Nyck de Vries wrapped up the Formula 2 championship in Abu Dhabi last weekend (although he already won it back in Sochi) and can now focus all his efforts on his new Formula E career. As the second youngest driver on the grid and a signing of Mercedes EQ, expectations are high for de Vries’ rookie Formula E season.
As Formula 2 champion, de Vries should have been primed to make the switch into Formula 1, the dream of all young racing drivers. Choosing Formula E as his next career move is uncharted territory – there is no evidence as yet to suggest that Formula E is a solid training ground for budding Formula 1 stars. Why then has de Vries opted to move to Formula E? Can a strong Formula E performance in 2019/20 propel de Vries to Formula 1 success?
Is Nyck de Vries even interested in a Formula 1 career?
It’s safe to say that most young racing drivers dream of being behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car some day and Nyck de Vries is no exception. He recently said to Dutch TV channel Ziggo Sport that “as a kid you dream about F1 and the route towards F1.”
Nyck de Vries was unsuccessful in kick-starting his Formula 1 career on the back of his Formula 2 championship win, but it was not for want of trying. He had several conversations which failed to come fruition given the lack of movement in the Formula 1 paddock for next season. This must be even more frustrating for de Vries given, by his own admission, that “over the past five years the [F2] champion has been promoted to Formula 1 and last year even to the top three.”
Mercedes EQ drive the next best thing
For de Vries, signing for Mercedes EQ created the opportunity to build a working relationship with Mercedes, the most successful Formula 1 team in recent memory. By helping to deliver a strong opening season for Mercedes EQ, de Vries will surely be hopeful that doors could be opened to the Mercedes F1 garage.
While this seems logical in theory, it is not clear whether this could work in practice. Mercedes is not known for taking leaps of faith with rookie drivers in its Formula 1 team, opting to stick with Bottas for next season rather than risk promoting young test driver Estaban Ocon. That said, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff recently told the press that de Vries has not cut off his chances of becoming an F1 star by joining Formula E.
Delivering consistently good results will surely do no harm to de Vries’ chances of a future relationship with the F1 team, but it is not likely to be a deciding factor in Mercedes’ future F1 line-up.
Formula E as a training ground for Formula 1?
Securing a drive in Formula 1 after racing in Formula E has never been done before, so it’s hard to say whether this is possible. Formula 2 is certainly a more natural progression – Formula E is a series drivers tend to move to after a career in Formula 1, not before.
While both single-seater series, they are distinct types of racing and it’s not clear that skills gained by racing in Formula E would transfer across to F1. Former F1 driver and FE champion Lucas di Grassi described FE cars as “one of the most difficult to control”. At the opening race of the season, Toto Wolff also commented that Formula E “…racing is very different to Formula 1, clearly you can say that. For me it’s Super Mario Kart with real drivers.”
Time will tell whether de Vries will make his F1 dream come true. If he does, we may see more young drivers join Formula E looking to emulate his success.
