Mercedes-Benz is off to a dominant start in Season 7 of Formula E and claimed the first win in the Diriyah E-Prix in Saudi Arabia, replicating its F1 performance in the electric racing series. The first night race of Formula E saw Mercedes driver Nyck de Vries take control of the race as he started from pole position to claim his maiden victory. This is the first season of Formula E as an FIA World Championship in seven years since the debut. Finishing on the podium alongside Mercedes was Edoardo Mortara in the Venturi car using the Mercedes powertrain, while Jaguar Racing's Mitch Evans claimed third in the season opener.
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undefinedThis 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
De Vries was at the top of his game through the practice sessions, qualifying and superpole shootout in the first weekend of the season. The Mercedes driver had a strong start in the race and asserted his lead right from Turn 1 with an advantage of 1.2s. The healthy margin was aided by the fact that the second-placed Pascal Wehrlein in the Porsche had a poor start. The Porsche driver had to defend his place from Rene Rast in the Audi Abt race car that helped De Vries build a sizeable lead.
The race saw two safety car intervals which helped Mercedes retain the leadership, despite de Vries running for most of the race with one per cent less usable energy. At no point though, he seemed out of control. That said, it didn't allow him to push further to create a larger gap but a change in the mode settings allowed the driver to manage his power and range better.
undefinedThis is how the field got away off the grid, a strong start from @nyckdevries!
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) February 26, 2021
Find out how you can watch the #DiriyahEPrix here >> https://t.co/2WSTHwAqM2 #ABBFormulaE pic.twitter.com/5laP1Ce3tm
Meanwhile, there was plenty of action at the back of the grid with Rast passing Wehrlein to take P2 in the initial laps. The former Mahindra driver used his first 235 kW attack mode to briefly reclaim P2. However, a fourth-placed Mortara used his attack mode to pull a double pass on Evans and Wehrlein to take P2.
Rast recovered to take P2 once again after using his second attack mode, but a second safety car due to Maxmilian Gunther's crash nullified the Audi driver's advantage almost immediately. This allowed Mortara to use the attack mode on the restart and pass Rast to reclaim P2. The top two spots remained unchanged for the remainder of the race with De Vries winning with a gap of 4.119s.
Following the podium finishers was Rast in fourth place, while Wehrlein lost the competitive edge in the second half of the race and settled for a distant P5. Coming in at P6 was Oliver Rowland in the Nissan, and was followed by Mahindra Racing's Alexander Sims who claimed P7 in his first outing in the M7 Electro. On the other hand, the Indian team also suffered a DNF after a collision between Alex Lynn in the second M7 Electro car with Jaguar Racing's Sam Bird.
undefined23 minutes + 1 lap remaining and we have a Safety Car because @alexlynnracing and @sambirdofficial collide...
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) February 26, 2021
Find out how you can watch the #DiriyahEPrix here >> https://t.co/2WSTHwAqM2 pic.twitter.com/y62kiW6KbS
The crash saw Lynn and Bird taking the same line and ended up face nose-to-nose as they spun after making contact. The incident saw Lynn's car with a broken front-left suspension, while Bird retired in the pits after reporting a strange noise from the car.
The final spots in the top ten list were was by Stoffel Vandoorne in the second Mercedes car, with the driver picking up a fanboost reward and set the fastest lap. The driver was followed by Lucas di Grassi in the Audi car along with Oliver Turvey in the NIO 333 car.
Reigning Formula E champion Antonio Felix da Costa in the DS Techeetah finished at P11 after a botched qualifying effort but did well to start from P18 to take 11th in the race. He was followed by Jake Dennis in the BMW Andretti Autosport car, while another Formula E veteran Sebastian Buemi secured 13th.
Rookies Norman Nato and Nick Cassidy at 14th and 19th respectively, while DS Techeetah's Jean Eric-Vergne took P15 ahead of Porsche's Andre Lotterer, Virgin Racing's Robin Frijns, and Tom Blomqvist in the NIO 333 car.
Mahindra Racing show significant improvement since last year in the first race of the season with a P7 finish for Alexander Sims
The Diriyah E-Prix is a doubleheader with the second race scheduled tonight. It will be interesting to see if Mercedes can assert its dominance in Formula E or if DS Techeetah will be able to improve its performance to claim a third consecutive championship title. Mahindra will be looking to gain valuable points after a comprehensively upgraded car its disposal.
