Nyck de Vries handed surprise drive with F1 team after brutal Red Bull exit

Nyck de Vries was back behind the wheel of a car at the weekend.

But it was not at the invitation of , who axed him 10 races into the 2023 season after he failed to score a point for their sister squad. Nor was it with , for whom he had been a reserve driver prior to landing his first and, so far, only F1 race seat.

Instead, was spotted driving a at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France. The 29-year-old was behind the wheel of the team's MCL36, their challenger from the 2022 season.

Teams are restricted in terms of the running of their current machines but are allowed to have Testing of Previous Cars [TPC] programmes. Per the rules, they can put drivers behind the wheel of cars that are at least two years old, which can often provide valuable track time for those with limited or no experience of F1 machinery.

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For this session, McLaren called upon De Vries who also used to be a member of their driving academy. The Dutchman was not in need of F1 experience, though, having briefly raced in 2023 until he was replaced by .

He has since signed with Mahindra Racing to return to , where he is a former champion, and also competes in the World Endurance Championship with front-runners Toyota Gazoo Racing.

Why De Vries took part in the testing session at the weekend is not clear. It may be the case, though, that it was originally intended for Gabriel Bortoleto who recently left the McLaren stable to sign up to race in F1 for next year, and that the arrangements had already been made so they simply switched drivers at short notice.

McLaren do have a previous relationship with Toyota, having for many years used the Japanese outfit's Cologne wind tunnel to develop their cars. De Vries was part of the driver trio which finished third in the WEC standings this year, representing Gazoo Racing.

What is not clear is why McLaren did not turn to one of their many other junior and reserve drivers to take part in the rest. One such candidate, Ryo Hirakawa, specifically became a development driver for the team last year as part of a 'knowledge sharing exercise' between McLaren and Toyota.

As for De Vries, he will remain with minnows Mahindra for the next Formula E campaign and took part in pre-season testing at the Spanish Jarama circuit earlier this month. He will also continue to partner Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway in the #7 GR010 Hybrid in WEC and said: "We are determined to keep fighting for wins and championships."