De Vries in legal battle with property millionaire ahead of F1 debut 

Real estate millionaire Jeroen Schothorst has taken de Vries to court for allegedly failing to honour an agreement to pay back a loan to help his progression to F1. 

Dutch newspapers De Telegraaf and Financial Dagblad report that Schothorst lent de Vries €250,000 in 2018 to help him fund a move to F2 team Prema. 

According to the reports, Schothorst charged three percent interest per year, with an additional 50 percent of the income de Vries would earn from F1-related activities. 

De Vries allegedly promised to pay the loan back if he reached F1 by the end of last year, however, the agreement stipulated the loan would be waived if he was still not an F1 driver in 2022.  

The 27-year-old made a cameo appearance for Williams at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix as a stand-in for regular Alex Albon, and his impressive F1 debut led to him earning a full-time drive with AlphaTauri for 2023. 

De Vries, who won the F2 and Formula E championships in 2019 and 2021 respectively, has paid a total of €190,000 in interest to Schothorst, his lawyer says. 

But Schothorst has now filed summary proceedings against the AlphaTauri driver. Schothorst also disputes de Vries’ reserve role with Mercedes in 2022, arguing the loan agreement remains active. 

Schothorst is reportedly seeking to claim half of de Vries’ salary for the upcoming 2023 season.

De Vries denies Schothorst’s allegations. 

"Everything shows that Investrand cannot stomach the fact that De Vries became a race driver in F1 in season 2023, and not in the last year of the agreement,” his lawyer Jeroen Bedaux stated during a court appearance on Tuesday. 

Schothorst’s investment company Investrand founded the McGregor Fashion Group, who partnered with Dutch racer Giedo van der Garde before his brief F1 career came to an end in 2015 following a bizarre legal battle with Sauber.