De Vries: No sense of 'grief' after first taste of victory champagne since 2022

Nyck de Vries says he holds no feelings of "grief" towards his failed stint in F1 in which he lost his drive at AlphaTauri after just 10 races with the team.

The 29-year-old, currently racing for Mahindra in Formula E and Toyota Gazoo Racing in endurance, recently won his first race in almost two years at the FIA WEC 6 Hours of Imola, with his previous victory coming at the 2022 Berlin E-Prix.

At the Monaco E-Prix, the 2020-21 Formula E champion spoke exclusively to RacingNews365 about the emotion experienced in tasting victory champagne again, 737 days on from that last win.

"It definitely felt great to be back on the podium and to win our first WEC race," said De Vries, after returning to the top step of the podium alongside Toyota team-mates Mike Conway and ex-F1 driver Kamui Kobayashi on 21 April.

"I didn't have so much, let's say, grief towards anything that has happened in the past 12 months," he added, underscoring a lack of ill-will towards Red Bull, despite the team cutting his F1 career short.

'Very privileged and proud'

This time a year ago De Vries was already finding himself under pressure at AlphaTauri, which culminated in him being dropped by the Faenza-based outfit less than halfway through his debut season in F1.

It was a bitter blow for the Dutch driver, and as a result of being dropped by the Red Bull family after the 2023 British Grand Prix, De Vries spent the second half of last year without a seat on any grid.

Fast forward to 2024 and he is competing in both Formula E and WEC, allowing him to demonstrate his raw talent and ability across motorsport disciplines.

"I was just very happy and very privileged and proud to be part of that team because I think Toyota and our car crew did an incredible job," he said. "My team-mates, Mike did a great opening two stints, I think my two stints were good.

"And Kamui had the toughest job of all jumping into those tricky conditions with huge energy saving at the end and he got it back.

"It was a race won on execution and no mistakes and I think the way we won it made me proud, and it was great to taste champagne again! But apart from that, I believe in myself and luckily, or thankfully, the people that I work with, share that. It was just good to get back."

Joy of fighting again

Being dropped by the Red Bull family as brutally as he was would drain the confidence of any driver, given how cruel and sudden the decision was made by the energy drink company.

Because of this, finally winning again brought emotion to De Vries, whilst it will also increase his confidence in both Formula E and WEC going forward.

"Of course, I think the emotional effects of winning, but especially confidence in general, regardless of how it's been built, has a huge impact on the performance on track," explained the Dutchman.

"What you're able to bring to the team and the kind of job you're able to do together."

A highlight of De Vries' two stints during his team's Imola win was a stunning overtake on the #50 Ferrari for P2 at the time, where he almost took to the grass.

It was a move which brought a smile to De Vries' face and made him realise what he has been missing since leaving Mercedes-EQ in 2022, as he was finally able to "fight for something" again.

"I definitely thought at some point during my second stint when I was chasing the Ferraris, I'm loving this just having fun," De Vries smiled.

"Like racing, being able to fight, being able to fight for something and do that with a great group of people, with great team-mates was very enjoyable."