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28 year old Dutch driver Nyck De Vries is set to return to motorsport this weekend in Formula E. His first race back will be in Mexico City, a track where he didn’t feature in his Formula 1 career after being released by AlphaTauri halfway through the season. Is the Flying Dutchman ready for a return, or will his confidence be too drained?
De Vries will be returning to the motorsport where he was once held World Champion in 2021. This wasn’t the first time he was named a world champion as he previously won the Formula 2 Championship in 2019. It seems ridiculous that a driver with such class, composure and skill would be doubted heading into a new season of Formula E, yet fans aren’t sure what to expect.
The Dutch driver earned his full-time Formula 1 drive following an impressive race debut, filling in for the ill Alex Albon at Williams, finishing P9 and earning Driver of the Day, a fan voted award. Unfortunately, carrying the weight of expectations on his shoulders, de Vries’ first full-time seat was cut short half way through the season due to a lack of points leaving him 20th.
Experienced Formula E team Mahindra Racing offered de Vries a seat heading into the 2024 season. Mahindra have 5 wins to their name, along with 24 podiums and 10 pole positions. Similar to Williams Formula 1 team, Mahindra have been in their sport towards the beginning and were once a team not to overlook, but now are struggling for results. Finishing 10th in the constructors last season with only one podium was a poor campaign.
A team with a long-term vision and a driver partner in Edoardo Mortara with 6 wins to his name seems exactly what de Vries needs. The Red Bull team has a seemingly glaring environment of toxicity, one in which each bad result is a weaker grip on the ledge of Helmut Marko’s mind. Heading into Mahindra, the expectations will still be there as a previous world champion, but the understanding of the team rebuilding itself will only boost the comfortability of de Vries.
Formula E went through a major mechanical rework last year with the new Gen3 cars, the Indian based giant Mahindra are curating a long term project, and Nyck De Vries is looking to clean his name from a dirty F1 slate and look forward to a promising new season in motorsport. All things add up to a Rocky-like comeback. The Dutchman has taken the punches lately, now its his turn to throw them back.
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Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.