Even a World Cup victory cannot save your seat

Photo: Daimler Media

A few weeks ago, the seventh season of Formula E ended and crowned Mercedes EQ Formula E driver Nyck De Vries becomes world champion, Mercedes also emerges as constructors’ champion. But neither of them will return to the paddock of the electric racing series in the coming season.

The last (or most outstanding) time we saw someone walk away from something like this was when Nico Rosberg won the F1 World Championship in 2016 and then promptly retired. Ironically, Rosberg was also a Mercedes factory driver.

At least in this case Mercedes has announced its exit from the Formula E series just a week before the last race in which De Vries took the title. But unfortunately, with the team’s exit, it also left its drivers unemployed.

But remember, if Europe doesn’t have a healthy place for competitive drivers in open wheel racing, America is here to save the day. Here in the “Land of Opportunity” they are affectionately known as “IndyCar”.

So it’s no wonder that Mercedes drivers De Vries and 29-year-old Stoffel Vandoorne are coming to this United States in less than two weeks Test for the NTT IndyCar series. Both drivers are expected at December 6th Sebring International Raceway for testing. Dutch driver De Vries, 26, will test with Meyer Shank Racing in their Honda, while Belgian driver Vandoorne reunites with a familiar face and tests in the Chevy-powered Arrow McLaren SP.

De Vries has a decent résumé when it comes to racing, having won the 2019 season title in Formula 2 and the Eurocup in Formula Renault 2.0 in 2014. As part of his extensive sports car experience, he also made three starts at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

In a press release, De Vries said the test was scheduled to take place on Jan.

I’ve been following INDYCAR for a while and have always been curious about what it would be like. The race in the US is really rough and attractive to me, so I’m really looking forward to this new experience and where it can take us. “

Before this potential move, Vandoorne drove full-time for McLaren F1 in 2017 and 2018 alongside double world champion Fernando Alonso (who also seemed to love IndyCar). He won a title in GP2 (now Formula 2) in 2015, where he beat today’s IndyCar series star Alexander Rossi by 160 points. In Formula E, he finished second with Mercedes in the 2019/2020 season and ninth in the past season.

Corresponding The race, Arrow McLaren has filled its two-seater gable for the 2022 season. Pat O’Ward, who was a title contender for the 2021 INDYCAR Championship, is joined by another former F1 driver, Felix Rosenqvist. There have been rumors of a possible third car for the team but it could only be a part-time seat for the upcoming season.

All in all, this new trend from Europe to America is a real compliment to the American racing series. The names of European racing dropouts or throwers like Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson and Romain Grosjean are just a few examples of drivers making the move (and quite successfully if you ask me). If you haven’t noticed, all of these drivers seem a lot happier too.

Personally, I’d like to believe that some of this can be traced back to Fernando Alonso’s recent adventure with IndyCar for the Indy 500 in 2017. To be fair, he came from a depressing run with McLaren F1 with no championship or points in sight so you can’t blame him. But there was joy to be had and joy to be seen when he was in the IndyCar paddock.

And now, when you smile like that after a ride, you probably want to go back, or in this case, go there too.

This photo is two years after his Indy 500 oval test, but the smile is still the same.Photo: Penske Entertainment: Chris Owens