F1 News
Nyck de Vries taken to court by property millionaire
- GPblog.com
Nyck de Vries has been taken to court by real estate millionaire Jeroen Schothorst. The AlphaTauri driver is alleged to have breached agreements set out in a 2018 deal, but De Vries denies this is the case.
De Vries taken to court
Schothorst's investment company, Investrand, has filed summary proceedings against De Vries, as reported by the Financial Dagblad. Schothorst lent De Vries 250,000 euros in 2018 to complete his contract in Formula 2, but now claims that the driver systematically withheld information, violating agreements laid down in the agreement.
An interest rate of three per cent was allegedly agreed with the loan, as well as a remittance of as much as 50 per cent of the income De Vries would earn from his activities in F1. In case he did not have a permanent Formula 1 seat by the end of 2022, the loan would be waived.
De Vries paid a total of €190,000 in interest to Schothorst in recent years. As his contract with AlphaTauri started from 1 January 2023, the driver assumed that the loan would be waived as agreed. However, Schothorst wants to know nothing of that. He argues that the driver withheld information about his earnings and contracts and demands that he now open up about this. If he does not comply, he may face penalties.
De Vries denies
De Vries denies the allegations and says he has provided all required information. According to his lawyer, there is more to it. "Everything shows that Investrand cannot stomach De Vries becoming a driver in Formula 1 in 2023, and not in the final year of the agreement," his lawyer Jeroen Bedaux stated during the trial on Tuesday. Moreover, De Vries allegedly turned down an offer from Schothorst to become his F1 manager.
The Amsterdam court will rule on the case in early February.