Vandoorne secures pole for Rome E-Prix 1
Rome, Italy
Rome E-Prix – Stoffel Vandoorne secured pole for Mercedes ahead of this afternoon’s ABB FIA Formula E World Championship race in Rome.
Vandoorne had been third quickest in group qualifying stages but was quite confident in his SuperPole lap saying “Okay, let’s see what the others can do.” over team radio after setting his 1:38.484. The last Rome E-Prix pole sitter, Andre Lotterer, felt TAG Heuer Porsche had the potential for the best grid slot but had an issue to fix during his lap and had to settle for second.
Oliver Rowland was on course to go fastest, he had the best first and second sector times but knocked his steering after hitting a wall at T12 before breaking his left rear wheel at the final corner where he took another two hits. The Brit ended 0.405 off Vandoorne and had to stop his Nissan e.dams on track to prevent more damage.
Formula E
Diriyah, Saudi Arabia
Diriyah E-Prix 2 – Sam Bird continued his record of winning a race in each season as he managed to get the better of Robin Frijns in Diriyah.
There is currently no information on Alex Lynn’s incident but the Brit is conscious and been brought hospital. He seems to have been involved in the final FCY incident which was upgraded to a Safety Car before the race was red flagged. There were no replays of Lynn’s accident but apparently his Mahindra ended upside down against the barriers.
STATEMENT: Following his accident in today’s ePrix @alexlynnracing is conscious, talking and on his way to hospital for checks
Formula E
Diriyah, Saudi Arabia
Diriyah E-Prix 2 – Robin Frijns took his first Formula E pole after very a dramatic qualifying session held without Mercedes powered cars.
There was drama even before any cars went out on track as given the cause of Edoardo Mortara’s FP3 accident hasn’t been identified yet, though brake failure is suspected, the Mercedes-EQ and ROKiT Venturi cars were not allowed to take part in the session. While Andre Lotterer’s TAG Heuer Porsche hadn’t been repaired in time after his FP3 incident so he also had to sit qualifying out.
That wasn’t it for the drama though, even with only four cars going out in group 1, Rowland, Evans and Rast were nose to tail on the circuit and cutting it very close. Wehrlein was well ahead of them on track and started his fast lap with no trouble while Nissan replicated their perfect timing with Rowland crossing the line just before the cut off while the Jaguar and Audi behind didn’t make it.
Formula E
Diriyah, Saudi Arabia
Diriyah E-Prix 1 – Nyck de Vries took his debut Formula E win as he brought his Mercedes home for a lights to flag victory.
There was no change at the front as the lights went out for the season opener in Diriyah, with de Vries pulling out a second over Wehrlein in the first lap. Behind the leading few cars, there was chopping and changing but all 24 cars made it through without incident.
The closest battle in the opening part of the E-Prix was the battle for fifth Mahindra’s Alex Lynn sandwiched between the two Jaguars of Evans and Bird. The battle raged with no gains for a few laps before Bird managed to make it Jaguar’s line astern in 5th and 6th. That didn’t last too long though as Lynn bided his time and retook the place a few laps later.
Diriyah E-Prix: De Vries powers to win at Formula E season opener
26 February, 2021
Mercedes EQ driver Nyck De Vries delivered an assured lights-to-flag drive to win the season-opening Diriyah E-Prix and take his first Formula E victory.
Starting on pole after a dominant qualifying performance, the Dutchman earned Mercedes a second consecutive win after they won the final race of the 2019-20 season in Berlin.
Jaguar’s Mitch Evans rounded out the podium, having come out on top after a gripping battle with Rene Rast of Audi, who had to settle for fourth.
The race had got off to a fairly restrained start, with De Vries leading away from Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein, who started alongside him on the front row, Rast and Mortara.