A drive device (10, 110, 210) for a vertical roller mill, said device comprising: - a main housing; - an output ring gear, fixed or fixable to a rotary grinding table of the vertical roller mill, said output gear ring being rotatable with respect to the main housing, around a first vertical axis; - at least one drive pinion (20, 220) meshing or capable of meshing with the output ring gear, the or each drive pinion (20, 220) being rotatable about a second axis (24, 224); and - at least one drive unit (26, 226), the or each drive unit being adapted to rotate a drive pinion (20, 220), the or each drive unit comprising a motor and an output shaft (36, 236), the output shaft being rotatable about a third axis; said drive device being characterized in that: - the drive device comprises for each drive pinion (20, 220) a secondary housing (22, 122), the secondary housing being attached to the main housing, so that the first and second (24, 224) axes are fixedly positioned relative to each other; - the or each drive pinion (20, 220) is connected to the output shaft of the drive unit associated with that drive pinion by a coupling device (42, 242) such that the second (24, 224) and third (40, 240) axes are substantially aligned, said coupling device (42, 242) having at least one degree of freedom to allow misalignment between the second and third axes when transmitting rotation from the output shaft to the drive pinion. - a main housing; - an output ring gear, fixed or fixable to a rotary grinding table of the vertical roller mill, said output gear ring being rotatable with respect to the main housing, around a first vertical axis; - at least one drive pinion (20, 220) meshing or capable of meshing with the output ring gear, the or each drive pinion (20, 220) being rotatable about a second axis (24, 224); and - at least one drive unit (26, 226), the or each drive unit being adapted to rotate a drive pinion (20, 220), the or each drive unit comprising a motor and an output shaft (36, 236), the output shaft being rotatable about a third axis; said drive device being characterized in that: - the drive device comprises for each drive pinion (20, 220) a secondary housing (22, 122), the secondary housing being attached to the main housing, so that the first and second (24, 224) axes are fixedly positioned relative to each other; - the or each drive pinion (20, 220) is connected to the output shaft of the drive unit associated with that drive pinion by a coupling device (42, 242) such that the second (24, 224) and third (40, 240) axes are substantially aligned, said coupling device (42, 242) having at least one degree of freedom to allow misalignment between the second and third axes when transmitting rotation from the output shaft to the drive pinion. the or each drive unit comprising a motor and an output shaft (36, 236), the output shaft being rotatable about a third axis; said drive device being characterized in that: - the drive device comprises for each drive pinion (20, 220) a secondary housing (22, 122), the secondary housing being attached to the main housing, so that the first and second (24, 224) axes are fixedly positioned relative to each other; - the or each drive pinion (20, 220) is connected to the output shaft of the drive unit associated with that drive pinion by a coupling device (42, 242) such that the second (24, 224) and third (40, 240) axes are substantially aligned, said coupling device (42, 242) having at least one degree of freedom to allow misalignment between the second and third axes when transmitting rotation from the output shaft to the drive pinion. - the drive device comprises for each drive pinion (20, 220) a secondary housing (22, 122), the secondary housing being attached to the main housing, so that the first and second (24, 224) axes are fixedly positioned relative to each other; - the or each drive pinion (20, 220) is connected to the output shaft of the drive unit associated with that drive pinion by a coupling device (42, 242) such that the second (24, 224) and third (40, 240) axes are substantially aligned, said coupling device (42, 242) having at least one degree of freedom to allow misalignment between the second and third axes when transmitting rotation from the output shaft to the drive pinion.