Many people pay the DUO a monthly amount to pay off their student debt long after obtaining their diploma. But imagine that uncle DUO demands half of your salary for the rest of your life because they once assisted you financially. That would be crazy, right? Now exchange the DUO with an investor and a great student with Nyck de Vries.
In 2018, the Investrand party transferred an amount of 250,000 euros to Nyck de Vries to keep his racing career alive. Racing costs a lot of money and McLaren had said they were going to turn off the money tap. The Dutch driver was apparently desperate and the investor gratefully took advantage of this, but now undoubtedly regrets it.
The contract states that if De Vries were to enter F1 before the end of 2022, he would half of its income must transfer to his lenders. For the rest of his career. Investrand naturally hoped for the next Max Verstappen in order to rake in around 20 million euros per year with an investment of 250,000 euros for the next ten years.
The 2022 race will cost Nyck de Vries dearly
De Vries only started working at AlphaTauri as a driver in 2023. So you would say that Investrand can make money, but the investors believe that de Vries's entry into Italy in 2022 also counts. From that point on, they want half of de Vries' salary, plus their 250,000 euros back and interest. Investrand therefore went to court to get this money back.
The judge agrees with the investors. The substitute race in Italy counts as the start of de Vries' F1 career, no matter how short this career was. Now the Dutch driver must transfer half of his AlphaTauri salary and half of all the money from sponsorship deals from that time. And then also that quarter of a million euros, plus a little interest.
A deal with the devil
It makes sense if you invest a quarter of a million in a company or someone's career, that you should be rewarded for the risk. And Nyck de Vries was of course there himself when he signed the contract, but this feels very much like a deal with the devil. It smacks of taking advantage of someone's desperate situation with an unreasonable contract in order to grow your own wealth even further. And unfortunately the judge agrees.
In any case, the investor is happy that they have been able to make a 28-year-old guy a few hundred thousand euros poorer: 'I am happy that the judge has now ruled in our favor, although I of course regret that this procedure was necessary.' He also gives a small sneer: 'That does not alter the fact that I wish Nyck all possible success in the continuation of his already impressive motorsport career, even though it will no longer be in Formula 1.'
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