Striking Alpine signings may open doors for Nyck de Vries

Alpine had a very busy Thursday, in which it announced the signing of both Ryo Hirakawa and Franco Colapinto. 

Colapinto made the move from Williams on a multi-year deal, and will initially serve as Alpine's reserve and third driver. As for Hirakawa, he has also joined in a reserve role from McLaren.

Both drivers join former Formula 2 driver Paul Aron, who was also signed as a reserve driver for the Enstone-based team towards the end of last year. 

It has been a busy January for Alpine with the driver signings, increasing the pressure on F1 rookie Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly. 

A driver who could benefit from Alpine's signings is Nyck de Vries. The Dutchman completed a TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) for McLaren late last year, with the Woking-based team having a spot to now fill following Hirakawa's move. 

McLaren CEO Zak Brown was open and honest about that test to Viaplay, where he revealed that the 2021 Formula E world champion is a leading candidate for a possible reserve role.

"We are going through our test programme and evaluating some drivers," Brown said. "Nyck is one of them. It's about a possible position as a simulator driver, test driver and tyre tester.

"Unfortunately, they won't let me do that, so we have to look at others! Nyck is obviously a great talent, so we want to see if we can rekindle the relationship with him. He's done a good job and we'll see what will happen." 

Should an agreement be reached with de Vries, he would have to combine it with his race seat with Mahindra in Formula E, and with Toyota in the World Endurance Championship. 

There are several clashes between FE and F1 in 2025, meaning another reserve would likely need to be on McLaren's books for when de Vries is racing.

Photo: In 2022, de Vries was indirectly considered a McLaren, Williams and Aston Martin reserve driver, due to his official role as Mercedes' reserve at the time.