Nyck de Vries Set for Racing Comeback with Toyota WEC Team

Dutch racing driver Nyck de Vries is reportedly on the verge of making a comeback to competitive racing after his departure from the AlphaTauri Formula 1 team earlier this year. De Vries has strong ties with the Toyota WEC (World Endurance Championship) team, having served as their reserve driver in 2022, and it seems he’s poised to take a step further for the 2024 season.

De Vries lost his AlphaTauri F1 seat after just 10 races into the season, following his inability to meet the team’s expectations despite a promising performance as a substitute at Monza in 2022.

After his departure, De Vries had kept a low profile, mentioning only that he was planning to pursue a leadership course in the United States. However, recent reports suggest that he’s gearing up to return to the track.

According to Motorsport.com, the 28-year-old is on the verge of joining the Toyota team for their 2024 campaign. This wouldn’t be his first association with Toyota, as he had previously signed a deal to drive the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar in 2023 but had to leave when he received an opportunity in Formula 1.

If this move is confirmed, De Vries will have a familiar face in the team, as fellow Dutchman Rob Leupen serves as the team’s director. Leupen expressed his continued connection with De Vries and highlighted the driver’s numerous opportunities.

“I’m always in contact with Nyck because we are both Dutch!” Leupen stated. “I think Nyck has a lot of opportunities; he has also done some good testing for us [in the past]. We are also in a good situation with our [current] driver line-up. I think our current driver line-up is superb. From that point of view, I would say there is no issue.”

It was around the same time last year when AlphaTauri decided to sign De Vries after his impressive F1 debut for Williams, where he scored points. This signing was reportedly driven by Helmut Marko, but it created some division within the Red Bull hierarchy, with Christian Horner later expressing his reservations about the former Mercedes reserve driver.

De Vries was subsequently replaced by Daniel Ricciardo, who, in turn, was temporarily replaced by Liam Lawson as Ricciardo recovers from a hand injury.