Nyck de Vries

Nyck de Vries has spent the majority of his motor racing career restricted, held back by misfortune, poor timing, and politics. Nevertheless, his talent has not gone unrecognised, earning him titles in numerous racing series as well as a chance in F1 – an achievement ten years in the making.

Karting and early career

Securing his first podium finish at the age of 10, de Vries’ karting career can only be classed as an overwhelming success. Winning a European title in 2009, the Dutchman was often the pick of the field, drawing the attention of McLaren who signed him to their junior programme in 2010. De Vries continued to find success in the years that followed, winning back-to-back CIK-FIA World Championship’s in 2010 and 2011, before moving into Formula Renault 2.0 in 2012.

Now just 16, de Vries showed maturity beyond his years, finishing fifth in the Eurocup and even picking up a victory in a part-time Northern European Cup campaign. He continued to progress in the 2013 campaign, switching teams and picking up his first two Eurocup wins, but his 2014 season would be his best – capturing 14 race wins across the Eurocup and Alps series, eventually earning him the title in both.

His success helped promote de Vries into the Formula Renault 3.5 series for 2015, where he finished third in the championship and captured a maiden win during the final race of the season, keeping his name afloat as one of the most promising up and comers in motorsport. Unfortunately, political issues at McLaren delayed his progress toward the elite categories, with de Vries being demoted to GP3 for 2016 and subsequently having his worst performing season, despite securing two victories late in the year.

The emergence of younger and more exciting talent further limited de Vries progress at McLaren, forcing him to begin an association with Audi which would allow him to enter F2 with Rapax in 2017.

Formula 2

In similar fashion to his time in karting, de Vries would spend the majority of his F2 career trying to find the right fit, racing for four teams in three seasons. Despite securing a win in Monaco and podiums in Baku and Hungary, his debut campaign with Rampax in 2017 was limited by the teams significant financial issues – forcing a mid-season switch to Racing Engineering.

In 2018, and with McLaren support dwindling, de Vries moved to Prema who had won the F2 title the year before with Charles Leclerc. Competing against the likes of George Russell, Alex Albon and fellow McLaren junior Lando Norris, de Vries was still unable to string together enough strong performances to compete for the title, eventually falling to fourth in the drivers’ standings.