Nyck de Vries could soon be back in the Formula 1 paddock.
Although initially affiliated with McLaren since childhood, the Dutchman got his chance in 2022 as Mercedes' reserve driver – when he replaced the ailing Alex Albon at Monza and impressed at Williams F1.
Red Bull signed him for their AlphaTauri junior team for 2023, but was upgraded to Yuki Tsunoda and replaced by Daniel Ricciardo mid-season.
The 29-year-old has returned to Formula E and has also raced in the WEC and Super Formula this year, but last week he was spotted testing a two-year-old McLaren at Paul Ricard (exclusive photos courtesy of our photographer Rémi Chaillaud).
McLaren CEO Zak Brown said in Las Vegas that de Vries could be brought in to play a bigger role in 2025 – such as replacing Gabriel Bortoleto, who will join Audi, as reserve driver.
"It went very well," Brown said when asked about de Vries' surprise test at McLaren.
“You know he has a long history with McLaren, of course. He started with us from the beginning of his career.”
“We are currently going through our TPC (previous car testing) program to evaluate a few drivers and Nyck is one of those drivers.”
“We're looking for simulator drivers, test drivers, tire test drivers. Unfortunately, they didn't ask me to do that,” the American laughed.
“Luckily Nyck is a great talent. We wanted to see him again and he did a really good job. So we'll see what happens.”
Asked when we will know more about de Vries' potential future with McLaren, Brown concluded: “Probably at the end of the year.”
