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december 01, 2021 - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

Tales from the paddock: Nyck de Vries: “I’m excited at the prospect of going racing again”

The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team is in #valencia for this week’s official tests. As drivers and crew prepare for Season 8, we caught up with reigning World Champion Nyck de Vries and asked him about the new challenges ahead.

  • This is what happened: Results and facts
  • News from the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport teams
  • Five questions for Nyck de Vries
  • Social media news: What’s new online?

This is what happened: Results and facts

  • Super GT: Mercedes-AMG GT3 takes runner-up spot at Fuji Speedway
  • Endurance Brasil: P5 for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the Autódromo Internacional de Santa Cruz do Sul

News snippets

Jeddah, here we come: There are still two races to go in the 2021 F1 season. The sprint to the finish begins next weekend with the second new track in succession. Following on from the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix two weeks ago, we now look forward to the first ever F1 race in Saudi Arabia. The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is a 6.174 km street circuit laid out especially for the race. It is the second-longest track on the F1 calendar and has 27 corners - more than any other this year. There are three DRS zones, and teams expect top speeds of 310 km/h or greater. The Jeddah Corniche Circuit ranks alongside Spa and Monza as one of the fastest tracks in the premier class of motorsport. As in Qatar, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be contested as a night race, with the circuit illuminated by more than 600 floodlights. The race distance on Sunday will be 50 laps, equivalent to 308.45 kilometres.

The Silver Arrow has arrived: Last Sunday in #valencia, the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team presented its driver line-up and unveiled the latest version of its car for Season 8 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries will once again be occupying the cockpits of the two Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02s. On Monday and Tuesday, the team completed its first test kilometres of the winter at Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Wednesday has been designated Media Day with no action on the track. The team resumes testing again on Thursday, which will be the last opportunity to put the car through its paces ahead of the opening weekend of the 2022 campaign. The first two races of the season are scheduled for 28 and 29 January 2022 in a double-header to be hosted by Diriyah in Saudi Arabia.

Mercedes-AMG rounds off Autobacs Super GT 2021 Series with podium finish at Fuji Speedway: In the eighth and final 300km race of the Autobacs Super GT 2021 Series at Fuji Speedway, Team LEON #racing enjoyed a gratifying conclusion to the season. Having started from fifth on the grid, the driver pairing of Naoya Gamou and Togo Suganami in the number 65 Mercedes-AMG GT3 put in a consistently strong performance throughout to finish as runners-up and make their second podium appearance of the campaign. Tatsuya Kataoka and Nobutero Taniguchi (all JPN) in the number 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of GOODSMILE #racing & TeamUKYO also delivered a highly creditable result, gaining three positions and finishing fourth. The final round in Oyama, Japan, brought an eventful Super GT season to an end, with LEON #racing sixth and GOODSMILE #racing & TeamUKYO tenth in the team standings.

P1 and P2 in class for Mercedes-AMG in the Imperio Endurance Brasil: After four long hours on the Brazilian circuit Autódromo Internacional de Santa Cruz do Sul, Team RC celebrated a magnificent one-two finish in the GT3 class. Sharing the cockpit of the number 27 Mercedes-AMG GT3, Ricardo Baptista and Cacá Bueno (both BRA) underscored their consistently strong performance throughout the year with this victory in the penultimate round of the season. The two Brazilians go into the final event at the Autódromo de Goiânia on 18th December occupying second place in the overall standings. Their team-mates Maurizo Billi, Marco Billi and Max Wilson (also all BRA) in the #83 sister car made it an all-round successful race weekend for Team RC with a P2 in their class. The number 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Alexandre Auler and Guilherme Salas (both BRA) and fielded by Team #racing M3 contributed a further strong fourth in the GT3 classification.

Five questions for Nyck de Vries

Nyck, you are going into Season 8 as the defending champion. Will that give you another bit of a boost?

Nyck de Vries: For sure! I’m really looking forward to Season 8. A new season is always a new challenge and being the reigning champion will make it really special, so I’m excited at the prospect of going #racing again and being in a position to defend our championship titles.

Further information in the press release to download