The District Court of Amsterdam has ruled in Nyck de Vries’ favour following legal issues that saw the Dutchman being sued by a long-time sponsor.
Back in 2018, de Vries was offered a seat at Prema for the Formula 2 season, which required him to come up with €500,000.
De Vries was able to find half of those funds with Investrand, an investment fund run by Jeroen Schothorst.
The agreement struck stated that de Vries would annually pay a fixed rate of three per cent to Schothorst, as well as 50 per cent on his income from all Formula 1-related activities. The remainder of the loan would be waived if de Vries failed to get an F1 seat by 2022.
From 2018-2021, de Vries paid Schothorst a total of €114,361 and a further €75,000 was agreed upon for 2022, based on de Vries’ €150,000 Mercedes contract.
Schothorst claimed that de Vries’ one-off appearance at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix was sufficient in activating the payment clause, causing a dispute between Schothorst and de Vries.
The judge ruled that De Vries did participate in the Italian Grand Prix, but “[de Vries] did so as a reserve driver.
“He was not contracted as a race driver at that time. He was merely filling in for another driver with appendicitis.”
Schothorst further claimed that de Vries withheld information by failing to supply copies of all documentation of business agreements made by De Vries, including his contract with McLaren.
A 26-page transcript of WhatsApp conversations between de Vries and Schothorst was used as evidence by De Vries to demonstrate regular contact between the two men.
It was ruled that de Vries did not have to supply further copies of his McLaren contract, as it was signed prior to his loan with Schothorst.
The judge further ruled that there was no evidence to support the claim that de Vries withheld information from Investrand, he also didn’t have to supply copies of his AlphaTauri contract.
In a statement, de Vries said: “I have fulfilled all my obligations towards Investrand under the loan agreement and have always provided him with all the information he was entitled to under the loan agreement.
“Therefore, as far as I am concerned, the fact that the judge ruled in my favour was in line with my expectations. Hopefully things will now die down so that I can focus on preparing for the Formula 1 season.”
Keyword: De Vries cleared over €250k loan dispute