Nyck de Vries will be embarking on his second season in Formula E in 2024/25 following his sacking from AlphaTauri in Formula 1.
The Dutchman made his debut in the all-electric series in 2019/20 with Mercedes, finishing 11th in the standings with a podium at the final race in Berlin.
The following year, de Vries became Formula E champion as he claimed two wins and two podiums to take the title by seven points over Edoardo Mortara. The 29-year-old could not defend his title in 2021/22 as he finished down in ninth.
De Vries was given his opportunity in F1 in 2023 with Red Bull’s junior team AlphaTauri, but after desperately struggling in the opening 10 Grand Prix, he was sacked by the team and replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.
The Dutchman returned to FE with Mahindra Racing for Season 10 where he finished 18th in the standings with just 18 points. De Vries will remain the team as the series heads into the Gen3 Evo era.
Nyck de Vries says Gen3 Evo car will give a ‘bigger advantage’ when using Attack Mode
The new revolutionary car coming to FE in Season 11 will be the fastest-accelerating single-seater in a championship governed by the FIA.
The car is set to allow for more exciting action on the track. Its four-wheel drive capability will also improve certain parts of the sport, including the ‘Attack Mode’ function.
Attack Mode allows for a temporary boost for drivers who are either overtaking or defending. Drivers must press the ‘attack mode’ button on their steering wheel, before hitting three activation coils in succession through the ‘Attack Zone’, which is marked off the racing line.
Concerns had been raised about the feature’s effectiveness in previous seasons, but speaking with talkSPORT Driving, de Vries believes the Gen3 Evo car will give drivers a ‘bigger advantage’ when using Attack Mode.
Asked whether the car’s four-wheel drive will improve the temporary boost, the Dutchman said: “I do. But again, I don’t know in which way that would influence the strategy to that extent.
“But of course you can imagine that the attack mode is going to be much more powerful and it will have a bigger, let’s say, it will give you a bigger advantage to gain positions and overtake.
“Yeah, I’m sure it will play a role in the changes to the tactics and the strategy of the race.”
Mahindra Racing finished 10th in the Teams’ Championship in 2023/24
Mahindra have retained de Vries and old title rival now teammate Mortara for the 2024/25 season, and the team will be hoping for a better campaign than the year prior.
The team finished second bottom of the Teams’ Championship with 47 points, only beating ERT in the standings by a 24-point margin.
While de Vries could only manage two points finishes all year, Mortara grabbed three, two of which were inside the top five. The Swiss driver recorded a best finish of fourth at Portland.
Mortara has admitted his time at Mahindra has not started perfectly after leaving Maserati, but with a new machine coming to the sport, the team and its drivers will be hoping they can make a huge stride forward in 2024/25.