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Flag of Morocco 2020 Marrakesh E-Prix
Marrakech Layout 2019
The Circuit Moulay El Hassan in 2020.
Race Information
Date 29 February 2020
E-Prix No. 63
Official Name 2020 ABB FIA Formula E Marrakesh E-Prix
Location Flag of Morocco Circuit Moulay El Hassan, Marrakesh, Morocco
Format {{{format}}}
Lap length 2.971 km (1.846 mi)
Distance 34 laps / 101.014 km (62.767 mi)
Support Race
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter Flag of Portugal António Félix da Costa
Team Flag of China DS Techeetah
Time 1:17.158
Fastest Lap
Driver Flag of New Zealand Mitch Evans
Team Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar Racing
Fastest Lap 1:20.737 on lap 27
ePrix Result
First Second Third
Flag of Portugal António Félix da Costa Flag of Germany Maximilian Günther Flag of France Jean-Éric Vergne
Winner Team Flag of China DS Techeetah
Time 46:52.757
ePrix Guide
Previous Next
Flag of Mexico 2020 Mexico City E-Prix Flag of Germany 2020 Berlin E-Prix I
Post-Race Test Flag of Morocco 2020 Rookie Test

The 2020 Marrakesh E-Prix, formally known as the 2020 ABB FIA Formula E Marrakesh E-Prix, was the fifth round of the 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship, staged at the Circuit Moulay El Hassan in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 29 February 2020.[1] The E-Prix would be a late re-addition to the circuit, after the 2020 Hong Kong E-Prix was cancelled due to civil unrest.[1]

Ahead of the race weekend defending Champion Jean-Éric Vergne was treated in hospital with an unspecified illness, resulting in DS Techeetah reserve driver James Rossiter taking part in FP1.[2] Yet, the Frenchman was determined to race, and duly took up his race seat in FP2, and would take part in the rest of the meeting.[3]

Vergne went on to qualify in ninth place, as teammate António Félix da Costa swept to pole position in Super Pole.[4] He was joined on the front row by Maximilian Günther of BMW-Andretti, while Championship leader Mitch Evans failed to set a full power lap in the group stage and started in last place.[4]

The start of the E-Prix saw da Costa ace his start, leaving Günther to fend off the attentions of André Lotterer for second.[5] Nyck de Vries, meanwhile, kept the sister Venturi run Mercedes of Edoardo Mortara at bay to run in fourth, before taking third from Lotterer early on.[5]

da Costa and Günther soon broke free in the early stages, and de Vries was removed from contention due to a re-gen penalty.[5] That left Lotterer at the head of a queue of cars comprising of the rest of the top five, as Vergne quietly climbed the order to run in sixth by lap eight.[5]

Vergne's rise continued as those ahead battled, first taking fifth from Sébastien Buemi before mugging Mortara for fourth.[5] A drawn out battle with Lotterer followed, the German racer managing to get his Porsche back ahead of the Techeetah, as out-front Günther made a move stick on da Costa to claim the lead.[5]

Günther would lead for a handful of laps, before da Costa armed Attack Mode for the second and final time and reclaimed the lead, with Vergne closing on the German youth.[5] Günther armed his second Attack Mode in response to fend off the charging Frenchman, although with six minutes left the #25 Techeetah squeezed past the #28 BMW-Andretti to claim second.[5]

Yet, by this stage da Costa had established a five second lead, meaning Vergne, who had less usable energy than Günther, could only defend second.[5] Günther duly used his energy advantage to continually harass Vergne with time running out, with the Frenchman using his typically aggressive driving style to defend.[5]

Energy use duly came into play on the final lap, with Vergne hitting 1% battery with half a lap to go.[5] Günther continued to push and threw a dummy at the Frenchman to claim second at the penultimate corner of the race, with Buemi, having vaulted past Lotterer and Mortara, right on Vergne's tail in a sprint to the finish.[5]

Out front, meanwhile, da Costa claimed a dominant victory, eleven seconds clear of Günther to claim the Championship lead.[5] Vergne hit 0% energy as he crossed the line but held third from Buemi, while Mortara fended of a charging Evans for fifth.[5] Lucas di Grassi, Lotterer, Oliver Rowland and Sam Bird picked up the remaining points, as Alexander Sims retired on the final lap, having been in the midst of a fight with Mortara and Evans.[5]

Background[]

The Marrakesh E-Prix was set to miss-out on a spot on the 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship calendar, with the addition of several new races in Asia and the return of the London E-Prix.[6] However, after months of civil unrest in Hong Kong, China, the FIA and Formula E Holdings opted to take the Hong Kong E-Prix off the calendar, and hence reinstated the Marrakesh E-Prix.[1] The series would hence return to the Circuit Moulay El Hassan for a fourth consecutive season, with the semi-permanent circuit unchanged, while also scheduling the annual Rookie Test to take place a day after.[1]

An Evans-gelist Performance[]

Victory last time out had catapulted Mitch Evans to the top of the Championship hunt in Mexico City, the New Zealander having left the Mexican capital with 47 points to his name. Alexander Sims had retained second, and sat just a point behind, while António Félix da Costa had moved into third on 39. Former leader Stoffel Vandoorne had tumbled to fourth after his late exit, Lucas di Grassi had held fifth, while Sébastien Buemi was on the board for the first time in thirteenth.

In the Teams Championship it was BMW i Andretti Motorsport who continued to lead the pack arriving in Marrakesh, largely due to Sims' quiet run to fifth in Mexico. Jaguar Racing had, however, been the big winners in Mexico, as they leapt into second courtesy of Evans' victory, and were just fourteen off the lead. Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team had made way for them, DS Techeetah were up to fourth ahead of Nissan e.Dams, while NIO 333 FE Team were still pointless.

Entry List[]

The full entry list for the 2020 Marrakesh E-Prix is displayed below:

2020 Marrakesh E-Prix Entry List
No. Name Entrant Constructor Car
2 Flag of the United Kingdom Sam Bird Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Virgin Racing Audi e-tron FE06
3 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Turvey Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team NIO FE-005
4 Dutch Flag Robin Frijns Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Virgin Racing Audi e-tron FE06
5 Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne Flag of Germany Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01
6 Flag of New Zealand Brendon Hartley Flag of the United States GEOX Dragon Penske EV-4
7 Flag of Switzerland Nico Müller Flag of the United States GEOX Dragon Penske EV-4
11 Flag of Brazil Lucas di Grassi Flag of Germany Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Audi e-tron FE06
13 Flag of Portugal António Félix da Costa Flag of China DS Techeetah DS E-Tense FE 20
17 Dutch Flag Nyck de Vries Flag of Germany Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01
18 Flag of Switzerland Neel Jani Flag of Germany TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team Porsche 99X Electric
19 Flag of Brazil Felipe Massa Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01
20 Flag of New Zealand Mitch Evans Flag of the United Kingdom Panasonic Jaguar Racing Jaguar I-Type IV
22 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Rowland Flag of France Nissan e.Dams Nissan IM02
23 Flag of Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Flag of France Nissan e.Dams Nissan IM02
25* Flag of France Jean-Éric Vergne
Flag of the United Kingdom James Rossiter
Flag of China DS Techeetah DS E-Tense FE 20
27 Flag of the United Kingdom Alexander Sims Flag of the United States BMW i Andretti Motorsport BMW iFE.20
28 Flag of Germany Maximilian Günther Flag of the United States BMW i Andretti Motorsport BMW iFE.20
33 Flag of China Ma Qing Hua Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team NIO FE-005
36 Flag of Germany André Lotterer Flag of Germany TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team Porsche 99X Electric
48 Flag of Switzerland Edoardo Mortara Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01
51 Flag of the United Kingdom James Calado Flag of the United Kingdom Panasonic Jaguar Racing Jaguar I-Type IV
64 Flag of Belgium Jérôme d'Ambrosio Flag of India Mahindra Racing Mahindra M6Electro
66 Flag of Germany Daniel Abt Flag of Germany Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Audi e-tron FE06
94 Flag of Germany Pascal Wehrlein Flag of India Mahindra Racing Mahindra M6Electro
Source:[7]
  • * Rossiter took part in FP1 as Vergne was struggling with illness.[2]

Practice[]

FP1[]

FP2[]

Qualifying[]

Qualifying for the 2020 Marrakesh E-Prix would be conducted in FE's standard format, with the field split into four groups of six cars, based on Championship position.[4] The first group would feature those in the top six in the Championship and so on, with each group getting six minutes on track to set a full 250 kW lap.[4] The top six overall would then progress to the Super Pole shootout, getting one final lap at full power to try and claim pole position.[4]

After the session a point would be handed to the fastest driver in the Group Stage, while three were to be awarded to the winner of Super Pole.[4]

Group 1[]

The opening group of the Marrakesh qualifying session would see the top six title contenders venture onto the circuit, with Mitch Evans heading the charge for Jaguar Racing.[4] He would be joined on track by Quali-ace Alexander Sims of BMW i Andretti Motorsport, António Félix da Costa of DS Techeetah, and former Championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne in his #5 Mercedes.[4] Completing the sextet would be Lucas di Grassi and Sam Bird in their respective factory and Envision Virgin run Audis.[4]

Sims was the first driver of the first group to exit the pitlane, leaving with three and a half minutes to go to complete a warm-up lap at 200 kW before his flying lap.[8] A few moments later Vandoorne, di Grassi and Bird left almost as one, with the trio running nose-to-tail throughout their warm-up lap, leaving Evans and da Costa as the only members of the group to go straight onto a full-power effort.[8] da Costa was the first of those two to leave, slotting in just behind Vandoorne's cluster, while Jaguar left it very late to let Evans head out.[8]

Indeed, Jaguar waited so long that Evans missed the chance to set a lap at all, the chequered flag appearing 0.268s before the New Zealander crossed the line to start his flying lap.[8] With Evans already out attention focused on the rest of the group, with Sims delivering the first flying lap, a fairly clean run to claim a 1:17.830 barring a small slide in turn one.[8] Vandoorne was next and claimed second only to be instantly bumped by di Grassi, with Bird squeezing in between them, before da Costa swept across the line to go fastest with a 1:17.640 with a very strong first sector the key to his pace.[8]

After qualifying Evans revealed that he had set a c.1:17.400 lap according to Jaguar's telemetry, although the New Zealander was not penalised for crossing the finish line twice at the end of the session.[8]

Group 2[]

Group two was to see the second sextet of title pretenders take to the circuit, with track evolution and general one-lap pedigree ensuring that all six members would likely be Super Pole contenders. Two time and defending FE Champion Jean-Éric Vergne would take part in qualifying in-spite of his illness, and would be joined on track by former teammate André Lotterer, driving for Porsche.[4] Rising stars Nyck de Vries and Maximilian Günther would join them in their factory Mercedes and BMW cars, with Oliver Rowland of Nissan e.Dams and Edoardo Mortara's #48 ROKiT Venturi run Mercedes completing the group.[4]

Much like his teammate it was Günther who got the ball rolling, leaving the pitlane with 3:30 left on the clock as the rest of the group trundled out in his wake, all opting to set a warm-up lap.[8] The German youth was hence first to set a flying lap, and duly went fastest overall with a very strong run in the second sector, recording a 1:17.562.[8] de Vries was next to record a time and would best Günther's sector two effort, but undermined his effort by slapping the wall exiting turn eleven and therefore slotted into third on the overall leaderboard.[8]

Following the crabbing #17 Mercedes across the line would be Lotterer, who completed his lap cleanly to go second overall, followed across the line by Mortara, who put the Venturi-Mercedes into third.[8] Rowland was next but minor mistakes on his lap left him seventh, before Vergne charged across the line to complete the second group, going eighth overall.[8] The Frenchman had initially been third in line to set his time, but ran wide at turn eleven on his warm-up lap and hence let the rest of the group move ahead.[8]

Group 3[]

The third group of the session featured those positioned thirteenth through eighteenth in the Championship attempt to qualify for Super Pole, headlined by 2015/16 Champion Sébastien Buemi of Nissan e.Dams.[4] Joining the Swiss ace on track would be the remaining two Audis of Robin Frijns, run by Virgin, and Daniel Abt of the factory team, as well as the second Jaguar of James Calado.[4] Completing the group would be the two Mahindras of Pascal Wehrlein and Jérôme d'Ambrosio.[4]

Wehrlein was the first driver on circuit from group three, although Frijns, Buemi and Abt all came out right on his tail and would run in the Mahindra's wake through to the end of their warm-up lap.[8] They were followed out by d'Ambrosio a few moments later, who would almost catch the back of the little quartet before opening his flying lap, while Jaguar, bravely, opted to send Calado out later and let the Brit go straight onto his flying lap.[8] However, after miscalculating Evans' margin to open his lap earlier in qualifying, Jaguar would send Calado out twenty seconds earlier than initially planned, meaning he effectively became the first driver in the third sextet to set a flying lap.[8]

Calado's run was fairly clean, barring a slide through turn eight, leaving the Brit in eighth at the end of his flying lap.[8] Wehrlein was next but complaining of rear instability, leaving him a lowly twelfth, while Frijns clouted the wall hard at turn nine en-route to claiming eleventh.[8] Buemi was next and delivered a clean effort to secure sixth overall, Abt could only manage to claim sixteenth after some unseen errors on his effort, while d'Ambrosio aced his second and third sectors to claim seventh at the end of his run.[8]

Group 4[]

Completing the group stage would be the final six in the Championship, which would have the potential advantage of track evolution to aid their bids to make Super Pole.[4] Headlining the sextet would be Felipe Massa in the fourth and final Mercedes, run by Venturi, with fellow F1 refugee Brendon Hartley also on track for GEOX DRAGON.[4] Hartley's teammate Nico Müller was also set to take to the track, as was Neel Jani in the second Porsche, as well as the lowly NIO duo of Oliver Turvey and Ma Qing Hua.[4]

Turvey was the first of the final six to leave the pits, with all six drivers opting to complete a warm-up lap albeit without bunching up as they had before during the earlier groups.[8] Unfortunately for Turvey he would make a mess of his lap, compounding a poor first sector by locking up at the chicane, leaving him in eighteenth at the end of his run.[8] Hartley was next across the line and produced one of the fastest sector two times of the day, but mistakes in the first and third sector left the #6 Dragon in twelfth at the end of his run.[8]

Müller followed his teammate across the line, but a strong first sector was undercut by a poor final sector, dumping him to seventeenth, while Ma would slot into last place in the #33 NIO.[8] Jani was next to complete his lap after overtaking Massa on their warm-up laps, slotting into 21st after mistakes in the first two sectors, while the Brazilian veteran himself could only muster 22nd after a slide in turn three carried him onto the dust.[8]

Super Pole[]

Günther, Lotterer, Mortara, da Costa, de Vries and Buemi progressed through to Super Pole, with Buemi the first of the six to complete his flying lap in the shootout.[8] The Swiss ace delivered a clean effort, barring a small slide through turn eight, and hence set the benchmark at 1:17.811 with strong times in the second and third sectors.[8] de Vries went next and would shave time off of Buemi's effort in all three sectors, with a notable improvement in sector two, to take provisional pole, recording a 1:17.590.[8]

da Costa was next out and opened his lap in perfect fashion, finding three tenths in the first sector alone before almost brushing the wall at turn seven, although he still delivered the fastest time of the weekend, a 1:17.158.[8] Mortara was the first to try and dethrone the Portuguese racer, but a small error in turn three left the Swiss racer fighting for provisional third with Buemi, and would ultimately edge out his compatriot with a 1:17.803.[8] Both them and de Vries would then be relegated down the field by Lotterer, who recovered from a slow first sector to deliver a stunning combination of fastest times in the second and third sectors to go second with a 1:17.253.[8]

The last man to challenge da Costa was Günther, and the German youth just fell shy of matching the Portuguese ace in the first sector, before acing the second sector to move ahead of the #13 DS Techeetah.[8] However, on the brakes for turn eleven Günther would manage to lock his right front tyre and miss the apex, with the resulting time loss enough to put him back behind da Costa with a 1:17.227, albeit just 0.069s away from pole.[8] Regardless, it was da Costa who claimed the three bonus points for claiming pole position, while Günther would start from second with a bonus point for topping the group stage.[8]

Post Qualifying[]

After the Super Pole shootout Frijns and Jani were both penalised after throttle data revealed that they had both used illegal throttle maps, meaning their power delivery from activating the throttle had not matched the homologated maps.[9][10] Both therefore had their fastest times from qualifying deleted, and hence both officially failed to set a time within 110% of the fastest lap in the group stage, although they would both be allowed to start.[9] Frijns would subsequently lament his penalty, claiming that the spike in his throttle map had been a result of his wall slap during the third group's session.[11]

The final qualifying result for the 2020 Marrakesh E-Prix are outlined below:

2020 Marrakesh E-Prix Qualifying Result
Pos. No. Name Team Time Gap Grid Group
1st 13 Flag of Portugal António Félix da Costa Flag of China DS Techeetah 1:17.158 1 G1
2nd 28 Flag of Germany Maximilian Günther Flag of the United States BMW i Andretti Motorsport 1:17.227 +0.069s 2 G2
3rd 36 Flag of Germany André Lotterer Flag of Germany Porsche Formula E Team 1:17.253 +0.095s 3 G2
4th 17 Dutch Flag Nyck de Vries Flag of Germany Mercedes 1:17.590 +0.432s 4 G2
5th 48 Flag of Switzerland Edoardo Mortara Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing 1:17.803 +0.645s 5 G2
6th 23 Flag of Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Flag of France Nissan e.Dams 1:17.811 +0.653s 6 G3
Super Pole
1st 28 Flag of Germany Maximilian Günther Flag of the United States BMW i Andretti Motorsport 1:17.562 SP G2
2nd 36 Flag of Germany André Lotterer Flag of Germany Porsche 1:17.582 +0.020s SP G2
3rd 48 Flag of Switzerland Edoardo Mortara Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing 1:17.631 +0.069s SP G2
4th 13 Flag of Portugal António Félix da Costa Flag of China DS Techeetah 1:17.640 +0.078s SP G1
5th 17 Dutch Flag Nyck de Vries Flag of Germany Mercedes 1:17.743 +0.181s SP G2
6th 23 Flag of Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Flag of France Nissan e.Dams 1:17.779 +0.217s SP G3
7th 64 Flag of Belgium Jérôme d'Ambrosio Flag of India Mahindra Racing 1:17.798 +0.236s 7 G3
8th 27 Flag of the United Kingdom Alexander Sims Flag of the United States BMW i Andretti Motorsport 1:17.830 +0.268s 8 G1
9th 22 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Rowland Flag of France Nissan e.Dams 1:17.839 +0.277s 9 G2
10th 51 Flag of the United Kingdom James Calado Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 1:17.867 +0.305s 10 G3
11th 25 Flag of France Jean-Éric Vergne Flag of China DS Techeetah 1:17.928 +0.366s 11 G2
12th 6 Flag of New Zealand Brendon Hartley Flag of the United States GEOX DRAGON 1:18.944 +0.382s 12 G4
13th 11 Flag of Brazil Lucas di Grassi Flag of Germany Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 1:17.958 +0.396s 13 G1
14th 2 Flag of the United Kingdom Sam Bird Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Virgin Racing 1:18.064 +0.502s 14 G1
15th 94 Flag of Germany Pascal Wehrlein Flag of India Mahindra Racing 1:18.069 +0.507s 15 G3
16th 7 Flag of Switzerland Nico Müller Flag of the United States GEOX DRAGON 1:18.203 +0.641s 16 G4
17th 5 Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne Flag of Germany Mercedes 1:18.218 +0.656s 17 G1
18th 66 Flag of Germany Daniel Abt Flag of Germany Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 1:18.229 +0.667s 18 G3
19th 3 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Turvey Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team 1:18.313 +0.751s 19 G4
20th 19 Flag of Brazil Felipe Massa Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing 1:18.675 +1.113s 20 G4
21st 33 Flag of China Ma Qing Hua Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team 1:19.359 +1.797s 21 G4
110% Time: 1:25.318[12]
NC* 4 Dutch Flag Robin Frijns Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Virgin Racing 1:27.444 +9.646s 22 G3
NC 18 Flag of Switzerland Neel Jani Flag of Germany Porsche 1:32.690 +14.892s 23 G4
NC 20 Flag of New Zealand Mitch Evans Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 24 G1
Source:[12]
  • * Frijns had his fastest time (1:18.047) deleted for using an illegal throttle map.[9]
  • Jani had his fastest time (1:18.556) deleted for using an illegal throttle map.[10]

Race[]

Temperatures were still on the cooler side as the start time approached in Marrakesh, although there was no threat of rain with very little cloud in skies above the Circuit Moulay El Hassan.[13] All 24 drivers would take the start from the grid, with Robin Frijns, Neel Jani and Mitch Evans all allowed to start despite failing to officially set a time within 110% of the fastest in group qualifying.[13] Elsewhere, Jean-Éric Vergne reaffirmed that he would race in-spite of his continuing battle with migraines, while Attack Mode set at two activations lasting for four minutes apiece, with the activation point located on the outside of turn three.[13]

Report[]

Pole sitter António Félix da Costa aced his start to claim an early lead into the first corner, leaving Maximilian Günther to fend off the attentions of André Lotterer for second into the sweeping left-hander.[13] Günther held the inside line and hence held the position, while Nyck de Vries was able to muscle his way alongside the #36 Porsche, only for Edoardo Mortara to squeeze inside him.[13] The ROKiT Venturi-Mercedes then found itself clambering all over the inside kerb, while de Vries had to cede third to Lotterer on the run out of the corner.[13]

de Vries' patience paid off a few moments later, as Lotterer locked his rear wheels up at the turn four/five chicane and slid wide, allowing the #17 Mercedes to power past on the exit.[13] Behind, Mortara managed to muscle his way back past Jérôme d'Ambrosio, who had swept past the Venturi at the first corner, with d'Ambrosio subsequently making a mistake at the chicane and allowing Oliver Rowland to sneak past.[13] The #64 Mahindra then lost more places to Sébastien Buemi, Vergne and James Calado, with the latter pulling an excellent double move on the #25 DS Techeetah and the Mahindra at turn seven.[13]

Out front, meanwhile, da Costa set about stamping his authority on the race, establishing a one second lead over Günther come the end of the opening lap.[13] Günther, however, had found himself in a secure second after the opening tour, with de Vries having to defend third from Lotterer and Mortara as they opened the second lap.[13] Otherwise it had been a surprisingly clean opening lap, with Evans already up ahead of Ma Qing Hua and Jani at the back of the field, while none of the cars appeared to be carrying damage.[13]

Indeed, the early laps proved fairly tame, with da Costa and Günther easing away at the head of the field, while Vergne made steady progress with a lunge inside Calado for eighth into turn one.[13] Elsewhere, Rowland let Nissan e.Dams teammate Buemi through unopposed at turn seven on lap three, with the majority of the top ten finding themselves stuck behind de Vries.[13] Indeed, the Dutchman appeared to be lacking the pace of those around him, although he was soon removed from contention after being slapped with a drive-through penalty for over-use of re-gen.[13]

However, Lotterer's pace would not improve once the Dutch rookie disappeared, and he hence remained under constant pressure from Mortara and Buemi behind as da Costa and Günther settled three seconds clear up ahead.[13] Behind them, Vergne pounced on Rowland at turn seven to secure seventh, while d'Ambrosio became the first driver to arm Attack Mode on lap eight, followed by Calado on the next tour.[13] They duly did battle at the back of the Lotterer train as, up front, da Costa and Günther both armed Attack Mode for the first time on lap eleven.[13]

Vergne too would activate his first Attack Mode boost on the eleventh tour, and duly used it to dive past Buemi into turn one to secure fifth.[13] Moments later and the #25 DS Techeetah was up the inside of Mortara's #48 Venturi-Mercedes as the Swiss racer armed Attack Mode, and duly secured fourth at the chicane as Mortara ran out of grip defending on the outside line.[13] A lap later and Vergne was in a similar position on the back of Lotterer, although this time Vergne would take the position unopposed as the #36 Porsche armed Attack Mode.[13]

There was a lot of battling further down the field too, with Alexander Sims, Sam Bird and Lucas di Grassi all exchanging blows as they fought at the lower end of the top ten.[13] Pascal Wehrlein was another driver having to battle his way up the order, and duly joined their truel mid-race, while Evans had struggled to make a lot of progress in the early laps, only climbing to eighteenth by lap ten.[13] The New Zealander would, however, pick up his pace as the balance between energy conservation and re-gen came into play, and would begin to make steady progress as others fought around him.[13]

Sims eventually broke free from the group with a move on Calado to secure eighth on lap fifteen, leaving the #51 Jaguar to receive a broadside slap from d'Ambrosio in turn three, which allowed di Grassi to pass them both.[13] Up front, meanwhile, Lotterer surprised Vergne by lunging around the outside of the #25 DS Techeetah to secure third, while Günther went around the outside of da Costa at turn one to secure the lead on lap sixteen.[13] However, da Costa provided very little resistance to the German youth's move, prompting Günther to air his suspicions to the BMW-Andretti team that the Portuguese racer was using Günther's slip stream to conserve energy.[13]

That little exchange allowed Lotterer and Vergne to close in on the duo, while Mortara and Buemi, who had slipped back amid the Attack Mode antics earlier, also began to gain ground.[13] Behind, Sims dived past Rowland at turn one to secure seventh, while Wehrlein used his FanBoost to dart past Bird at turn seven for twelfth, much to the Brit's ire.[13] di Grassi, meanwhile, would have to wait for a couple of laps to find his way past Rowland for eighth to go hunting after Sims, while Evans elbowed his way past a quiet Stoffel Vandoorne at turn one to claim twelfth, having leapt past Bird and Wehrlein during Bird's retaliation.[13]

Back with the leaders and da Costa armed his second and final Attack Mode on lap 21, and duly used it to dive past Günther into turn eleven, prompting the German youth to arm his second boost on the following tour.[13] Behind, Vergne pulled an expert dive inside of Lotterer at turn seven to secure third, and duly charged away to prevent his former teammate from seeking immediate retribution.[13] Elsewhere, Wehrlein picked up a puncture and dropped to the back of the field, Evans forced his way into the top ten with a lunge past d'Ambrosio, while Buemi darted past Mortara as Sims caught onto the back of their tussle.[13]

Vergne waited a few more laps before using his second Attack Mode boost, although when he used it was to devastating effect, for the Frenchman would demolish Günther's three second advantage over him, before diving past the #28 BMW-Andretti for second at turn one.[13] That left him trailing teammate da Costa by three seconds, the Portuguese racer having checked out at the head of the field after taking Günther a few laps earlier.[13] However, rather than hunt down his teammate Vergne seemed unable to escape the attentions of Günther, as behind Evans made his way past di Grassi and Rowland to secure eighth while Mortara managed to briefly get back ahead of Buemi for fifth.[13]

Into the closing stages and energy use would become a major factor, with Vergne in particular suffering a significant deficit to Günther as the race entered its final five minutes.[13] Indeed, it seemed as through everyone bar race leader da Costa, the aforementioned Günther, the charging Evans, and the lapped Ma would be in danger of hitting 0% battery before the final lap, with the fight for fourth in particular condensing dramatically, as Lotterer eased his pace.[13] Indeed, the Porsche's pace dropped so much that Buemi was able to pass and escape up the road with relative ease with three laps to go, leaving the German veteran to fend off the attentions of Mortara, Sims and Evans with time running out.[13]

The fight for second would become vicious with three laps to go, with Vergne aggressively feeding Günther towards the pit wall when the German racer tired to get his nose inside the DS Techeetah into turn one, prompting Günther to look to the outside on the penultimate tour.[13] That was likewise repulsed before Günther tried again on the final tour, with Vergne again managing to elbow the BMW-Andretti wide and hold second.[13] However, having to defend so aggressively had meant that the Frenchman had not been able to re-gen efficiently, and hence meant that he hit 1% battery with half a lap to go.[13]

Yet, Vergne would still defend for all he was worth, driving right in the middle of the circuit on the run to turn seven to deny Günther a chance to lunge inside, and hence draw Buemi into the fight.[13] Günther, however, would overcome the challenge with an excellent move into turn eleven, selling the Frenchman a dummy into the left-hander to seize second with a lunge inside the DS Techeetah.[13] Buemi tried to follow him through but found Vergne sweeping back across his nose, although the #25 DS Techeetah was on 0.1% battery as they entered the final corner.[13]

Out front, meanwhile, da Costa would sweep across the line to secure a dominant victory, almost twelve seconds clear of second placed Günther who still had 1% battery crossing the line.[13] Vergne, meanwhile, just held on to secure third ahead of Buemi, while the fight for fifth was won by Mortara, with Evans crawling all over his tail.[13] Sims had been the big loser on the final lap after contact with Mortara at turn seven had broken a driveshaft on the BMW-Andretti, leaving him on the sidelines, as di Grassi took seventh from Lotterer on the final lap, while Rowland and Bird secured the remaining points.[13]

Result[]

The final classification of the 2020 Marrakesh E-Prix is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold:

2020 Marrakesh E-Prix Race Result
Pos. No. Name Team Laps Race Time Fastest lap Pts.
1st 13 Flag of Portugal António Félix da Costa FanBoost Flag of China DS Techeetah 34 46:52.757 1:21.082 28
2nd 28 Flag of Germany Maximilian Günther Flag of Germany BMW i Andretti Motorsport 34 +11.427s 1:21.268 19G
3rd 25 Flag of France Jean-Éric Vergne Flag of China DS Techeetah 34 +12.034s 1:20.911 15
4th 23 Flag of Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Flag of France Nissan e.Dams 34 +12.282s 1:21.724 12
5th 48 Flag of Switzerland Edoardo Mortara Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing 34 +15.657s 1:21.628 10
6th 20 Flag of New Zealand Mitch Evans Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 34 +16.335s 1:20.737 9
7th 11 Flag of Brazil Lucas di Grassi FanBoost Flag of Germany Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 34 +18.706s 1:21.970 6
8th 36 Flag of Germany André Lotterer Flag of Germany Porsche 34 +19.498s 1:21.263 4
9th 22 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Rowland Flag of France Nissan e.Dams 34 +20.126s 1:21.988 2
10th 2 Flag of the United Kingdom Sam Bird Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Virgin Racing 34 +20.295s 1:21.384 1
11th 17 Dutch Flag Nyck de Vries Flag of Germany Mercedes 34 +20.557s 1:21.560
12th 4 Dutch Flag Robin Frijns Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Virgin Racing 34 +22.373s 1:21.054
13th 64 Flag of Belgium Jérôme d'Ambrosio FanBoost Flag of India Mahindra Racing 34 +22.785s 1:22.554
14th 66 Flag of Germany Daniel Abt Flag of Germany Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 34 +25.080s 1:21.708
15th 5 Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne FanBoost Flag of Germany Mercedes 34 +25.969s 1:22.055
16th 51 Flag of the United Kingdom James Calado Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 34 +26.528s 1:22.286
17th 19 Flag of Brazil Felipe Massa Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing 34 +27.486s 1:21.610
18th 18 Flag of Switzerland Neel Jani Flag of Germany Porsche 34 +44.476s 1:22.821
19th 6 Flag of New Zealand Brendon Hartley Flag of the United States GEOX DRAGON 34 +49.002s 1:22.611
20th 7 Flag of Switzerland Nico Müller Flag of the United States GEOX DRAGON 34 +53.075s 1:21.184
21st 3 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Turvey Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team 34 +59.969s 1:22.200
22nd 94 Flag of Germany Pascal Wehrlein FanBoost Flag of India Mahindra Racing 34 +1:13.414 1:20.345
23rd 33 Flag of China Ma Qing Hua Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team 33 +1 Lap 1:23.027
Ret 27 Flag of the United Kingdom Alexander Sims Flag of Germany BMW i Andretti Motorsport 33 Driveshaft 1:21.714
Source:[12]
  • FanBoost Indicates a driver was awarded FanBoost during the race.
  • G Indicates a driver was awarded a bonus point for setting the fastest lap in the group stage of qualifying.

Milestones[]

Standings[]

António Félix da Costa secured the Championship lead with victory in Marrakesh, moving onto 67 points and established an eleven point advantage. Former leader Mitch Evans hence slipped to second, but had a ten point lead over third placed Alexander Sims at the end of the Marrakesh weekend. Elsewhere, Maximilian Günther had moved into fourth ahead of Lucas di Grassi, while Stoffel Vandoorne slipped to sixth.

In the Teams Championship it was DS Techeetah who led the charge leaving Marrakesh, their double podium leaving them two shy of the 100 point mark. BMW-Andretti had made way for them, slipping eight behind, while Jaguar Racing dropped to third, and had a 32 point disadvantage to Techeetah. Nissan e.Dams had moved up to fourth ahead of rookies Mercedes, while NIO had once again failed to threaten the points.

 
2019/20 Drivers Championship
Pos. Name Pts. +/-
1st Flag of Portugal António Félix da Costa 67 ▲2
2nd Flag of New Zealand Mitch Evans 56 ▼1
3rd Flag of the United Kingdom Alexander Sims 46 ▼1
4th Flag of Germany Maximilian Günther 44 ▲4
5th Flag of Brazil Lucas di Grassi 38 ◄0
6th Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne 38 ▼2
7th Flag of Switzerland Edoardo Mortara 32 ▲2
8th Flag of France Jean-Éric Vergne 31 ▲4
9th Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Rowland 30 ▼2
10th Flag of the United Kingdom Sam Bird 29 ▼4
11th Flag of Switzerland Sébastien Buemi 27 ▲1
12th Flag of Germany André Lotterer 25 ▼2
13th Dutch Flag Nyck de Vries 18 ▼2
14th Flag of Germany Pascal Wehrlein 14 ◄0
15th Dutch Flag Robin Frijns 10 ◄0
16th Flag of the United Kingdom James Calado 10 ◄0
17th Flag of Germany Daniel Abt 8 ◄0
18th Flag of Belgium Jérôme d'Ambrosio 3 ◄0
19th Flag of Brazil Felipe Massa 2 ◄0
20th Flag of New Zealand Brendon Hartley 2 ◄0
2019/20 Teams Championship
Pos. Name Pts. +/-
1st Flag of China DS Techeetah 98 ▲3
2nd Flag of the United States BMW i Andretti Motorsport 90 ▼1
3rd Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 66 ▼1
4th Flag of France Nissan e.Dams 57 ▲1
5th Flag of Germany Mercedes 56 ▼2
6th Flag of Germany Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 46 ◄0
7th Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Virgin Racing 39 ◄0
8th Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing 34 ◄0
9th Flag of Germany Porsche Formula E Team 25 ◄0
10th Flag of India Mahindra Racing 17 ◄0
11th Flag of the United States GEOX Dragon 2 ◄0
12th Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team 0 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers are shown.

References[]

Videos and Images:

References:

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 'Final calendar revealed for season six of ABB FIA Formula E Championship', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 04/10/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/october/final-formula-e-season-six-calendar-revealed, (Accessed 04/10/2019)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Chris Soulsby, 'Da Costa fastest as Rossiter subs for Vergne in Marrakesh', motorsportweek.com, (Motorsport Week, 28/02/2020), https://www.motorsportweek.com/2020/02/28/da-costa-fastest-as-rossiter-subs-for-vergne-in-marrakesh/, (Accessed 03/03/2020)
  3. Matt Kew, 'Vergne was in quarantine before Marrakesh podium charge', motorsport.com, (Motorsport Network, 01/03/2020), https://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/vergne-sickness-most-difficult-marrakesh/4704082/, (Accessed 03/03/2020)
  4. 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 'Da Costa on Pole for Marrakesh showdown, disaster for leader Evans ', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 29/02/2020), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2020/feb/marrakesh-qualifying-2020, (Accessed 29/02/2020)
  5. 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 'Da Costa dominates in Marrakesh leading Vergne for double DS podium', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 29/02/2020), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2020/feb/marrakesh-race-report-2020, (Accessed 29/02/2020)
  6. '2019/20 calendar revealed: London and Seoul star in sixth Formula E campaign', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 14/06/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/june/2019-20-season-calendar-revealed, (Accessed 14/06/2019)
  7. 'Final 2019/20 season entry list revealed', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 11/10/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/november/season-six-full-entry-list, (Accessed 14/11/2019)
  8. 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 8.19 8.20 8.21 8.22 8.23 8.24 8.25 8.26 8.27 8.28 8.29 8.30 8.31 8.32 ABB Formula E, 'Qualifying LIVE - Marrakesh | 2020 Marrakesh E-Prix', youtube.com, (YouTube: FIA Formula E, 29/02/2020), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMzhUWHFQRs&t=4322s, (Accessed 02/03/2020)
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 'ROUND 5 - MARRAKESH E-PRIX 28-29 FEBRUARY 2020: Decision No. 15', results.fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 29/02/2020), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/noticeboard, (Accessed 29/02/2020)
  10. 10.0 10.1 'ROUND 5 - MARRAKESH E-PRIX 28-29 FEBRUARY 2020: Decision No. 13', results.fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 29/02/2020), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/noticeboard, (Accessed 29/02/2020)
  11. Valentin Khorounzhiy, 'Frijns can't understand "utter bullshit" Marrakesh penalty', motorsport.com, (Motorsport Network, 01/03/2020), https://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/frijns-utter-bullshit-penalty-marrakesh/4706237/, (Accessed 02/03/2020)
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Results
  13. 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 13.17 13.18 13.19 13.20 13.21 13.22 13.23 13.24 13.25 13.26 13.27 13.28 13.29 13.30 13.31 13.32 13.33 13.34 13.35 13.36 13.37 13.38 13.39 13.40 13.41 13.42 13.43 13.44 13.45 13.46 13.47 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named RH
2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship
Entrants
Audi Sport ABT SchaefflerBMW i Andretti MotorsportDS TecheetahEnvision Virgin RacingGEOX DRAGONMahindra RacingMercedes-Benz EQ Formula E TeamNIO 333 FE TeamNissan e.DamsPanasonic Jaguar RacingROKiT Venturi RacingTAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team
Manufacturers
AudiBMWDSJaguarMahindra & MahindraMercedes-BenzNIONissanPenskePorsche
Cars
Spark SRT05e
Audi e-tron FE06BMW iFE.20DS E-Tense FE20Jaguar I-Type IVMahindra M6ElectroMercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01NIO FE-005Nissan IM02Penske EV-4Porsche 99X Electric
Drivers
2 Sam Bird3 Oliver Turvey4 Robin Frijns5 Stoffel Vandoorne6 Brendon Hartley/Sérgio Sette Câmara7 Nico Müller11 Lucas di Grassi13 António Félix da Costa17 Nyck de Vries18 Neel Jani19 Felipe Massa20 Mitch Evans22 Oliver Rowland23 Sébastien Buemi25 Jean-Éric Vergne27 Alexander Sims28 Maximilian Günther33 Ma Qing Hua/Daniel Abt36 André Lotterer48 Edoardo Mortara51 James Calado64 Jérôme d'Ambrosio66 Daniel Abt/René Rast94 Pascal Wehrlein/Alex Lynn
E-Prix
Diriyah IDiriyah IISantiagoMexico CityMarrakechBerlin IBerlin IIBerlin IIIBerlin IVBerlin VBerlin VI
Cancelled E-Prix
Sanya E-PrixRome E-PrixParis E-PrixSeoul E-PrixJakarta E-PrixNew York City E-PrixLondon E-Prix
Tests
ValenciaRookie Test
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