Toyota have declined to comment on speculation surrounding their FIA World Endurance Championship, after reports emerged claiming that former F1 driver is poised to replace Jose Maria Lopez at the team next year.
De Vries lost his Formula 1 drive with AlphaTauri earlier this season after failing to impress the notoriously hardline Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko, who also heads up the Red Bull junior team programme.
However, according to sources close to Autosport and Motorsport.com, De Vries is set to claim a seat within the Toyota Gazoo Racing setup for next year.
He was originally set to race for Toyota this year, after spending 2022 as a reserve driver for the Japanese manufacturer, but declined the option, opting instead for the seat alongside Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri instead.
It is expected that should De Vries take a place within the Toyota WEC outfit, it will be at the expense of Jose Maria Lopez in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid alongside Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway.
Toyota declined to declined to comment on the situation when asked by MotorsportWeek.com, so time will tell if de Vries does indeed drive the GR010 Hybrid next year.
F2 Champion in 2019 and Formula E Champion in 2021, de Vries has also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on four occasions and the wider WEC series in LMP2 machinery, along with appearances in the European Le Mans Series.
His best result at Le Mans came in 2022, when he raced for the Vaillante-sponsored TDS Racing outfit in the LMP2 class. The 28-year-old and his teammate, Mathias Beche abnd countryman Tijmen van der Helm, finished fourth in LMP2 and eighth overall in the 24 hour classic.
He also won the 6 Hours of Fuji in the LMP2 class in 2019, behind the wheel of the Racing Team Nederland Oreca 07-Gibson, finishing fourth overall.
A seat within the #7 Toyota line-up in WEC would be a positive career move for de Vries, with the trio of Kobayashi, Conway and Lopez regularly featuring at the front of the Hypercar field throughout the 2023 season and in years gone by.
The #7 trio currently sit second in the 2023 WEC Drivers’ standings on 118 points, 15 behind teammates Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota.
Conway, Kobayashi and Lopez have so far won this year’s 1000 Miles of Sebring, 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, 6 Hours of Monza and Toyota’s home race, the 6 Hours of Fuji.
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