De Vries becomes Mercedes official test driver

Already racing for the Mercedes Formula E team, De Vries will dovetail his racing duties with a reserve driver role for the Mercedes F1 operation.

The Dutchman, who won the FIA Formula 2 championship in 2019, looked towards forging a career in motorsport's premier electric car championship rather than seeking a route into Formula 1. This seems to have worked in his favour as the Mercedes conglomerate have decided to provide him with a dual role for this coming season.

"We also have a strong reserve line-up for 2021 with Stoffel Vandoorne, who will continue in that role alongside his Formula E teammate Nyck de Vries," said Toto Wolff during the launch of Mercedes W12 challenger.

In 2020, De Vries performed the duties of a development driver for the German conglomerate. The promotion to the role of development driver should not come as a surprise as the Dutchman impressed many with his performance during the season-ending young driver test in Abu Dhabi last year.