Even before his rookie season in F1 has started, Nyck de Vries is already facing legal charges. Reports from FD reveal that the Dutchman was taken to court by one of his financiers, Jeroen Schothorst, for violating certain deals that were laid down in a loan agreement back in 2018.
When De Vries was trying to break into the sport, he took a loan of €250,000 from Schorthorst’s investment company in 2018. According to the agreement, this loan was to help the Dutchman lay the foundation for a long-term and successful career as an F1 driver before the end of 2022. Schothorst charged 3% interest per year for the loan taken by the youngster, plus a payment of 50% of the income that the driver would earn during his career.
This is an absolutely bonkers story. Apparently Nyck de Vries took out a €250k loan to fund his chances of reaching #F1, which if successful (and happened by the end of ’22) promised his lender 50% of total earnings too. He signed his deal for ’23, but lender is still suing him.
With the help of the loan, Nyck de Vries paid half a million euros to race for the F2 team Prema Power in 2018. He went on to win both the F2 championship and the Formula E championship. He even paid the real estate millionaire €190,000 with his most recent income.
Although De Vries assumed that his loan would be waived since he was unable to crack F1 by 2022, he was hit with another problem when Jeroen Schothorst accused him of not sharing all the information about his earnings and contracts, something that was stated in the loan agreement. Schothorst also wanted an explanation of the Dutchman’s role as a test and reserve driver for the Mercedes F1 team in 2022.
Nyck de Vries and his lawyer denied Schothorst’s accusation and claimed that all the necessary information about his income and contracts was shared. The Amsterdam court will resume the case in early February.
Nyck de Vries talks about getting rejected for F1 in the past
Nyck de Vries recently opened up about the rejection he faced while trying to get into F1. Even though he won the F2 and Formula E championships, he wasn’t able to get into the top-most single-seater series. He explained how there was some serious talk about his future in F1, but it died down due to his other roles outside the sport.
De Vries told the Day1 YouTube channel:
“After I won Formula 2 [in 2019], there was no place for me in Formula 1 – that is kind of a rejection. In 2021, I won the Formula E championship and we were very close, but it didn’t work out in the end.”
He further added:
“During last season there were maybe two or three moments when there was serious talk about my future – and every time there had to be an answer, [it was no] because I had other obligations outside of F1.”
During the 2022 F1 season, Alex Albon was diagnosed with appendicitis and was unable to race in the Italian GP. Mercedes allowed De Vries to drive for Williams as a reserve driver. He finished way ahead of his teammate Nicholas Latifi and even earned points. Impressed by his performance, AlphaTauri offered the Dutchman a seat in the 2023 Formula 1 season.
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