Mercedes-EQ’s Nyck de Vries took a first Formula E win in the opening round of Season 7, besting Diriyah at night to head home Edo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing) and Mitch Evans (Jaguar Racing) in the series’ first race as an FIA World Championship.
The Dutchman’s victory was picture perfect in the end, with de Vries handling Safety Car periods and pressure from behind to romp home four seconds clear of the pack.
De Vries’ victory was “chilled” as he crossed the line with plenty in hand, whilst Mortara followed in an impressive second with Evans holding firm for third, despite Rast using every trick in the book to get by. Wehrlein was next in fifth and a last lap move from Rowland saw Sims steal sixth. Vandoorne, di Grassi and Turvey – with a point in Round 1 breaking NIO’s Season 6 non-scoring hoodoo – completing the top ten. Rast, meanwhile, sealed an extra point by setting the TAG Heuer Fastest Lap.
It was a day to forget for Teams’ title holders DS TECHEETAH, with reigning Drivers’ Champion Antonio Felix da Costa winding up pointless in 11th spot, and teammate Jean-Eric Vergne managed only 14th position.
Kiwi Nick Cassidy finished in 19th. “That was a tough one'” commented Cassidy. “We had some issues in FP2 but were able to recover for qualifying with P6 and Super Pole.
” Unfortunately the time was deleted and started from the back finishing P19. It’s a long night ahead and go again tomorrow.”
“I’m still quite chilled I don’t know why! I should be over the moon,” said de Vries in-car. “It’s my first Formula E win,” he continued. “I’m very pleased with everything so far and it’s so satisfying to translate that into the race because it wasn’t easy with so many Safety Car periods and the pace being unpredictable at the beginning of the race. There was a lot of communication going on and I’m so pleased to get my first win.
“We were under and overconsuming our energy. I got told Rast was a percent up but the team kept me calm and we got there in the end. It sounds cliche, but it couldn’t be more true – thanks to everyone at the team that has worked so hard for this.”
“I’m a dad and 34 years old!” added Mortara. “When I’m in the car doing these moves my heart stops! Wehrlein moved at the last minute so I had to go on the left as I was quite surprised. It was the key moment of the race and I was really happy to survive the chaos and finish second. It’s exciting. Mercedes’ has learned so much from the first year and we’re benefiting from their work over the winter time and we will keep on fighting.”
“It’s been a crazy day”, said Evans. “Qualifying was okay and the Super Pole stuff was an unexpected turnaround that put us in a better position. The Safety Cars didn’t help us too much and the time was ticking down so it was getting nerve-wracking but it was an incredible finish for us. There’s so much work that’s gone on behind-the-scenes and it feels really nice. It was a tight finish on energy there with Rene (Rast) but luckily it played into my hands in the end.”
Formula E’s back to do it all again tomorrow, with Round 2 and more dicing in the dark from Diriyah’s Riyadh Street Circuit and a second jolt of electric street racing to launch the 2020/21 campaign.
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