De Vries urges 'realistic' steps after hitting comeback milestone

Nyck de Vries has urged Mahindra to continuing taking "realistic" steps in Formula E and have accurate "expectations", after scoring his first points since returning to the series. 

In last weekend's inaugural Shanghai E-Prix double-header, de Vries finished the first race of the evnet in a solid seventh place, which clearly energised the Dutch driver. 

He woke up the next day and staggeringly progressed to the semi-finals of the duels, where he secured fourth on the grid for the second race of the weekend. 

De Vries was looking set for back-to-back point finishes, only to be unfortunately spun by McLaren's Sam Bird. 

Despite the unfortunate incident, the former AlphaTauri F1 driver left China extremely happy to have scored his first points. 

“I am very pleased,” de Vries told Formula E. “It was a result of merit. It was a difficult race, there were not many DNFs ahead of me and we executed a good race. 

"I'm just happy for everyone and to give something back after all the hard work that has already been put in. 

“We are clearly not where we want to be yet, because in the end we were just not quick enough, but the points count for now.”

'Step at a time'

As explained by Mahindra to RacingNews365 recently in Berlin, the Banbury-based side are in the opening stages of a long-term project. 

It is for this reason why de Vries and Edoardo Mortara are contracted for multiple seasons, as they are viewed as drivers by team principal Frederic Bertrand who can lead the outfit's project.

De Vries finally scoring points after what has been a challenging return to Formula E for the Season 7 World Champion is somewhat of a milestone, as it gives himself something to build on going into the final four rounds of 2024. 

However, despite the strong points scored in Shanghai, the four-time Formula E race winner knows Mahindra need to stick to its plan.

“We take a step at a time and need to be realistic. Having the right expectations and the right strategy having in mind what our limitations are is key to bringing home something," added de Vries. 

"If you are trying to fight something that ultimately is a lost battle, then you will always end up behind.”