Formula E Round 1 race report: Diriyah E-Prix

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Nyck de Vries won his first E Prix under the lights in Saudi Arabia

Mercedes' Nyck de Vries won his maiden Formula E race under the lights in Saudi Arabia from pole position to kick off season seven of the FIA Formula E championship. The Dutch driver capped a commanding performance ahead of a hard charging Edoardo Mortara and Mitch Evans in what proved to be an entertaining start to the all-electric series in 2021.

In qualifying ahead of round one of it was Mercedes’ de Vries who set a blistering pace to start from pole position in Diriyah ahead of Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein and the Silver Arrows driver de Vries held onto his position as the 24-car pack sorted itself out on the tight but flowing street circuit.

A dismal qualifying saw the reigning champion Antonio Felix Da Costa mired near the rear of the field in 20th with team-mate and season five champion Jean Eric Vergne just two places better off behind fellow champion Sébastien Buemi in the Nissan.

With 32 minutes of the 45 minute race remaining things remained tight at the top with de Vries maintaining a gap of around two seconds over Wehrlein, who was under pressure from DTM champion René Rast in the Audi. Rast’s pressure paid off and the German driver pulled off a measured overtake under braking for turn one to take second.

As Wehrlein slipped into the clutches of Mitch Evans in the Jaguar, Rast disappeared up the road to reduce de Vries advantage by a couple of tenths, however the Dutch Mercedes driver looked comfortable and sure-footed in the lead.

Further back, Mortara came from nowhere in the Venturi Racing machine to pull of a sensational overtake under braking for turn one, passing Evans and Wehrlein in a sublime piece of attacking driving before a safety car was triggered following a clash between Jaguar debutant Sam Bird and Mahindra’s Alex Lynn, who defended late from a Bird move, causing a messy clash at turn one.

The race restarted with just over 14 minutes remaining with de Vries leading Rast, Mortara and Evans before Rast dropped to third after taking his mandatory Attack Mode phase, and just a couple of minutes later a second safety car period was triggered as  Maximilian Günther clouted the wall in his BMW i Andretti Motorsport and ending up prone on the circuit.

The evening’s second safety car phase ended with five minutes plus one lap left. Second place man Mortara took his second Attack Mode detour with just over four minutes remaining, handing second spot back to Rast who was subsequently forced to watch the Swizz driver retake the runner up spot, reward for an aggressive and tactful race.

Evans snatched third from Rast with under two minutes of the championship opener to run as up front de Vries continued to lead in commanding style from Mortara, and carried on where Mercedes left off in season 6 by winning the opening race of season seven ahead of Mortara, Evans and Rast in fourth.

Diriyah E-Prix round one results

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1 Nyck DE VRIES - MERCEDES-EQ FORMULA E TEAM

2 Edoardo MORTARA - ROKIT VENTURI RACING

3 Mitch EVANS - JAGUAR RACING

4 René RAST - AUDI SPORT ABT SCHAEFFLER

5 Pascal WEHRLEIN - TAG HEUER PORSCHE FORMULA E TEAM

6 Oliver ROWLAND - NISSAN E.DAMS

7 Alexander SIMS - MAHINDRA RACING

8 Stoffel VANDOORNE - MERCEDES-EQ FORMULA E TEAM

9 Lucas DI GRASSI - AUDI SPORT ABT SCHAEFFLER

10 Oliver TURVEY - NIO 333 FE TEAM