Nyck de Vries revealed the “relief” he felt after finally ending his horrid start to the Formula E season with an impressive victory in Monaco.
De Vries started on the front row in second place for the opening race of Formula E’s double-header at the Circuit de Monaco, before spending the first half of the race behind polesitter Dan Ticktum.
The Dutchman was the first of the leading drivers to take Pit Boost and, following a well-timed Attack Mode deployment, moved himself into the lead.
Once out front ahead of Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, de Vries controlled both the pace and his energy levels to secure his first win since Berlin 2021 and Mahindra’s first victory of the Gen3 era.
It was an emotional moment for de Vries, who even dived into Monaco’s iconic swimming pool given the difficult start to the year he had endured.
While some incidents have been of his own making, the Season 7 world champion has also suffered technical and mechanical setbacks on an almost race-by-race basis, with another minor issue even needing to be addressed on the grid in Monaco.
Asked if it felt like his bad luck rollercoaster had finally ended, de Vries told ApexF1News: “Yeah, I wouldn’t say I feel it’s at the end — it just feels like a relief and a nice break. That’s why I was a bit emotional; we’ve very much been on the receiving end [of so much].
“We had a broken motor in Mexico, then an inverter issue in Jeddah, then the 60-place grid penalty, then the front-row start in Jarama, and then we had a software issue.
“Actually, at the start of the race, I forgot we had a few issues we were dealing with as well, but it was always something small.
“So it was nice to finally get that break and also reward the team for their incredible work, the package they’ve been able to build for us, and how well they executed. So I’m very happy for them.
“I think throughout last year we were really building momentum and showing pace. I think we were still hesitant to think about winning, but this year the performance has been great. Edoardo [Mortara] has done a great job, and it was only a matter of time. I’m just very happy about when and where it happened.”
