Engineering) garage during the lunch break on Tuesday.

Mahindra sustained “extensive damage” to their trackside operations and had no choice but to move to a new garage. De Vries’ car was also unable to continue in the test following the blaze. This came as a massive disappointment to the side.

However, the Banbury-based squad have been granted additional private testing time to make up for what they lost by only having one car available.

Prior to the fire which saw no on-track action take place on Tuesday afternoon or on Wednesday, De Vries ended the opening session in last place and two seconds off the leading pace. This was no concern to the Dutchman or the team though, considering that it was his first official test session since departing AlphaTauri in Formula 1.

Due to the damage to his car, De Vries wasn’t able to take part in Thursday afternoon’s session, which was the first to take place since the fire. He did take part in the full 10 hours on Friday, as he drove Edoardo Mortara’s car.

De Vries completed an impressive 112 laps of the Circuit Ricardo Tormo on the final day, whilst his best lap was good enough for P17. Whilst the position might not sound flattering, he was just under half a second behind Nick Cassidy’s leading time.

Given everything that Mahindra went through in Valencia, the amount of running De Vries completed is hugely impressive. He praised the team for doing a “great job” to at least get Mortara’s car repaired following the fire, so that data gathering was possible.

He revealed that despite being reduced to just one car, the Indian manufacturer successfully completed a “very extensive programme”, giving the outfit plenty to look through ahead of the Mexico City season-opener.

“It was great to get a full day of testing under my belt, having done a half-day on Tuesday,” De Vries said.

“Earlier this week, everything was a little bit compromised, so the team did a great job to get out there and run at least one car properly.

“It was good to get back into a rhythm, to get used to Gen3, we went through a very extensive programme, and I felt like we were learning good things and getting more comfortable with the car so it was a positive day.”

Season seven World Champion Nyck de Vries will return to Formula E in 2024, after being confirmed as a Mahindra Racing driver on a multi-year contract, as has Edoardo Mortara.

The Dutchman’s return to the championship was heavily rumoured after he was seen chatting to several teams at the season nine finale in London, with him having clearly found a new home at Mahindra. De Vries left the Formula E paddock at the end of 2022 to complete his move to AlphaTauri in F1, which significantly backfired when he was dropped after just 10 races.

His return to the all-electric series is very much welcomed, given that he is technically the first Formula E World Champion. De Vries secured the season seven (2020/21) title with Mercedes-EQ, a year which saw him win two races and amass 99 points.

In total, the 28-year-old is a four-time Formula E race winner, with him set to embark on his fourth campaign in the series with Mahindra, who are in desperate need of a better year. De Vries will likely feature at the back in the opening rounds, given that the Indian manufacturer were a backmarker side in season nine.

However, Mahindra are very much focused on the future and completing a long journey of recovery, something De Vries is clearly onboard with based on the fact that he’s signed a multi-year contract.

He’s “excited” about the team’s future and is thrilled to be a part of it, with the side’s long-term project being something which De Vries finds “very appealing”.

“It’s really exciting to be joining such a major automotive manufacturer as Mahindra, and to represent them in Formula E,” De Vries said.

“I’m particularly excited about the future plans for the team. The basis is already strong, and the team has all the attributes to succeed. I believe going forwards we will be able to extract even more potential from the project and the organisation, so to be a part of that process was very appealing for me.

“I think it’s no secret that the team has had a bit of a rough start to Gen3, although there were positive signs of improvement during the second half of last season. I believe the team can continue to build on those learnings, and with the additional changes and plans in place for the future, we can make even greater steps forward in performance at the start of our new journey together.

“Coming back to Formula E will feel like coming home. I’ve been part of the Formula E family for three seasons, I know everybody very well. I’m looking forward to being back in a familiar environment, and to be back somewhere where ultimately, I’ve always enjoyed my racing.”

Mortara: ‘We share the same values’

Mortara’s switch from Maserati MSG Racing to Mahindra is one which was recently rumoured, with it now proving to have been an accurate report. The Swiss driver is in many ways replacing Lucas di Grassi, who was very much Mahindra’s experienced head in season nine.

With six seasons in Formula E under his belt, Mortara is one of the most experienced drivers on the grid, meaning that Di Grassi’s departure won’t impact the side too much when it comes to understanding how to extract the most from a package.

More importantly than that, the Swiss driver is no stranger to a project, with him having taken Venturi from the back of the grid to the front of it across his six seasons with the team. Whilst Venturi’s transition into Maserati for 2023 didn’t work to Mortara’s strengths, he’s still massively responsible for so much of what the Monte-Carlo-based team have achieved.

Having someone who’s been on a long journey with a team before will work massively in Mahindra’s favour, especially as the 36-year-old believes that himself and the team “share the same values”.

Interestingly, Mortara has also moved to Mahindra on a multi-year deal, showing that he’s very much prepared to help the team through their current journey of recovery.

“I’m extremely excited to be joining Mahindra Racing. It’s a team that I’ve been looking at for several years now, they have been in Formula E since the beginning of the Championship, so there’s a lot of experience there,” Mortara assessed.

“What I could also feel from the people here is that we share the same values. We have a great project in front of us, but I can see a lot of determination and motivation from everyone in the team, and this is so important.

“Mahindra is also such a big automotive manufacturer, with a worldwide reputation. I’m extremely proud to join and be a representative of this prestigious group. I can’t wait to get started, and I’m sure that, if we put in the necessary amount of work, we will be able to be successful in this very competitive championship in the future.”

Bertrand: New driver line-up making entire team ‘very motivated’

Team Principal and Mahindra CEO Frederic Bertrand is “delighted” with the Indian manufacturer’s completely new driver line-up for Formula E’s centurion campaign, with it in many ways being one of the strongest pairings on the 2024 grid.

Change was clearly needed at Mahindra, given that Oliver Rowland and Di Grassi both left the team due to not sharing the same goals as the Banbury-based squad. In De Vries and Mortara, Mahindra have two talented Formula E race winners who can help the outfit rebuild, something both drivers are looking forward to.

Bertrand admitted that De Vries’ and Mortara’s eagerness to be part of a “long-term project” was a huge selling point, with that journey having the end goal of getting Mahindra “back to the front”.

“I am delighted to welcome Edo and Nyck to the Mahindra Racing family. As a team, we are all embarking on a journey to bring Mahindra Racing back to the front of the grid in the coming years,” said Bertrand.

“With their speed and experience, Nyck and Edo will play a key role in driving the team towards that goal, and I know everybody is feeling very motivated to work with them. Equally important for the team are the drivers’ appetites for a long-term project, which makes them the perfect fit for Mahindra Racing at the beginning of this journey.

“We anticipate next year will be another year of development and progress, and in a championship like Formula E, success is impossible to achieve overnight. But the signing of Nyck and Edo, along with new recruits within the wider team, puts down a solid foundation on which we can build.”

Toyota have declined to comment on speculation surrounding their FIA World Endurance Championship, after reports emerged claiming that former F1 driver is poised to replace Jose Maria Lopez at the team next year.

De Vries lost his Formula 1 drive with AlphaTauri earlier this season after failing to impress the notoriously hardline Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko, who also heads up the Red Bull junior team programme.

However, according to sources close to Autosport and Motorsport.com, De Vries is set to claim a seat within the Toyota Gazoo Racing setup for next year.

He was originally set to race for Toyota this year, after spending 2022 as a reserve driver for the Japanese manufacturer, but declined the option, opting instead for the seat alongside Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri instead.

It is expected that should De Vries take a place within the Toyota WEC outfit, it will be at the expense of Jose Maria Lopez in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid alongside Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway.

Toyota declined to declined to comment on the situation when asked by MotorsportWeek.com, so time will tell if de Vries does indeed drive the GR010 Hybrid next year.

F2 Champion in 2019 and Formula E Champion in 2021, de Vries has also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on four occasions and the wider WEC series in LMP2 machinery, along with appearances in the European Le Mans Series.

His best result at Le Mans came in 2022, when he raced for the Vaillante-sponsored TDS Racing outfit in the LMP2 class. The 28-year-old and his teammate, Mathias Beche abnd countryman Tijmen van der Helm, finished fourth in LMP2 and eighth overall in the 24 hour classic.

He also won the 6 Hours of Fuji in the LMP2 class in 2019, behind the wheel of the Racing Team Nederland Oreca 07-Gibson, finishing fourth overall.

A seat within the #7 Toyota line-up in WEC would be a positive career move for de Vries, with the trio of Kobayashi, Conway and Lopez regularly featuring at the front of the Hypercar field throughout the 2023 season and in years gone by.

The #7 trio currently sit second in the 2023 WEC Drivers’ standings on 118 points, 15 behind teammates Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota.

Conway, Kobayashi and Lopez have so far won this year’s 1000 Miles of Sebring, 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, 6 Hours of Monza and Toyota’s home race, the 6 Hours of Fuji.

Nyck de Vries has revealed that he will take on a course at Harvard after being axed from a Formula 1 drive last month.

Following the British Grand Prix, de Vries was dropped from the AlphaTauri squad and replaced by F1 veteran Daniel Ricciardo.

De Vries was one of three rookies in the F1 field – alongside Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant – but struggled to get up to speed in the backmarker AlphaTauri car.

However, he wasn’t considered an ordinary rookie in sport, given his vast racing experience which includes championship success in Formula 2 and Formula E.

The Dutchman struggled during the opening 10 races with the team and it wasn’t long before questions arose regarding his future.

With his exit confirmed before the Hungarian Grand Prix, the 27-year-old was asked by RacingNews365 if his exit was hard to take, to which he replied: “Actually not.

“I had a lot of support and it actually went very naturally. I’ve been playing a lot of golf since then.”

De Vries has not yet revealed plans to get back behind the wheel, but instead will enter a course at Harvard to take on a new challenge.

“I’ve never studied before in my life, in fact, I didn’t even finish high school,” he said. 

“But in September I’m going to take a course at Harvard. Negotiation and Leadership, a little bit of studying. More because I just like it now that I have some time and the interest to learn other things.”

De Vries is not the first ex-F1 driver to seek an academic experience after departing F1.

Earlier this year, former Williams driver Nicholas Latifi revealed that he is studying for an MBA at the London Business School.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has suggested that Nyck de Vries could’ve been a candidate for a Red Bull Formula 1 seat if he was given more time.

Following his impressive debut with Williams in Italy last year, AlphaTauri signed de Vries for the 2023 campaign.

However, the Dutchman was dropped just 10 races into his rookie F1 season and replaced by veteran Daniel Ricciardo, who is targeting a return to Red Bull.

Prior to his association with AlphaTauri, de Vries was embedded into the Mercedes organisation, winning a World Championship with its Formula E squad in 2021.

He also acted as one of its F1 reserve drivers and had a duo of FP1 outings with the Brackley-based squad last year.

Wolff has suggested that de Vries needed more time to become accustomed to F1, which could’ve provided great opportunities down the road.

“Maybe he needed more time,” Wolff told Sky F1. “If he had been given the season, who knows?

“Maybe he would have been a really good candidate for the Red Bull seat, too?

“They wanted, I think, to do some benchmarking with Ricciardo. To see if Daniel might be able to take [Sergio Perez’s] seat.

“Once you’ve made that decision, then of course [De Vries will] fall through the cracks.

“I’m a fan of [De Vries] because he’s incredibly intelligent for vehicle development and has always contributed a lot.”

A vacancy is set to arise at Red Bull at the end of 2024 when Perez’s contract with the squad expires.

Wolff is not the only person who feels that de Vries was dropped prematurely – his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda admitted he was surprised regarding the timing of the axing.

De Vries has not yet announced his next racing plans, but is set to make an appearance in a Formula 2 car later this month as part of a demo run.

Nyck de Vries will be back behind the wheel of a race car for the first time since his Formula 1 sacking later this month.

De Vries will drive an MP Motorsport Formula 2 car as part of a demo run on August 12-13 at JACK’s Racing Day, in his home country of the Netherlands.

De Vries began the 2023 F1 season with AlphaTauri, competing alongside Yuki Tsunoda after impressing on his debut race with Williams in Monza last year.

However, questions soon arose over de Vries’ future with the Red Bull sister team amid a series of lacklustre performances.

Soon after the British Grand Prix, it was announced that the Dutchman had been replaced by Daniel Ricciardo with immediate effect.

De Vries stated that he would remain inactive on social media to take a break from the racing environment, but will be present at JACK’s Racing Day.

“JACK’s Racing Day is one of the most diverse and accessible racing events in Europe,” said the Formula 2 and Formula E champion. 

“It’s great to see that our sport is so alive in the Netherlands. I look forward to seeing everyone in Assen!”

Hilde van Dam, the event organiser, added: “Our event is known for making the international racing world accessible where we have already welcomed many a top driver to Assen.

“The fact that we managed to secure a top Dutch driver this year is extra special. Like the many tens of thousands of fans, we are looking forward to a wonderful race weekend.”

AlphaTauri Team Principal Franz Tost has opened up on the “emotional decision” behind the side replacing Nyck de Vries with Daniel Ricciardo for the remainder of the 2023 season.

It was confirmed early last week that de Vries’ Formula 1 venture would be ending after only 10 races to make way for the return of Ricciardo to the grid.

The Dutchman had struggled massively in his debut campaign and was one of only two drivers – along with fellow rookie Logan Sargeant – yet to score a point this year.

However, Tost has sympathised with de Vries, citing that the early part of the season is complicated for a new driver amid visits to a multitude of circuits they’ve not encountered in the junior ranks.

“This was also a very emotional decision because we have a really good relationship with Nyck – I just spoke with him on the telephone last week,” Tost said on Friday in Hungary.

“He didn’t have an easy time with us. First of all, as a rookie, the first half of the season is not so easy because they are racing at many racetracks which they don’t know, like Melbourne, Miami, Saudi Arabia. Then they come to Baku where it’s a sprint race, which means it’s only FP1 then it’s already qualifying.”

Tost claims that de Vries was underprepared to deal with the demands of the step up to F1 and believes he required an extensive testing regime like Oscar Piastri to immediately be on the pace.

“Nowadays if a young driver comes to Formula 1, he really has to be prepared in the best possible way, which means for me at least five to six thousand kilometers of private testing with an old car, like Alpine did with Piastri – this is the way to go.”

AlphaTauri has lacked competitiveness throughout the current campaign and presently sits rooted to the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship with only two points to its name.

Although Tost accepts that the lacklustre performance of the team’s AT04 car contributed to de Vries’ troubles, the Austrian chief asserts the ex-Formula 2 champion failed to show significant improvement at circuits he had previous experience at.

“Coming back to Nyck it was difficult for him, also. Our car was not so competitive, and if a car is not so good, it’s even more complicated,” he acknowledged.

“I expected a much better performance in Austria and in Silverstone, because both of these tracks Nyck knew quite well. But the performance didn’t come up and we decided to change him – also thinking to the second half of the season, where he doesn’t know Singapore, Japan, Mexico, Austin and Qatar, which would not have made it quite easy.”

Tost, who will stand down from his role at the end of the year, is hopeful the experience of Ricciardo and more upgrades this weekend can propel AlphaTauri up the order.

“The hopes are that at least one car is in Q3, and the hopes are that these upgrades work as expected, as the aero group calculated in the wind tunnel and CFD. But you know, decisive is always the lap time and I hope we made a step forward with these upgrades.”

2021 Formula E World Champion Nyck de Vries is “of interest” to the Nissan Formula E Team, following the Dutch driver’s axing from AlphaTauri.

It was confirmed last Tuesday by the Faenza-based team that De Vries had been fired just 10 races into his rookie campaign, a sacking which has been described as “brutal” by retired four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

The 28-year-old has been replaced by Red Bull development driver Daniel Ricciardo, who’ll be alongside Yuki Tsunoda for the remainder of the 2023 season, starting at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Whilst De Vries’ F1 career is likely over already following his firing, it appears that he may return to racing sooner rather than later.

It’s been reported by The Race that Nissan are interested in signing the ex-Formula E driver, who left the series for Formula 1 at the end of 2022.

The Japanese manufacturer are considering De Vries for their vacant 2024 seat, with Norman Nato reportedly not being retained by the side.

Team Principal Tommaso Volpe is yet to confirm who Nissan will field next season, but he did admit that the Dutch driver is “of interest”. Talks between De Vries and Nissan are believed to have taken place recently.

Volpe went as far as telling The Race that “everyone in Formula E has probably thought about him [De Vries], from the moment he got available.

“He’s of interest as one of the drivers available for next season. He is interesting as a world champion, but I cannot confirm what we are doing.”

A return to Formula E with Nissan does appear to be De Vries’ best option currently for 2024; however, he’s not the only driver being considered for the seat.

Nissan have supposedly also held talks with Oliver Rowland, who left Mahindra Racing mid-season ahead of the Jakarta E-Prix.

Rowland has previously competed for Nissan in FE, with him having left the side at the end of 2021 to join the Indian manufacturer.

A bonus for De Vries if he does make the switch to Nissan is that the side would be happy for him to compete for fellow Japanese manufacturer Toyota in the World Endurance Championship, something he was originally meant to do this season.

Prior to his AlphaTauri move, De Vries was expected to race for Maserati MSG Racing in FE, alongside an endurance racing programme with Toyota. Whilst he doesn’t have a deal in place currently with Toyota, a move to Nissan in the all-electric series would at least leave the door open to a potential drive in WEC.

Lewis Hamilton says Nyck de Vries’ exit after 10 rounds of the 2023 Formula 1 season reflects “how Red Bull works”.

De Vries was ousted from Red Bull’s sister team, AlphaTauri, amid a difficult rookie campaign.

Daniel Ricciardo has replaced the Dutchman, who returns to the race seat after parting ways with McLaren at the end of 2022.

AlphaTauri (formally Toro Rosso) has traditionally been a landing spot for Red Bull junior drivers to make their F1 debuts.

However, de Vries was handed a 2023 seat following his impressive F1 debut at last year’s Italian Grand Prix, where he substituted for an unwell Alexander Albon at Williams.

But as he failed to match the pace of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull opted to cut ties with the 28-year-old.

When asked if de Vries’ sacking was unfair, Hamilton replied: “Yep. That’s how Red Bull do it. I’d say that’s how Red Bull works.”

De Vries once had a close working relationship with Hamilton and Mercedes, as he was the German manufacturer’s reserve driver during the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

His replacement, Ricciardo, is set to see out the remainder of the current campaign as he targets a return to Red Bull in the future.

Following his departure from the grid last year, Hamilton says he is not surprised to see the Australian back in a race seat.

“Not really [surprised] because he [Ricciardo] has been in every drivers’ briefing this year,” Hamilton said. 

“He’s in the drivers’ briefing but not actually competing. That’s very rare, you don’t often see the reserve driver in the drivers’ briefings.

“But I’m not surprised to see him back. I was definitely surprised to see the decision they took with poor Nyck. 

“He’s such a talented young man and such a nice guy as well, so I think his future is still bright for him and he’ll have lots of great options, I’m sure.”

Yuki Tsunoda believes that Nyck de Vries was prematurely axed from the AlphaTauri Formula 1 team, claiming he deserved until at least the summer break before being assessed.

Last week, the Red Bull sister squad announced that de Vries had left the team with immediate effect amid a challenging opening 10 races in 2023.

The Dutchman has been replaced by F1 veteran Daniel Ricciardo, who returns in a full-time role after departing McLaren at the end of last year.

De Vries was one of three rookies in the field this year, but was under additional scrutiny due to his extensive racing resumé, which includes championship success in Formula 2 and Formula E.

The 28-year-old was consistently out-paced by Tsunoda during their stint together at AlphaTauri.

But when asked if de Vries should have been given more time, Tsunoda replied: “I think so. 

“I think just 10 races, especially most of the… couple of tracks he didn’t know. I think so. 

“But at the same time, I know what Red Bull’s side is saying. But at the same time, yeah, I think he deserved at least until the summer break [at the end of July]. I was thinking at least that way.”

De Vries released a message on social media on Wednesday, speaking out for the first time following his dismissal.

Tsunoda confirmed that he reached out to his former team-mate after the news broke.

“I messaged him after the news. I didn’t know, it’s good to say to know, but I told him like, what I felt, and also appreciation to him,” Tsunoda said. 

“And he gave me a really nice message back to me. So obviously we’re friends. I felt he’s a really nice guy and respectful person, yeah. I can respect a lot of things from him.”

Tsunoda will now face a fresh challenge in Ricciardo, who is hunting for a full-time return to the Red Bull squad.

Reflecting on how he found out about the arrival of his new team-mate, Tsunoda said: “I was doing the simulator on that day, in Red Bull. 

“Christian [Horner] just told me just before the news, actually we met in coincidence in the factory, and he told me then. 

“I didn’t know until on that day [when] there were team releases.”