Nyck de Vries was on the grid for his first full-time Formula 1 season in Bahrain last 2023. Since then, there has been some commotion already about a lawsuit that one of his investors filed against him. Now, the judge has delivered a verdict.
The Formula 1 driver will lose a significant chunk of his F1 earnings after losing out in a lawsuit against his former investors. He only lasted 10 races after a miserable start to last season with AlphaTauri. Now, he finds himself in the World Endurance Championship with Toyota’s Hypercar effort.
But due to the disagreement surrounding his status as a substitute driver for Williams at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, a lawsuit was left overhanging de Vries and Investrand.
The agreement in place was led by Jeroen Schothorst and saw Investrand. The investment in de Vries’ career in 2018 was €250, 000. This helped him compete in F2 that season.
However, it was expected that, should be de Vries become an active F1 driver before 2022 ends, he would share 50% of his F1 earnings with Investrand. Meanwhile, failing to become active on the grid before the cut-off point would lead to the investment being written off entirely.
If de Vries was to become a test driver, it would not count as him being active. That is the only exception to the agreement.
Since 2022, the Formula 1 driver had been Mercedes’ reserve and test driver in 2022. He completed a mileage in practice sessions for no fewer than three teams. But, when Alex Albon was forced out of the Italian Grand Prix with appendicitis, Williams called up de Vries.
