A Dutch investor has taken legal action against Alpha Tauri rookie Nyck de Vries. As the Amsterdam newspaper "FD" reports, there is a dispute over the repayment of a loan with which the pilot had financed a cockpit in Formula 2.
Even before his debut as a regular Alpha Tauri driver, Nyck de Vries hit the headlines in his home country. According to the daily newspaper "TD", this is about a lawsuit by Dutch financial investor Jeroen Schothorst and his company "Investrand", which granted the pilot a loan of 250,000 euros in 2018 to finance the second Formula 2 season with Prema .
In addition to the payment of three percent interest, the conditions are said to have included the passing on of part of the driver's possible future Formula 1 earnings. However, this clause should not come into force if De Vries had been denied participation in the premier class until 2022.
De Vries should disclose contracts
Because the regular driver deal with Alpha Tauri only applies to 2023, De Vries recognized this part of the agreement as invalid. The lender does not see the matter as simply as that. At a court hearing in Amsterdam, Schothorst testified that De Vries had not disclosed his racing driver contracts and the resulting income as agreed.
The pilot is now being asked to reveal the details of his F1 reserve driver deal with Mercedes from last season. This allowed De Vries to celebrate his debut in the premier class with Williams in September 2022. De Vries had also completed assignments as a test driver for various teams. The plaintiff also demanded that the 27-year-old racing driver also had to present his current agreement with Alpha Tauri.
In an official statement, Schothorst regretted that he was forced to appeal in this case: "I think it's fantastic that Nyck has made it into a successful F1 driver and that two Dutchmen will be at the start of the Zandvoort race in August .We invested in De Vries at an important point in his career when no one else wanted to.
Settlement offer rejected
Schothorst even found a few nice words about his business partner: "Things like this just happen. The result is that unfortunately we can't avoid having this matter clarified in court. Of course, we would have another solution preferred, but that doesn't change the fact that, as a motorsport fan, I wish Nyck every success in his future career."
As the "Telegraaf" writes, De Vries' lawyer Jeroen Bedaux is said to have already submitted a settlement offer, which was rejected by the other side. In court, the defense attorney denied the allegations that his client had not disclosed all the necessary information. "Everything indicates that Investrand cannot digest the fact that De Vries only became a Formula 1 driver in 2023 and not in the last year of the contract."
The lawyer also speculated about another factor that could have played a role in the dispute. Schothorst is said to have offered to act as De Vries' manager, which the pilot turned down. A judgment is to be made in February, i.e. before the start of the new Formula 1 season in Bahrain.
