Nyck de Vries Admits His Mercedes F1 Hopes Depend on Lewis Hamilton’s Retirement Decision

After Nyck de Vries had won his first Formula-E world championship title in 2021, there were rumors claiming he could replace Valtteri Bottas or maybe even Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. However, as days went by, the spotlight slowly shifted to George Russell, who eventually took over the Finnish driver’s spot.

Meanwhile, Hamilton ended up extending his stay at the Brackley outfit by another couple of years, subsequently killing Vries’ hopes of making it to F1 anytime soon. Hence, now, by the looks of it, Russell isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon unless he miserably fails at Mercedes over his debut season.

Meaning, Vries’ hopes of an F1 debut now rests entirely on Hamilton’s decision on his future. During an interview with Laola1, the Dutchman opened up that he has constantly been in contact with Mercedes F1 boss, Toto Wolff. But, the sad news is that most of his conversations haven’t touched upon the subject of Formula One.

“We spoke last week on the occasion of his birthday. We are in regular contact. But Formula 1 was not talked about,” Vries said.

Vries remains positive about Mercedes F1 interests

The FE world champion reckoned that he isn’t disappointed about failing to secure an F1 seat in 2022. Instead, he looks impressed that he was able to fall on the radar of several F1 teams, including the defending champions, Mercedes.

“First of all, I was delighted and really impressed that my name was even mentioned among the candidates. That confirms how my potential is seen. So much is changing so quickly,” he said.

“A lot of what happened is beyond my control. I can only contribute something through my performances on the tracks. I can’t influence what happens outside. I’m happy with what I’m able to do right now and racing for titles.”

Overall, Vries has been quite exceptional in Formula-E so far, but his strong run could come to a halt by the end of 2022, with Mercedes heading out of the series. So, where will Vries head to after the forthcoming season? Will he move to WEC or F1? Or will he sign a contract with another FE team?

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