In this episode of ‘The Alternative Sport Show’ host Matthew Connell speak to Formula E driver Nyck De Vries about his career and the launch of Formula E: Unplugged, a new documentary series airing exclusively on YouTube from 22 November
Starting his motorsport adventure at an early age, de Vries first cut his teeth in karting. After winning back-to-back Karting World Championship in 2010 and 2011, de Vries stepped up to single-seater racing in Formula Renault 2.0.
The Dutchman, originally from Sneek, continued his winning ways, culminating in championship wins in Formula Renault 2.0 Alps and Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup in 2014. The following year, he raced in the Formula Renault 3.5 series finishing in third place and taking a win in the final race.
De Vries made the jump up to GP3 with ART Grand Prix in 2016. Amongst a talented grid, the Dutchman finished the year in sixth with two wins.
Advancing up the single-seater ladder, de Vries moved up to Formula 2 in 2017 driving for Rapax and then Racing Engineering. He claimed his first victory in Monaco and finished his debut year in seventh. For 2018 de Vries switched to Prema Racing and continued his upward learning curve in the Formula 1 support series with three wins and ending the year in fourth.
Reuniting with ART Grand Prix for the 2019 F2 season, de Vries triumphed against a highly-competitive field to take the championship title with four wins and eight podiums. The same year, he ventured out of open-wheel racing as he joined the World Endurance Championship line-up for Racing Team Nederland.
Before graduating to a full-time drive with the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, de Vries completed rookie tests with Audi, NIO and Envision Virgin Racing.
De Vries’ rookie campaign was a season of development and progress, the Dutchman immediately showed his speed with an appearance in the opening Super Pole session in Diriyah and combined this with his first points-scoring finish.
Throughout the season, the Dutchman showed flashes of brilliance but was hampered by teething troubles and rookie mistakes from both the team and the driver’s inexperience in all-electric street racing. Their mutual efforts were rewarded in the final reason of the season as Vandoorne’s first victory was complemented by de Vries finishing in second.
De Vries again lines up alongside Stoffel Vandoorne, as the Mercedes-EQ pair challenge for the 2020/21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
