De Vries wins lawsuit from property tycoon

While Red Bull Racing was jubilant in New York about its new car for the 2023 season, Nyck de Vries also had reason to be happy. That is because the Dutchman, this season racing for the Red Bull sister team AlphaTauri, won the lawsuit brought against him by a property tycoon.

Jeroen Schothorst had taken the driver to court because he wanted to see De Vries' accounts. The real estate millionaire had lent De Vries 250,000 euros in 2018, on which the driver paid 3 per cent interest in subsequent years. If De Vries was also an F1 driver during those years, he had to transfer half of his salary to the millionaire as well. Schothorst said De Vries was as a test and reserve driver, and so a F1-driver. But the driver himself did not think he was a F1-driver. The real estate man nevertheless claimed half of De Vries' salary.

Insufficient evidence

According to Schothorst, De Vries withheld information. The judge ruled that this had not become sufficiently plausible during the proceedings and that De Vries had fulfilled all payment obligations, reports de Telegraaf. Schothorst had already announced it would start more cases against De Vries, so the case does not seem to be off the table.

However, De Vries is happy with the initial ruling. "I complied with all my obligations under the loan agreement towards Investrand and always provided him with all the information he was entitled to under the loan agreement," De Vries said in a comment. "As far as I am concerned, the fact that the court ruled in my favour was therefore in line with expectations. Hopefully the wind will now die down and I can focus on preparing for the Formula 1 season."