Nyck de Vries sentenced to pay half of his earnings obtained in Formula 1
To finance his career in 2018, Nyck de Vries took out a loan with Investrand. If the Dutchman made it to Formula 1 before the end of 2022, he had to repay half of his F1 earnings.
Nyck de Vries will have to reach into his wallet. The Dutch driver lost his lawsuit against Investrand company. The Amsterdam court has sentenced the 28-year-old athlete to repay a loan of 250,000€ and to pay half of his salary and sponsorship earnings while driving for AlphaTauri.
The lawyer of the Formula E driver announced that his client was considering appealing the decision. « The fact that De Vries was nevertheless sentenced to repay the loan and to pay fixed and variable interests for the first months of 2023 is therefore in contradiction with what the parties agreed upon, which is why De Vries is still considering appealing », he affirmed in the columns of Autosport. « This decision is a very creative interpretation of the agreement ».
A loan based on success in F1.
The story takes shape in 2018. Nyck de Vries, who was searching for funding for his career, obtains a loan from the company Investrand. The income provided by the real estate company complements his budget for racing in the Prema Formula 2. In exchange for the loan amount, the former AlphaTauri driver was required to give 50% of his earnings if he managed to race in Formula 1 before 2022. This deal was meant to last as long as Nyck de Vries remained in the top category.
If he couldn’t race in Formula 1, the loan granted by Jeroen Schothorst’s company would be cancelled. At the time, the activities of Yuki Tsunoda’s former teammate as a reserve driver at Mercedes didn’t count.
The affair started taking a different turn during the 2022 season. At the Italian Grand Prix, Nyck de Vries was called upon to replace Alexander Albon at Williams, who was suffering from an appendix crisis. The Dutch driver raced for the first time in his career in an official race, where he finished 9th. This outing marked the beginning of disputes between the two parties.
A debate has been opened on the following question: « Did this participation constitute a racing agreement or was it part of its testing activities? » This questioning is the key to this case because it was supposed to help determine whether or not the loan should be canceled.
No mitigating circumstances.
A first legal action had been brought by Investrand last year. The judge ruled in favor of Nyck de Vries, stating that it is true he participated in the F1 on September 11, 2022, at the Italian Grand Prix, but he did so as a reserve driver. He was under contract as a racing driver at the time. He was simply replacing another driver who was suffering from appendicitis.
After this victory, the 28-year-old athlete announced publicly that he had won the case and was ready to move on. However, Investrand now emphasizes that the previous procedure was primarily aimed at obtaining information. It was only a first step towards the main trial, which was heard this week.
In this latest trial, the judge finally ruled that De Vries could not rely on his Mercedes testing contract to ignore the fact that he had participated in the 2022 Italian GP as a race driver within the timeframe stipulated by the initial agreement.
A decision that sparks debate.
The real estate division of the company is pleased with this victory. The company is thrilled to have won the lawsuit in addition to its initial bet on Nyck de Vries. “We supported him at a crucial point in his career when no one else wanted to,” Schothorst said to the media. “I’m glad the judge has now ruled in our favor, although of course I regret that this procedure was necessary. It made going to court inevitable. That doesn’t change the fact that I wish Nyck all the possible success in the rest of his already impressive career in motorsport, even if it won’t be in F1 anymore.”
He added: « We would have preferred to reach an agreement without legal proceedings and through proper consultation, but unfortunately, our attempts in this regard have been firmly rejected by Nyck and his lawyer. »
On the other hand, the decision rendered did not convince Nyck de Vries’ clan. The interpretation of the agreement by the court is not consistent with what De Vries wanted in any case at the time he concluded the agreement, stated the lawyer to Autosport. Nyck also fully and conscientiously fulfilled his obligations until 2022 inclusively, which was also confirmed before the court.
Nyck de Vries only took part in half of the 2023 season as a full-time Formula 1 driver.
