Wolff very satisfied with the Vandoorne / De Vries duo
While the Formula E grid is currently in Valencia for pre-season testing, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff took the opportunity to express his high regard for his driver duo, even hinting at a potential future in Formula 1!
Freshly crowned for the sixth consecutive time in Formula 1 (a record), Mercedes is preparing to enter the 100% electric category, Formula E, for the first time.
After a year of observation with the HWA Racelab subsidiary, the star-branded company has not set specific goals for this first campaign other than the ambition to quickly compete at the top of the pack.
For this first season, the German team decided to trust a duo as promising as it is explosive: the Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne and the new Formula 2 Champion, Nyck de Vries.
Vandoorne was already present last season on behalf of HWA, securing a pole position and a podium finish, and ranked 16th in the championship with a total of 36 points scored.
De Vries, for his part, is among the newcomers, alongside the two Dragon drivers, Brendon Hartley and Nico Müller, as well as the Briton James Calado (Panasonic Jaguar Racing).
Nevertheless, the Dutchman can rely on his extensive experience in feeder series, as he climbed all the ranks one by one until his crowning in Formula 2 with ART Grand Prix this year.
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Common point between the two new teammates, they both come from the McLaren Drivers Academy without having managed to make their mark in Formula 1.
Vandoorne having competed in 41 Grand Prix for the British team was dominated by the double World Champion Fernando Alonso, while Nyck de Vries didn’t even get his chance, being pipped to the post by a certain Lando Norris.
This in no way diminishes their talent and speed, and Toto Wolff fully understands this and is rubbing his hands at having been able to acquire these two prospects from rival McLaren.
« It’s a very exciting prospect that both could aspire to F1 in the future, » he told our colleagues at Motorsport.com. « I think highly of both of them and I believe that if the timing had been right and if the opportunity had arisen, they would have deserved to be in Formula 1 and I think they would have performed well »
Wolff also sought to reassure his two protégés about the importance they held within the Mercedes family, something they may have lacked at McLaren.
« Formula E is exciting and it’s a factory platform, and I am particularly motivated by the prospect of being successful with both. I think they deserve to be in both F1 and FE, and they will both be associated with the Mercedes family, both will have roles within the F1 team, whether it’s as a simulator driver or something else. Regarding a future in F1, you should never say never; I say that for both. » concluded the Austrian.
The first ePrix of the 2019/2020 Formula E season will take place in Riyadh on November 22.
To Vandoorne and de Vries now falls the task of confirming all the good things their boss thinks of them!
