DIRIYAH E-PRIX 2021 – NYCK DE VRIES TOOK HIS DEBUT FORMULA E WIN

Diriyah E-Prix 1 2021 – The best time of each session, then a first victory: Nyck de Vries had a perfect day at the Diriyah E-Prix and logically takes the lead of the Formula E championship.

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.

E-PRIX – DIRIYAH 2021 – RACE 1

P	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPS	TIME	POINT
1	Nyck de Vries	Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team	32	46’44.765	29
2	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi	32	46’48.884	18
3	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	32	46’49.384	15
4	René Rast	Audi Sport Team Abt	32	46’49.617	12
5	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche Team	32	46’52.727	10
6	Oliver Rowland	DAMS	32	46’54.083	8
7	Alexander Sims	Mahindra Racing	32	46’54.451	6
8	Stoffel Vandoorne	Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team	32	46’54.738	4
9	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport Team Abt	32	46’55.854	2
10	Oliver Turvey	NIO Formula E Team	32	47’00.283	1
11	António Félix da Costa	Techeetah	32	47’00.990
12	Jake Dennis	Andretti Autosport	32	47’01.790
13	Sébastien Buemi	DAMS	32	47’02.038
14	Norman Nato	Venturi	32	47’02.077
15	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah	32	47’03.167
16	André Lotterer	Porsche Team	32	47’03.182
17	Robin Frijns	Virgin Racing	32	47’03.587
18	Tom Blomqvist	NIO Formula E Team	32	47’03.837
19	Nick Cassidy	Virgin Racing	32	47’04.716
20	Sérgio Sette Câmara	DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT	32	47’04.939
21	Nico Müller	DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT	32	47’05.351
DNF	Maximilian Günther	Andretti Autosport	23	33’08.003
DNF	Sam Bird	Jaguar Racing	22	32’32.824
DNF	Alex Lynn	Mahindra Racing	16	19’40.152

The first change in the top four came with just over ten minutes into the race, Rene Rast slid his Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler down the inside of Pascal Wehrlein’s TAG Heuer Porsche at turn 8. The Porsche picked up Attack Mode to protect from ROKiT Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara.

Wehrlein’s hold on third didn’t last too long though, after Mortata fell behind Evans after activating Attack Mode, the Swiss driver pulled off a very risky double pass on Evans and Wehrlein. Mortara passed the Kiwi on the inside before slipping through a rapidly closing gap between the front of the Jaguar and the back of the Porsche, to pass Wehrlein on the outside. Evans followed the Venturi through and left the German down in fifth.

The first Safety Car of the race came half way through the E-Prix when Sam Bird and Alex Lynn fought once again this time though it didn’t end well. Bird dummied going around the outside but then ducked to the inside. Lynn closed the door and Bird got caught between the Mahindra and the wall at the apex of T1. Lynn gets spun around and ends in the wall facing back towards the start/finish straight connected nose to nose with the Jaguar.

Bird managed to free the conjoined cars and continue for a while after getting a new nose but retired to the pits a few laps later. Another Safety Car followed only a few laps later when Maximilian Guenther had a very heavy hit

With just over five minutes left on the clock the track was back racing, de Vries made it safely though a second restart and once again pulled a gap. Mortara had made it up to second by this point but had to take his final required Attack Mode which meant he dropped to third briefly before regaining the place to make it a 1-2 for Mercedes powered cars.

Despite having more energy to spare at the end, Rast lost out on the final podium spot to Evans’ Jaguar. Wehrlein brought his Porsche home in fifth having to defend his place from Oliver Rowland’s Nissan e.dams on the final lap before Rowland himself had to put some defensive moves into play as Alexander Sims was looking to move his Mahindra up from seventh.

The second Mercedes came home in eighth with Stoffel Vandoorne making it a Mercedes clean sweep on points as he took the point for fastest lap with a 1:09.583. Lucas di Grassi brought the second Audi home in ninth while Oliver Turvey has already made it a better year for NIO 333, who had a best of 11th last season, by bringing his car home in the final points position.

The reigning Drivers’ Champion, Antonio Felix da Costa could only manage eleventh while his teammate, Jean-Eric Vergne, finished even further back leaving the defending champions pointless after round 1.

This is the moment @nyckdevries became a winner in Formula E, taking victory in Diriyah #DiriyahEPrix pic.twitter.com/vEoqu9E5Ix— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) February 26, 2021

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