Nick de Vries in conversation with Maserati and Toyota

Zach Brown made it clear yesterday at the presentation of the title sponsor of the McLaren Formula E team that cooperation with Nick de Vries is not in his plans, because the Dutch driver will do other things.

De Vries, the reigning Formula E champion, is an experienced and fast driver who is in his third season with Mercedes in the World Electric Car Championship, but will join the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team next season. And even if the leadership of the team doesn’t change, why completely change the composition?

But Stoffel Vandorn signed a contract with DS Penske in the spring and will be Jean-Eric Vergne’s new partner next season. According to The Race, De Vries is in talks with the Venturi team, which will be renamed Maserati next season, where he will drive alongside Edoardo Mortara.

But Nick has been reserve driver for the Toyota Factory Endurance Championship (WEC) team since 2020 and it is very likely that he will move to the main team in 2023.

The fact that Formula E and WEC calendars can overlap presents certain difficulties, but this has never stopped some riders from combining the two programs – think of Sebastien Buemi, who has always managed to do this. Or another example: two-time Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne will start the 6-hour race in Monza in July, with the latest Peugeot hypercar.

According to The Race, despite de Vries’ longstanding ties to McLaren, the team was not satisfied with his desire to combine Formula E and WEC, but Ventruri/Maserati see no particular problems with this. However, much also depends on the decisions of tomorrow’s meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, which will present a preliminary 2023 electric series calendar.

If there are no obvious overlaps between the Formula E and WEC stages, we can expect the contract between Nick de Vries and Maserati to be officially confirmed soon, and his duet with Mortara promises to be one of the strongest in the electric championship. car races .