Formula E and WEC driver Nyck de Vries is present at the Australian Grand Prix as a reserve driver for McLaren. A role that feels partly new, but also familiar given his own history in Formula 1. “But I won’t be at every Grand Prix,” he says in the paddock in Melbourne.
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Dressed in the orange and black colors of the British racing team, De Vries speaks relaxedly about his role this weekend. “Ultimately, I’m here primarily as a backup. Should anything happen to one of the drivers, I’m available. In practice, I mirror everything the drivers do. I’m involved in everything, have access to all information and try to make analyses myself to draw trends and conclusions.”
Formula E and WEC
Mind you: he is still a Formula E driver for Mahindra and a WEC driver for Toyota. But this role, with additional duties, can be combined with that. “Although I really won’t suddenly be at a lot of races. I had been doing some work for McLaren again for a while and this worked out well now. It is, of course, new to work trackside now. Every team also operates differently, so you have to reintegrate a bit.”
So the circle is complete. As a teenager, De Vries was included in McLaren’s talent program. The collaboration ended eight years ago. So it takes some getting used to for the Frisian driver who was a full-time F1 driver himself for ten races in 2023 at the then AlphaTauri. “But it also feels familiar again immediately, because I have, of course, walked around the paddock before.”
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Comparison
That was admittedly only three years ago, but a comparison with the sport then already falls short. “It’s different anyway,” he nods. “Especially with the new regulations. That changes everything quite a bit, although many basic principles are still the same.”
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De Vries is full of praise for McLaren. “It’s impressive how the team has fought its way back over the past few years to the level where they can win races and championships again. What’s nice is: the core of the engineering group is actually still the same. In the simulator team, I work with people I already worked with ten years ago.”
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