Nyck de Vries was surprisingly spotted back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car as he represented McLaren in a test.

The Dutchman had quite the rollercoaster of an F1 career – albeit a short one – with his breakthrough after several years in a reserve role coming at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, where he was drafted in at Williams to replace the ill Alex Albon and finished the race P9. That caught the attention of Red Bull.

Nyck de Vries tests for McLaren at Paul Ricard

For 2023, De Vries joined the Red Bull fold and was assigned to their junior team, then known as AlphaTauri, but just 10 races later, he was shown the door, signalling the end of his F1 career as Daniel Ricciardo took his spot.

However, just over a year on from that brutal axing, de Vries was back behind the wheel of an F1 car with Red Bull’s F1 2024 title rivals McLaren, with images emerging on social media showing the Dutchman driving McLaren’s 2022 challenger, the MCL36, at Circuit Paul Ricard, the former home of Formula 1’s French Grand Prix.

Nyck de Vries ketahuan nyetir McLaren!

Pembalap keturunan Indonesia tersebut pada akhir pekan kemarin menjalani test di Paul Ricard bersama McLaren.

Namun bukan menjalani sesi test Pirelli, de Vries menjalani program testing of previous cars (TPC) menggunakan MCL36.

Hal… pic.twitter.com/3FZS3TLUOS

— Lambe Resing (@LambeResing) November 20, 2024

The purpose of the McLaren test involving de Vries remains unclear.

Potentially, there could be a connection to the fact that McLaren has recently seen junior driver and current Formula 2 Championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto depart their ranks, having secured a deal to join Sauber from F1 2025, the team which from the year after will morph into the Audi F1 works team.

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And it turned out to be a cheap deal for Sauber/Audi F1 when it came to getting Bortoleto out of his McLaren ties.

Speaking about the deal to media including PlanetF1.com, Audi F1 chief Mattia Binotto said: “I didn’t discuss with Zak [Brown], if not just to say hello and shake hands. We didn’t pay.

“Gabriel was more free to leave because he got the opportunity.”

At Sauber/Audi F1, Bortoleto will find himself alongside one of Formula 1’s most experienced drivers as his team-mate, that being Nico Hulkenberg who is preparing to make the move from Haas.

Hulkenberg is no stranger to the Hinwil-based team, having raced for Sauber in 2013.

Sauber sit rock bottom of the F1 2024 Constructors’ Championship and are the only team yet to score a point.

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