Dutch driver Nyck De Vries announces his surprising move from Formula Renault 3.5 to GP3 Series with reigning team ART Grand Prix.
Winner of the 2014 ALPS and Eurocup championships in Formula Renault 2.0, Nyck De Vries logically stepped up to Formula Renault 3.5, joining reigning team DAMS. But he faced a very irregular season where he only claimed one victory in the last race at Jerez. Despite this irregularity, he was the best rookie of the season and finished 3rd in the rankings behind experienced drivers such as Oliver Rowland or Matthieu Vaxivière. He comments:
“ART Grand Prix have an incredible track record and it’s the team where any young driver would like to grow. Obviously, I’m very proud to join this team, which I have known for a few years now. GP2 and GP3 are definitively the most competitive series, where most of the drivers want to go and the best school to get prepared for the highest level of Motorsport, Formula One. I’m used to a different brake/tyre package, and I think the biggest challenge for me will be to make sure I get the most out of the tyres in qualifying and in race trim.”
Nyck De Vries also entered the McLaren young driver development programme in 2010 alongside Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne. He will collaborate with Honda’s protégé Fukuzumi as ART is close to McLaren. If the stepping down of car seems a bit odd, De Vries follows the logical path to Formula One. Sébastien Philippe, ART Grand Prix team manager comments:
“ART Grand Prix is delighted to welcome Nyck into its GP3 squad. To help him climb the motorsport ladder is our mission and we are truly happy to do it through our collaboration with McLaren. Alongside his raw speed, Nyck impresses with his strong commitment, focus and determination. When you take a look at his fantastic past achievements, you know that, with Nyck, you can aim very high and our target is clearly to win the championship.”
With De Vries and Fukuzumi confirmed, ART Grand Prix has half of its line-up complete. Rumors state that Leclerc and Albon would join the French squad and complete the line-up.
