The Dutchman was announced on Wednesday as having returned to the all-electric championship with Mahindra on a multi-year deal after been sacked by the AlphaTauri F1 team earlier this year.
De Vries contested just 10 races for the Red Bull junior team but was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix in July after failing to score any points.
MORE: Why de Vries has bought into Mahindra’s Formula E vision
When asked if he had tried to forget about his struggles in F1 earlier this year, de Vries exclusively told Autosport: “It’s not about forgetting.
“I think it’s about seeing it as different phases and stages of your life and now we’re about to start a new chapter which is a very exciting project in a familiar environment to me. That makes me excited and happy about it.”
He added: “The way I see it is that every individual goes through different stages of his or her life and everything that you experience will help keep you as who you are, and I think obviously as a human you continue to develop yourself until the end.
“I certainly believe that what I’ve experienced in the recent years, but in all my life, has made me who I am today and it’s just another factor in my life. We continue the journey and I’m really excited for this new chapter which we’re about to start.”
The 28-year-old returns to Formula E having won the 2020-21 championship with Mercedes during a three-year spell with the team before the German manufacturer’s withdrawal from the championship.
Frederic Bertrand, COO of Mahindra, believes de Vries’s ability to help turn Mercedes into a winning outfit in Formula E will be crucial for the future of his new team.
“He has the experience of working with a top-level team, working with Mercedes,” said Bertrand. “For me that’s also very important because we need to raise our level of understanding of what being a top team means.”
Pre-season testing is due to get under way the week commencing 23 October in Valencia, with the opening round of the championship set to take place in Mexico City on 13 January.
