Nyck de Vries is facing legal allegations even before his first season in F1 begins. According to FD, the Dutchman was hauled to court by one of his funders, Jeroen Schothorst, in 2018 for breaking certain terms of a loan arrangement.
In 2018, while Nyck de Vries was seeking to get into the sport, he borrowed €250,000 from Schorthorst’s investing business. The loan was supposed to assist the Dutchman create the groundwork for a long-term and successful career as an F1 driver by the end of 2022, according to the agreement. Schothorst charged the child 3% interest each year on the loan, plus a payment of 50% of the driver’s earnings over his career.
Nyck de Vries used the loan to pay half a million euros to compete for the F2 team Prema Power in 2018. He went on to win the Formula E title as well as the F2 championship. With his most recent earnings, he even gave the real estate millionaire €190,000.
Although Nyck de Vries expected his debt to be forgiven because he was unable to get into F1 by 2022, he was surprised when Jeroen Schothorst accused him of failing to share all information about his profits and contracts, as required by the loan arrangement.
Schothorst also demanded that the Dutchman explain his role as a test and reserve driver for the Mercedes F1 team in 2022.
Nyck de Vries and his lawyer refuted Schothorst’s allegations, claiming that all relevant information concerning his earnings and contracts had been given. The matter will be heard again in Amsterdam in early February.
Nyck de Vries discusses being rejected for F1 in the past
Nyck de Vries recently spoke up about the rejections he received while attempting to enter Formula One. Despite winning the F2 and Formula E championships, he was unable to gain entry into the premier single-seater series.
Nyck de Vries recounted how there was some serious discussion regarding his future in Formula One, but it died down owing to his other commitments outside of the sport.
Nyck de Vries said on the Day1 YouTube channel: “There was no place for me in Formula 1 after I won Formula 2 [in 2019] – it was a type of rejection. I won the Formula E title in 2021, and we were really close, but it didn’t work out.”
Alex Albon was diagnosed with appendicitis during the 2022 Formula One season and was unable to compete in the Italian Grand Prix. Mercedes permitted De Vries to drive as a backup driver for Williams.
He finished much ahead of colleague Nicholas Latifi and even won points. AlphaTauri, impressed by his performance, awarded the Dutchman a place in the 2023 Formula One season.
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