From the Editor’s Desk – September 2023 – Rebuild, Reconquer! Looking at Nyck de Vries’ Formula E Comeback.

Redemption arcs and comebacks are a common thing in motorsport at a variety of levels. Valentino Rossi went back to Yamaha after two years in the doldrums at Ducati and went on to clinch 3 consecutive second places in the championship, behind only Marc Márquez. Romain Grosjean went back to GP2 after his short F1 stint in 2009 to go on to be Champion in 2011 and secure himself an F1 and IndyCar career that has persevered to this day. Heck, even at a corporate level, Ferrari returned to Le Mans after 50 years to be victorious at the 24hrs in 2023. Everyone loves a comeback story.

So enters Nyck de Vries.

It is still the view of this writer that de Vries was harshly dealt with in F1 during his 10 races for Alpha Tauri and the cut-throat Red Bull junior system which he joined after a super-sub appearance in the Williams at Monza in 2022. Although he was unable to score points and was not quite able to establish himself as superior to Yuki Tsunoda, it should be remembered that the Alpha Tuari was the slowest car on the grid during the whole of de Vries’ tenure.

Regardless, de Vries was sacked after the British Grand Prix, and the questions began as to what he would do next. With F1 choices limited and unlikely, we at Stelvio Automotive instantly said he should be targeting Formula E. As a Champion only a couple of campaigns ago, and with plenty of seats available in 2024, de Vries would be a hot property signing for any of the teams who hadn’t confirmed their 2024 line ups.

Well, on September 27th, the news came, Mahindra were going to be the team where de Vries landed. Surprisingly, this is only the second last team to announce their roster, with Porsche the last team with two empty seats at the time of writing. So, why Mahindra, why Formula E, and why might this move be the best thing de Vries could have done for his career?

Formula E, the all-electric single seater series: formed in 2014, completed its 9th season back in July with what was a generally good battle fought between Jake Dennis, Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans, with former F1 drivers taking their chances in the limelight with Pascal Wehrlein, Jean-Éric Vergne and Sébastien Buemi (among others) all in the top six. The series has hit a period of stagnation in the last couple of years following an exodus of Audi, BMW and Mercedes, but the series remains relatively strong with continued ‘works’ teams from Jaguar, Nissan, McLaren, Porsche, NIO and Maserati.

The series still has an image problem of being the place where drivers who couldn’t quite make it to F1 go, and as a series better known for crunched carbon fibre in forceful overtakes instead of the grand championship sagas it debatably does have. The technology in FE may not be as exciting as it could be, despite the new Gen 3 car introduced last year, but the series has at least carved out a niche that does attract some audience. In other words, there is money in the sport to afford talent, and less pressure for a Nyck de Vries-type driver to join into.

F1 is well known for every mistake and imperfection being highlighted, and I think that is where de Vries fell down. Even though Logan Sargent is worse, de Vries came into the season with more hype behind him and higher expectations which lead to his fall. Was it fair? no. But it's what happens in motor racing. Nyck de Vries joining Mahindra for his second bite at Formula E is going to be what defines his career and whether he will be remembered as a driver that can cope with pressure, or one who buckles under it.

Mahindra have been in FE since the first race with very good drivers including Bruno Senna, Nick Hiedfeld, Felix Rosenqvist, Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Alex Lynn, the last driver to win for them in 2021. Mahindra finished 3rd overall in 2017 (Season 3) but have gradually fallen behind the bigger Western brands (Mahindra are an Indian car and motorcycle company for those not in the know). But they have always been competitive as a works manufacturer, unlike Chinese rivals NIO, who have been a step behind the field since Formula E introduced freedom of power unit suppliers. The question will now be, can Nyck de Vries, and new team mate, Edoardo Mortara, take them to the big leagues to fight the works and independent teams with Jaguar powertrains?

In my view, in one season, probably not.

Unlike Nissan, Porsche, McLaren and Fiat (Maserati), Jaguar have put all of their motorsport eggs in the Formula E basket. They have no interest in Formula 1, Le Mans, IndyCar, or even GT racing. You will only find a works-prepared racing Jaguar car in Formula E, and, as such, they have risen above all the others once Mercedes departed, and all the other marques have realised how far back they are.

For Mahindra, this hurts harder as Jaguar’s owners, Tata, are their national rivals. They are the smaller team, with the smaller parent company, with the smaller budget, and are behind. So, even with two of the most talented drivers on the grid, which de Vries and Mortara are, they will face a huge uphill battle to topple Jaguar powered Evans, Cassidy, Buemi and Robin Frijns. But Formula E has shown one thing over the years, and that is that the pecking order does not remain as it is forever.

If 2024 turns out to be a middle of the pack, rebuilding year for de Vries, that would not either be a disappointment nor would it even be a worry. He and Mortara have both signed multi-year deals and will be aware that Mahindra have a big task ahead of them. So, if Mahindra can push closer to the top, maybe raise from 10th in the Teams’ Championship to where they should be, fighting for 4th or 5th place, challenging for podiums and occasional poles, that would springboard them, and potentially de Vries, for a 2025 title shot, and maybe a second Formula E Championship for de Vries 30th birthday.

Nyck de Vries was always far too talented to fade into the background of a test driver role, even though it is rumoured Mercedes had precisely that contract pre-printed out for him should he have wanted it. Formula E is where he knows he can succeed, and, as I know from experience in my life, sometimes going back to what you were good at is exactly what you need, and from there you can rebuild yourself and aim to do better things. I personally still think de Vries would be great in a Hypercar at Le Mans and maybe we will see that as well in the coming years, what is known for sure is that we haven’t heard the last of this Dutchman. Best of luck to him in 2024.