Huge crashes, teammates colliding and multiple post-race penalties, Formula E was back with a bang in Ad Diriyah. The Series’ first night races had it all, here are the report cards for a dramatic weekend in the desert.
Race 1 – Top of the class:
Nyck de Vries – Qualifying: 1st (+Topped Group Qualifying) | Race: 1st
What a dominant way to take your first victory, leading the race from lights to flag whilst having topped both free practices, setting the fastest times in both Group Qualifying and Super Pole.
The only thing de Vries failed to do was set the Tag Heuer Fastest Lap, but he comes away from the first race with a commanding 29 points. Yes, the Safety Car timing may have benefited de Vries, but the 2019 Formula 2 Champion did everything necessary to win the race, managing his energy despite not having the advantage of a slipstream and creating the gaps needed not to lose positions when arming Attack Mode.
It is the second consecutive victory for Mercedes after Stoffel Vandoorne won the final race last season, and de Vries’ pace in Race 1 certainly underlines Mercedes’ threat this season.
Oliver Turvey – Qualifying: 13th | Race: 10th
For struggling teams like NIO 333 the opening rounds of the season are an ideal opportunity to grab points when others aren’t up to speed.
This is exactly what Oliver Turvey did in Race 1, his 10th place finish already betters his entire Season 6 campaign, although he was disqualified from a P8 finish in the second Ad Diriyah race in 2019. Turvey’s experience really shone in the race, where other drivers lost their composure, and the British driver drove a solid race from P13.
The result is a significant coup for the team as they return to manufacture status in the series with their new powertrain, and they will thank their lucky stars that they have been able to keep hold of Turvey – considering they have failed to provide a competitive car season after season.
René Rast – Qualifying: 3rd | Race: 4th (+FL)
The 2020 DTM Champion and new Audi recruit carried forward his momentum to Ad Diriyah.
Having filled in for Audi at the Berlin rounds last season, Rast now has a full-time drive and certainly repaid his team in Race 1. René finished the race fourth and scored the fastest lap having started P3. He did challenge de Vries for the race victory until some ill-timed Safety Cars left the German defenceless at the end of the race.
A third consecutive points finish following his P3 and P4 in the final two Berlin races in Season 6 shows that Rast has settled well into the Formula E paddock.
Edoardo Mortara – Qualifying: 4th | Race: 2nd
The overtake on Mitch Evans and Pascal Wehrlein into turn 18 was bellissimo *chef’s kiss*. The Swiss-Italian driver was in Attack Mode so had a power advantage, but threading the needle between two cars with such a speed difference looked spectacular.
Like the first Ad Diriyah race in Season 6, Edoardo made it into Super Pole, but this year he finished the race an impressive P2 and scoring ROKiT Venturi’s first podium in 15 races.
The struggle bus:
Sérgio Sette Câmara – Qualifying: 20th | Race: 20th
Sette Câmara is arguably driver of the struggle bus for Ad Diriyah Race 1. He cost his teammate and other Group 4 drivers dearly by bringing out the yellow flags in qualifying after hitting the wall on his full power lap.
He also received a drive through penalty during the race which meant the Brazilian came home 20th of the 21 classified finishers.
Alex Lynn – Qualifying: 5th | Race: DNF
The day started off so well for Lynn, making it into Super Pole for the fourth time in seven races after qualifying fifth.
The race was going to plan for the British driver whilst running in fifth place until he collided with Jaguar’s Sam Bird at turn one midway through the race. Lynn was found at fault by the stewards and given a three-place penalty for Race 2.
It was a rather late defensive move that forced Bird into the wall and cost both drivers decent points.
Jean-Éric Vergne – Qualifying: 19th | Race: 15th
Race 1 was a struggle for the Season 4 and 5 Champion. Vergne was the slowest of the 19 drivers who had classified full power laps and he would have been down in 22nd had half of Group 4 not been impacted by the yellow flags.
The Techeetah driver only made four positions in the race and came home a lowly P15, not exactly the best way to start your mission to regain the Championship.
Robin Frijns – Qualifying: DNQ | Race: 17th
He hit the wall at turn 11 during Free Practice 2, causing substantial damage to his Envision Virgin car which left the Dutchman unable to take part in qualifying.
Although his teammate, Nick Cassidy, had his lap time deleted, he set a time quick enough to land into Super Pole which highlights how costly Robin’s crash was.
He had an anonymous race coming home 17th, the only consolation being that Frijns came home ahead of Cassidy.
Race 2 – Top of the class:
Sérgio Sette Câmara – Qualifying: 2nd | Race: 4th
From driver of the struggle bus one day to arguably one of the best drives of his career the next, Sette Câmara should come away pleased with his Race 2.
The Brazilian made it to Super Pole and lined his Dragon / Penske car on the front row despite running last seasons’ powertrain.
He may not have kept the likes of the Techeetahs and Sam Bird behind, but Sérgio critically stayed within touching distance of the leading pack despite having less efficient machinery and crossed the line sixth.
The Brazilian found himself elevated to fourth owing to post-race penalties for Vergne (Techeetah) and Cassidy (Envision Virgin), which is DPA’s best result since Jérôme d’Ambrosio’s podium at the 2018 Zurich ePrix back in Season 4.
Sam Bird – Qualifying: 3rd | Race: 1st
Whilst being adjudged the innocent victim of the collision with Mahindra’s Alex Lynn, Sam Bird will still feel aggrieved about the crash in Race 1 that cost him a potential top five finish.
The Jaguar driver brushed off the disappointment to bounce back in Race 2, qualifying P3 and making a critical first corner overtake on Câmara before embarking on a long tussle with former teammate, Frijns.
Bird came out on top with a mixture of efficient energy saving and a bold overtake into turn 18. The result ensures that Bird maintains his record of winning a race in every Formula E season and leaves Ad Diriyah second in the Driver’s standings, with Jaguar leading the Team’s Championship courtesy of Evans’ P3 in Race 1.
Robin Frijns – Qualifying: 1st (+Topped Group Qualifying) | Race: 2nd
After 47 races, Frijns finally ended the longest wait for a Pole Position in Formula E in dominant fashion. The Dutchman topped Group Qualifying by over half a second and was nearly three-tenths faster than the rest in Super Pole.
In the race, he led from the start until Bird took the lead at turn 18 just over half distance after struggling with energy consumption.
However, Frijns kept in touch with the Brit and was able to hold off the charging Techeetahs to come home second, a respectable turn around considering Frijns’s struggles in the first race.
The result is his third podium in six races and continues Envision Virgin’s presence at the front of the grid and ahead of manufacturer rivals, Audi.
Oliver Rowland – Qualifying: 13th | Race: 7th
Considering that Rowland has been in Group 1 for both races, his results were pretty good. The Nissan e.dams driver has qualified fastest in his group and taken points finishes from both races: a sixth place in Race 1 and seventh in Race 2.
This consistency has aided Rowland’s rise up the grid in recent seasons, with 10 points finishes in his last 13 races, and is beginning to outshine his teammate and Season 2 Champion, Sébastien Buemi.
Rowland will be pleased to come away seventh in the Driver’s standings after the opening two rounds, meaning the Yorkshireman is in prime position to challenge for a podium in Rome in a more favourable qualifying group.
The struggle bus:
Maximilian Günther – Qualifying: 11th | Race: DNF
Günther is Race 2’s struggle bus driver after crashing out for a second consecutive race. The BMW i Andretti driver had already thrown away sixth in Race 1 having hit the wall at turn three with 11 minutes of the race left.
One mistake is forgivable, but crashing out of the second race is rather indefensible for Günther. Having started 11th, the German was competing just outside the points before locking up into turn 18 and slamming the back of NIO 333’s Tom Blomqvist to end Günther’s race.
The accident triggered a Full Course Yellow before the huge crash involving Mitch Evans (Jaguar) and Alex Lynn (Mahindra) just seconds later would lead to the race being red flagged. Günther could have come away from Ad Diriyah with two points finishes but leaves rock bottom and will take a five-place grid penalty for the Rome ePrix to add salt to the wounds.
The Stewards
Yet again, Formula E receives deserved criticism for the number of post-race penalties handed out to drivers and its impact on the race results. Not only deciding hours after the race, but the severity of said penalties.
Jean-Éric Vergne deserved a penalty for not taking both Attack Modes, but a drive-through is such a big penalty considering the time loss in arming Attack Mode is approximately two seconds. A five second penalty would suffice in this scenario, it would’ve cost Vergne his podium but not completely drop him out of the points. Issuing the penalty after the Frenchman celebrated his third-place finish makes a mockery of the series.
Mercedes Powertrains
I’m probably in the minority here but Race Control were perfectly entitled to prevent teams powered by Mercedes from qualifying for Race 2 until the incident involving Edoardo Mortara was investigated.
The ROKiT Venturi driver was hospitalised after his car failed to brake at turn 18 at the end of FP3, slamming into the barriers in eerily similar fashion to an incident involving de Vries at the Mexico City ePrix last season. The accident was attributed to fail-safes in the braking software not activating, which was corrected before the race, but a repeat of Mortara’s incident during the race could have had much more serious consequences.
André Lotterer – Qualifying: DNQ | Race: 11th
A rare error from the series veteran saw the German crash at turn 10 during FP3. Like Frijns on Friday, the accident damage was significant and forced the Tag Heuer Porsche driver to miss qualifying.
He trundled home a lowly 16th but was elevated to 11th due to a host of post-race penalties, however Lotterer missed a key opportunity with a favourable qualifying group to challenge for points.
It was a mixed weekend for most drivers on the grid and they’ll aim to find some consistency at the next race in Rome on Saturday April 10th, should COVID-protocols allow the race to happen in the city centre.
Mercedes EQ Formula E Team and Jaguar Racing have the early momentum, but Techeetah, Dragon / Penske and Nissan will be debuting their new powertrains. One thing’s for certain, this is lining up to be another cracking season in Formula E.
