 2021 Diriyah E-Prix II
| ||
|---|---|---|
 The Diriyah E-Prix Circuit returned in 2021. | ||
| Race Information | ||
| Date | 27 February 2021 | |
| E-Prix No. | 71 (2 of 2020/21) | |
| Official Name | 2021 ABB Formula E Diriyah E-Prix II | |
| Location |  Ad Diriyah Street CircuitDiriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | |
| Format | 45 min + 1 Lap | |
| Lap length | 2.495 km (1.550 mi) | |
| Distance | 29 laps / 72.355 km (44.959 mi) | |
| Qualifying Result | ||
| Pole Sitter |  Robin Frijns
| |
| Team |  Envision Virgin Racing
| |
| Time | 1:07.889 | |
| Fastest Lap | ||
| Driver | Nyck de Vries
| |
| Team |  Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
| |
| Fastest Lap | 1:08.811 on lap 20 | |
| ePrix Result | ||
| First | Second | Third |
| Sam Bird
|
Robin Frijns
|
 António Félix da Costa
|
| Winner Team | Jaguar Racing
| |
| Time | 39:50.836 | |
| ePrix Guide | ||
| Previous | Next | |
| 2021 Diriyah E-Prix I
|
 2021 Rome E-Prix I
| |
The 2021 Diriyah E-Prix II, formally known as the 2021 ABB Formula E Diriyah E-Prix II was the second race of the 2020/21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, staged at the Ad Diriyah Street Circuit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 27 February 2021.[1] The race would see Sam Bird continue his streak of winning in every FE season that had been staged, albeit after a late red flag ended the race prematurely due to heavy accident involving Alex Lynn.[2]
Ahead of qualifying there would be a nasty accident for Edoardo Mortara, which saw the Swiss racer end up being sent to hospital after a heavy accident at the end of Free Practice 3.[3] The cause of the accident was quickly traced to the brake-by-wire system on the Mercedes produced powertrain, with the FIA and stewards opting to park all four Mercedes cars until a fix could be implemented.[3]
With that neither Venturi nor Mercedes would take part in qualifying, opening the door for other teams to jumble the order.[4] Chaos would duly reign in their absence, with Robin Frijns claiming pole, Bird claiming third, while Dragon/Penske and NIO both managed to get both of their cars into Super Pole.[4]
Ahead of the race there would be two pieces of positive news, with Mortara released from hospital reporting only some bruising, although he opted not to race, while Mercedes and Venturi were given permission to start after some software changes.[5] Nyck de Vries, Stoffel Vandoorne and Norman Nato would hence all start at the back of the grid, while André Lotterer would start from the pitlane after a heavy accident of his own prevented him from qualifying.[2]
With that the race began, with Frijns easing into the lead, while Bird managed to beat Sérgio Sette Câmara into the first corner to secure second.[2] The Brit then joined Frijns in an early break away from the rest of the field, while Sette Câmara settled into third ahead of Oliver Turvey and Tom Blomqvist.[2]
The early stages proved to be fairly tame, with Blomqvist slowly falling down the order while the two DS Techeetahs of Jean-Éric Vergne and António Félix da Costa rose up the field.[2] Indeed, as the race approached half distance both of the black-gold cars had passed both of the NIOs and the Dragons to sit second and third as, out front, former teammates Frijns and Bird exchanged blows.[2]
Indeed, it would prove to be a ferocious, but well mannered, duel between the two, with the battle being enhanced by the influence of Attack Mode mid-race.[2] Furthermore, they would be steadily caught by both da Costa and Vergne, only for those two to trip over each other and hit one-another several times causing them to drop back.[2]
Bird duly took their absence to seize the imitative, arming AM for the second time before darting past Frijns for the lead.[2] With that the Brit was away, establishing a healthy lead as Frijns dropped back into the sights of Vergne and da Costa, before two simultaneous accidents at the turn eighteen/nineteen chicane ended the race five minutes early.[2]
The first incident saw Maximilian Günther slam into the rear-right corner of Blomqvist, causing heavy damage to the front of the BMW-Andretti which pulled up on the outside of turn eighteen.[2] Behind, however, a more scary incident saw Mitch Evans and Lynn collide in the braking zone, with the contact enough to flip Lynn's car upside down and send him skating down the escape road and into the barriers.[2]
After a confusing period of a Full Course Yellow and then Safety Car the race was officially ended by a red flag, with the results taken as the order stood at the end of lap 29.[2] Bird was hence declared the winner ahead of Frijns, while Vergne was initially handed third before being penalised for not using his second AM boost.[2]
Lynn, meanwhile, was taken to hospital after needing to be extracted from his car by the marshals and extraction team, and was later discharged without any major injuries.[6]
Post-race it emerged that as the post-race celebrations began the Saudi government undertook a missile interception over Riyadh, allegedly fired at the event by Yemeni Houthi rebels.[7]
Background[]
The Formula E paddock would remain in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Diriyah for the second race of the season, staged the day after the opening race of the campaign on Friday evening.[1] Regardless, there would be no changes made to the Ad Diriyah Street Circuit overnight, with the Attack Mode activations also set to remain unchanged from the standard two times four minute format.[1] Likewise, there were no changes to the entry list, although Alex Lynn would incur a grid penalty, after causing a collision with Sam Bird during the 2021 Diriyah E-Prix I.[8]
De Vries Dominance[]
Victory, pole position and the fastest lap in the group stage of qualifying had left Nyck de Vries as the championship leader after the opening day of the season, the Dutchman ending the day with 29 points to his credit. That left him eleven ahead of second placed Edoardo Mortara, while Mitch Evans sat in third just two ahead of René Rast after the German racer claimed fastest lap in the opening bout. Pascal Wehrlein, Oliver Rowland, Alexander Sims, Stoffel Vandoorne, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Turvey then completed the top ten as the other opening day scorers.
In the Teams' Championship it was, unsurprisingly, the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team that led the charge at the end of the first battle of Diriyah, the German outfit having claimed 33 points on the opening day of the season. Furthermore, their sister/customer team ROKiT Venturi occupied second on eighteen points, while Jaguar Racing completed the early top three on fifteen. Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler were next up in fourth, level with Jaguar on fifteen points, while Porsche Formula E Team, Nissan e.Dams, Mahindra Racing and NIO 333 FE Team were also on the board.
Entry List[]
The full entry list for the 2021 Diriyah E-Prix II is displayed below:
Practice[]
FP1[]
FP2[]
Qualifying[]
Qualifying for the 2021 Diriyah E-Prix II 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 would feature the top six drivers in the Championship, and hence was conveniently formed by the top six finishers from the 2021 Diriyah E-Prix I.[10] Headlining the group would by dominant race one winner Nyck de Vries of Mercedes, with Edoardo Mortara also set to join him in the customer Venturi run Merc.[10] Mitch Evans would also be in the fray for Jaguar Racing, as would René Rast of Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, the #99 Porsche of Pascal Wehrlein, and Oliver Rowland in the #22 Nissan e.Dams.[10]
However, shortly before the session it was announced that neither de Vries nor Mortara would take part, with the FIA and stewards of the meeting deciding to park all four of the Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02s on the entry list.[3] This was due to Mortara's heavy accident in practice, which had been traced to a brake failure that was in itself the result of a software glitch.[3] As a result de Vries would not be allowed to take part at all, while Mortara had already been expected to miss the session as he was still in hospital for checks after the accident.[3]
With two cars out there should have been more then enough room on the circuit for the remaining quartet, although that did not stop Rowland, Evans and Rast all leaving together to complete their warm-up laps.[11] That, ultimately, proved to be the undoing of Evans and Rast, who would fail to cross the line in time to start their full power laps due to being caught behind Rowland, who himself only just crossed the line in time.[11] Wehrlein, meanwhile, would again opt to go straight for a full power run and hence was half a lap ahead of the trio, with the Audi and Jaguar team bosses furious at missing the mark.[11]
Regardless, Wehrlein's effort would look to be an effective one, although his controlled approach on the dusty circuit left him with a 1:09.601, almost two seconds off the pace set in practice.[11] Indeed, Rowland would go on to beat it comfortably, besting Wehrlein's efforts in each sector to record a 1:08.798.[11]
Group 2[]
Group two would feature those in seventh through twelfth in the championship after the opening day, although with Stoffel Vandoorne ruled out due to the Mercedes safety issues, only five drivers would take part.[10] The headline acts of the group would be António Félix da Costa of DS Techeetah and Lucas di Grassi of Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, while Alexander Sims of Mahindra Racing also had a good qualifying record.[10] They were to be joined by Jake Dennis in the #27 BMW Andretti, as well as a quietly confident Oliver Turvey in the #8 NIO.[10]
After the debacle that happened in group one Audi wisely decided to let di Grassi go out early, although he would be beaten out of the pits by both Sims and Turvey.[11] The Brazilian duly passed the NIO, with da Costa following him through on their out-laps before, making space from himself in the wake of Sims ahead.[11] Dennis, meanwhile, would wait a little longer in the pits and head out last, with quintet ultimately starting their flying laps with time in hand and with space between them.[11]
Sims was the first driver to deliver an effort, although the nervous body language of the 29 Mahindra saw him bleed small amounts of time with minor slides during the lap, leaving him in second.[11] However, that would still be good enough to beat di Grassi, who had a huge slide in the final corner, before da Costa went fastest in-spite of a lock-up at the final corner.[11] Everyone was, however, to be blindsided by Turvey, who duly went fastest overall with a 1:08.424 with the fastest second sector of the session.[11]
Dennis would then trail Turvey across the line, but could only manage seventh after making a mess of turns sixteen/seventeen.[11]
Group 3[]
Group three was to see those drivers who were position thirteenth through eighteenth in the Championship take to the circuit, although it would, as with the other two groups, see a reduced number of competitors actually take part.[10] Indeed, not only would the Venturi-Mercedes of Norman Nato remain in the pits, but the #36 Porsche of André Lotterer would also remain in its garage, still in a large number of pieces after the German racer's heavy accident in FP3.[10] That would hence leave four drivers in action, with Sébastien Buemi of Nissan, Jean-Éric Vergne in the #25 Techeetah, Tom Blomqvist's NIO and practice pace setter Robin Frijns of Envision Virgin remaining.[10]
Blomqvist led the quartet out onto the circuit, with Vergne soon blasting past the Brit after following the #88 NIO out of the pits.[11] Buemi would trail and then pass the pair of them on his out-lap, while Frijns settled for being at the back of the quartet in the #4 Virgin, knowing he had a safe margin in terms of starting his flying lap.[11] Buemi duly went on to set the first flying lap of the group, but would surprisingly fail to beat Turvey's effort from group two in-spite of setting a new benchmark in sector one.[11]
Vergne was next across the line, although the Frenchman's effort was also not enough to beat Turvey despite besting the Brit in the first two sectors.[11] Blomqvist then briefly stole the show by going fastest overall in the second NIO, before a crushing lap from Frijns saw the Dutchman go to the top by half a second, having aced each sector.[11]
Group 4[]
The final sextet of the session was to feature those who had finished nineteenth through to last in the opening race of the season, and would be the only group of the day to feature all of its potential entrants.[10] Headlining the group would be Sam Bird in the #10 Jaguar, with his rival from the opening race, Alex Lynn also in action for Mahindra.[10] They were to be joined by both of the Dragon/Penskes of Sérgio Sette Câmara and Nico Müller, Nick Cassidy in the second Virgin-Audi, and a frustrated Maximilian Günther in the #28 BMW Andretti.[10]
The sextet would leave the pits with some small gaps between them, with Günther the first driver on track ahead of Müller, Sette Câmara, Bird, Lynn and Cassidy.[11] Günther went on to record the first lap from the group, although his promising run was ruined by a poor effort in the third sector, triggered by going deep at turn eighteen, leaving him in eleventh at the end of his lap.[11] To compound this Müller would put together a good lap to claim fourth a few moments later, slithering through the final corner, with Sette Câmara following his teammate into Super Pole with an impressive run to claim second.[11]
Bird was next across the line and duly claimed four for himself, in-spite of having to overcome a mistake ridden first sector that saw him drop four tenths to Frijns.[11] Lynn trailed him and looked set for Super Pole until he made a mess of the third sector, leaving him in ninth, before Cassidy rounded out the group by claiming eleventh after sliding through turn seventeen.[11]
Super Pole[]
Müller would be the first driver to venture out of the pits for a rather jumbled Super Pole session, the Swiss racer knowing it would likely be his best chance to claim pole all season.[11] Müller duly delivered a strong first and second sector, before undoing all of his good work by running into the dust at turn sixteen/seventeen, sending him into a slide that ruined his lap.[11] His 1:09.060 was hence vulnerable to Turvey when the #8 NIO began its run, with Turvey simply keeping it clean throughout the lap to go fastest with a 1:08.439, albeit without beating Müller in the first two sectors.[11]
Bird went next and took an aggressive approach to the first sector, slithering through turn four as he narrowly beat Turvey in the first sector.[11] Indeed, Bird would also fail to best Müller's time in the second sector too, before narrowly edging out Turvey in the final sector to go fastest with a 1:08.405.[11] Blomqvist went next, but a more cautious approach in the #88 NIO would leave the Anglo-Swede in third, three tenths off Bird's benchmark.[11]
Sette Câmara ventured out onto the circuit in the wake of Blomqvist's run, and the Brazilian would open his lap in his expected exuberant style.[11] Indeed, slides through turns nine and ten, including a tight-near miss exiting turn fourteen, would carry Sette Câmara to provisional pole with a 1:08.178, with only Frijns left to run.[11] Ultimately, however, it was not to be for Sette Câmara, for Frijns delivered a very well measured lap to claim pole position, becoming the first driver in the shootout to beat Müller in the first sector en-route to a 1:07.889.[11]
Post Qualifying[]
The final qualifying result for the 2021 Diriyah E-Prix II are outlined below:
| 2021 Diriyah E-Prix II Qualifying Result | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Time | Gap | Grid | Group |
| 1st | 4 | Robin Frijns
|
Envision Virgin Racing
|
1:07.889 | — | 1 | G3 |
| 2nd | 7 |  Sérgio Sette Câmara
|
 Dragon/Penske Autosport
|
1:08.178 | +0.289s | 2 | G4 |
| 3rd | 10 | Sam Bird
|
Jaguar Racing
|
1:08.405 | +0.516s | 3 | G4 |
| 4th | 8 | Oliver Turvey
|
 NIO 333 FE Team
|
1:08.439 | +0.550s | 4 | G2 |
| 5th | 88 | Tom Blomqvist
|
NIO 333 FE Team
|
1:08.732 | +0.843s | 5 | G3 |
| 6th | 6 |  Nico Müller
|
Dragon/Penske Autosport
|
1:09.060 | +1.171s | 6 | G4 |
| Super Pole | |||||||
| 1st | 4 | Robin Frijns
|
Envision Virgin Racing
|
1:07.810 | — | SP | G3 |
| 2nd | 7 | Sérgio Sette Câmara
|
Dragon/Penske Autosport
|
1:08.333 | +0.523s | SP | G4 |
| 3rd | 88 | Tom Blomqvist
|
NIO 333 FE Team
|
1:08.367 | +0.557s | SP | G3 |
| 4th | 10 | Sam Bird
|
Jaguar Racing
|
1:08.384 | +0.574s | SP | G4 |
| 5th | 8 | Oliver Turvey
|
NIO 333 FE Team
|
1:08.424 | +0.614s | SP | G2 |
| 6th | 6 | Nico Müller
|
Dragon/Penske Autosport
|
1:08.432 | +0.622s | SP | G4 |
| 7th | 25 |  Jean-Éric Vergne
|
DS Techeetah
|
1:08.471 | +0.661s | 7 | G3 |
| 8th | 23 | Sébastien Buemi
|
Nissan e.Dams
|
1:08.544 | +0.734s | 8 | G3 |
| 9th | 94* | Alex Lynn
|
 Mahindra Racing
|
1:08.632 | +0.822s | 12* | G4 |
| 10th | 13 | António Félix da Costa
|
DS Techeetah
|
1:08.649 | +0.839s | 9 | G2 |
| 11th | 37 |  Nick Cassidy
|
Envision Virgin Racing
|
1:08.733 | +0.923s | 10 | G4 |
| 12th | 28 | Maximilian Günther
|
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
|
1:08.797 | +0.987s | 11 | G4 |
| 13th | 22 | Oliver Rowland
|
Nissan e.Dams
|
1:08.798 | +0.988s | 13 | G1 |
| 14th | 29 | Alexander Sims
|
Mahindra Racing
|
1:08.876 | +1.066s | 14 | G2 |
| 15th | 11 | Lucas di Grassi
|
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
|
1:08.970 | +1.160s | 15 | G2 |
| 16th | 99 | Pascal Wehrlein
|
Porsche Formula E Team
|
1:09.601 | +1.791s | 16 | G1 |
| 17th | 27 | Jake Dennis
|
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
|
1:11.194 | +3.384s | 17 | G2 |
| 18th | 20 | Mitch Evans
|
Jaguar Racing
|
1:13.868 | +6.058s | 18 | G1 |
| 19th | 33 | René Rast
|
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
|
1:13.954 | +6.144s | 19 | G1 |
| 110% Time: 1:14.591[12] | |||||||
| NC† | 17 | Nyck de Vries
|
Mercedes
|
— | 20 | G1 | |
| NC‡ | 48 | Edoardo Mortara
|
 ROKiT Venturi Racing
|
— | 21 | G1 | |
| NC† | 5 |  Stoffel Vandoorne
|
Mercedes
|
— | 22 | G2 | |
| NC† | 71 | Norman Nato
|
ROKiT Venturi Racing
|
— | 23 | G3 | |
| NC§ | 36 | André Lotterer
|
Porsche Formula E Team
|
— | 24 | G3 | |
| Source:[12] | |||||||
- * Lynn served a three place grid penalty for causing a collision in the 2021 Diriyah E-Prix I.[8]
- † de Vries, Vandoorne and Nato were unable to take part in qualifying after the FIA opted to park all of the Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02s on safety grounds.[3] They would, however, all be allowed to start after a software update was implemented and approved by the technical delegate.[5]
- ‡ Mortara was unable to take part in qualifying as he was still in hospital for checks, and his car had been held by the stewards on safety grounds.[13]
- § Lotterer was unable to take part in qualifying due to his car sustaining too much damage in Free Practice 3.[4]
Race[]
Night fell over Diriyah as the FIA Formula E field assembled on the grid for the second race of the weekend, with several major changes to the field after qualifying.[14] Indeed, all four Mercedes powered cars would be allowed to start the race from the pitlane, although Edoardo Mortara, freshly returned from hospital, was unable to race as his car required a full rebuild after his FP3 accident.[14] André Lotterer, in contrast, would be able to start the race, although the #36 Porsche would start from the pitlane rather than the grid as Porsche used all of the time available to get his car prepared.[14]
Report[]
The start of the race saw pole sitter Robin Frijns instantly leap into the lead, as behind Sérgio Sette Câmara tried and failed to keep Sam Bird at bay into the first corner, the #10 Jaguar going around the outside of the #7 Dragon/Penske into the first corner.[14] The Brazilian youth would hence have to settle for third as the field made their way through the chicane, although that was more than Alex Lynn would get, for the #94 Mahindra made a miserable start and crawled off the grid.[14] In the midfield, meanwhile, Lynn's teammate Alexander Sims would run side-by-side with Oliver Rowland through the first few corners before the #22 Nissan e.Dams secured thirteenth place.[14]
Out front, meanwhile, Bird would latch onto Frijns' tail as they broke clear at the head of the field, with Sette Câmara slipping over a second behind of the duo over the course of the opening lap.[14] The Brazilian would, however, establish an early hold on third place as Oliver Turvey and Tom Blomqvist held station in fourth and fifth, while behind António Félix da Costa completed a lunge at Sébastien Buemi into the chicane to secure eighth, while Stoffel Vandoorne received a drive-through penalty for a grid infringement.[14] Further back down the field the order would settle fairly quickly, with the majority of the top ten caught behind the two NIOs running in fourth and fifth during the early laps.[14]
Nico Müller was the first driver to try and move past the NIOs, elbowing his way past Blomqvist at the chicane on lap three to claim fifth behind Turvey, with the #6 Dragon/Penske duly moving up to engage the #8 NIO.[14] Blomqvist, meanwhile, would lock-up on entry to the chicane and run wide, gifting sixth to Jean-Éric Vergne before the sister #13 DS Techeetah of da Costa came barging past a lap later at the very same place.[14] Behind them, Nick Cassidy tried to lunge around the outside of Buemi at the chicane for ninth but was repulsed as they fought in the middle of the NIO train.[14]
After clearing Blomqvist, Vergne would try to claim fifth from Müller, although after one failed look into the final corner the Frenchman opted to arm Attack Mode, dropping him back behind teammate da Costa.[14] The two Techeetahs would then swap position down the back straight on the following tour, allowing Vergne to pass Müller without losing time as the Swiss racer armed his own AM boost a few seconds later.[14] With that the #25 Techeetah was clear to attack Turvey, and would subsequently ease past the #8 NIO with ease on the following tour in-spite of the fact that Turvey was also using the AM boost.[14]
As Vergne moved on to engage Sette Câmara for third, the fight for the lead was intensifying, with Bird having half-looks at Frijns now that the pair had built a reasonable margin over Sette Câmara behind.[14] On lap eleven Frijns opted to arm AM, with Bird deciding to do the opposite and complete another tour before he activated the boost, meaning he would briefly lead.[14] Yet, Bird would not arm AM, and would instead wait until Frijns caught and passed him with the boost before diving for his own four minute burst of power, a decision which ultimately saw him slip behind Sette Câmara.[14]
Bird was not stuck behind the #7 Dragon for long, however, with the Brazilian's AM boost running out just as they entered the back straight, allowing Bird to breeze past without issue.[14] With that the #10 Jaguar was off to hunt down Frijns' #4 Envision Virgin for the lead once again, as behind da Costa pulled off a well timed lunge down the inside of Turvey to secure fifth behind teammate Vergne.[14] Indeed, NIO's challenge for the podium, and even points was beginning to fade as the race reached half-distance, with Turvey down to sixth, while Blomqvist was bumped down to ninth after Cassidy became the latest driver to lunge down the inside of the #88 NIO into the chicane.[14]
Bird would catch Frijns just as his AM boost ended, resulting in another stalemate at the head of the field until they both opted to take AM for the second and final time, the #10 Jaguar content to sit and stalk the #4 Virgin-Audi once again.[14] Behind, Vergne would send the #25 Techeetah lunging past Sette Câmara for third without reply, while da Costa would ease onto the tail of the #7 Dragon without issue before passing the Brazilian as Sette Câmara took AM.[14] However, any immediate fights were to be put on pause by a Full Course Yellow, as Jake Dennis was spotted limping to a stop at the pit-entry.[14]
Dennis' car had sustained heavy damage to the right-hand side, which was initially thought to have been caused by a trip to the wall exiting the chicane.[14] However, replays would show that the #27 BMW-Andretti had in-fact been elbowed into the wall by an overly aggressive Pascal Wehrlein, who had simply kept his foot on the throttle exiting turn nineteen, despite the fact his car was locked together with Dennis' car after the #99 Porsche had made a late lunge into the second part of the chicane.[14] That contact carried Dennis into the wall and out, with a two minute intervention required to drag the #27 BMW-Andretti clear of the circuit.[14]
The race resumed with Frijns having armed AM just before the FCY was deployed, meaning he had not only burned through some his AM boost time, but also relinquished the lead to Bird.[14] Regardless, the Dutchman would go on the offensive right from the restart, forcing Bird to defend heavily into turn eighteen, causing then to both lose time to the two Techeetah's behind.[14] Indeed, Techeetah would opt to swap their drivers around after the restart as da Costa had armed AM during the FCY, with the Portuguese racer dragging Vergne with him onto the tail of the lead fight.[14]
Another failed lunge from Frijns for the lead into turn one would allow da Costa to close right onto the the back of the #4 Virgin, although Frijns would still have enough in hand to make a late lunge down the inside of Bird stick into the chicane to secure the lead.[14] A lap later, however, and it was Bird on the attack with Frijns' AM boost burned through, with the #10 Jaguar pulling off an even later lunge to reclaim the lead, jinking to the inside of the #4 Virgin as they hit the brakes for the chicane.[14] Behind, Vergne would throw a lunge to the inside of da Costa to claim third, only for da Costa to try and hold the position through turns nineteen and twenty, before the two finally made contact at the final corner.[14]
That contact sent Vergne perilously close to the outside wall at the final corner, with da Costa having effectively punted the right-rear of Vergne's car as they entered the 90° right.[14] The duo would both explode on the radio to blame each other for the incident, with Vergne carrying on in third ahead of his teammate, having miraculously escaped a puncture.[14] That contact would, however, allow both Bird and Frijns to escape back up the road once again, with Bird able to successfully arm AM for the second and final time and rejoin safely in second behind Frijns.[14]
With AM in Bird's hands there was little Frijns could do to deny the #10 Jaguar the lead, with Bird using the boost perfectly to draft past his former teammate down the back straight to reclaim the lead with ten minutes to go.[14] Behind, Vergne would retain third and begin closing up onto the #4 Virgin again, while da Costa appeared to have damage, as he needed to use FanBoost to prevent Sette Câmara from passing him down the back straight.[14] Elsewhere, Buemi would stop on track at turn four with a failure, while Sette Câmara would find himself being passed by Cassidy into the chicane after his bid to pass da Costa ended in failure.[14]
Moments later and an FCY was thrown to cover a seemingly innocuous accident at the chicane, with Maximilian Günther having stopped with damage after contact on the exit.[14] Contact appeared to have been made with Mitch Evans, although initial replays showed that Günther had in-fact slithered into the back of Blomqvist, dumping the #88 NIO out of the points and damaging his own car.[14] However, as questions were raised over why Evans had stopped at the scene, the race was brought under Safety Car control and then a red flag.[14]
After the race the cause of the escalation to a full race stoppage was revealed, for Evans and Alex Lynn had suffered a huge collision moments after the Günther/Blomqvist incident approaching the chicane.[14] As the two thundered towards the braking zone Evans had squeezed Lynn into the wall, with the resulting contact pushing the #94 Mahindra into the air and over the side of the #20 Jaguar, before the force of the air due to Lynn's momentum caused the car to flip over.[14] Lynn's car subsequently came slamming down onto its roll-hoop and Halo, with the Brit subsequently sliding down the escape road and into the barriers at unabated speed.[14]
Post Race[]
Evans would immediately stop and jump out of his car, rushing to check that his fellow pilot was okay as marshals leapt into action.[14] As the rest of the field made their way into the pits due to the red flag, the medical team would extract Lynn from the car, with the Brit immediately sent to hospital in an ambulance to be checked over for injuries.[14] Lynn would spend the night in hospital, before being discharged in the morning having suffered no major or even minor issues from the accident, although the #94 Mahindra was a right-off.[14]
With the red flag shown with only a couple of minutes to go the Race Director decided to conclude the race, meaning Bird was declared the winner ahead of Frijns and Vergne, who was still fuming about his incident with teammate da Costa.[14] The Frenchman's temper was made all the worse when he received a post-race penalty for failing to use his second AM boost, meaning da Costa was promoted onto the podium while Vergne ended up in twelfth.[14] Behind, Sette Câmara and Müller would claim strong points for Dragon in fourth and fifth, Turvey would secure sixth for NIO ahead of Rowland, while Lucas di Grassi, Nyck de Vries and Wehrlein would round out the scorers, the Dutchman also securing the bonus point for fastest lap.[14]
Result[]
The final classification of the 2021 Diriyah E-Prix II is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold.
| 2021 Diriyah E-Prix II Race Result | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Laps | Race Time | Fastest lap | Pts. |
| 1st | 10 | Sam Bird
|
Jaguar Racing
|
29 | 39:50.836 | 1:09.847 | 25 |
| 2nd | 4 | Robin Frijns
|
Envision Virgin Racing
|
29 | +2.194s | 1:09.902 | 22G |
| 3rd | 13 | António Félix da Costa 
|
DS Techeetah
|
29 | +6.900s | 1:10.108 | 15 |
| 4th | 7 | Sérgio Sette Câmara
|
Dragon/Penske Autosport
|
29 | +12.817s | 1:10.225 | 12 |
| 5th | 6 | Nico Müller
|
Dragon/Penske Autosport
|
29 | +13.924s | 1:10.330 | 10 |
| 6th | 8 | Oliver Turvey
|
NIO 333 FE Team
|
29 | +15.523s | 1:10.383 | 8 |
| 7th | 22 | Oliver Rowland
|
Nissan e.Dams
|
29 | +16.389s | 1:10.135 | 6 |
| 8th | 11 | Lucas di Grassi
|
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
|
29 | +20.612s | 1:09.868 | 4 |
| 9th | 17 | Nyck de Vries
|
Mercedes
|
29 | +22.482s | 1:08.811 | 3 |
| 10th | 99 | Pascal Wehrlein
|
Porsche Formula E Team
|
29 | +25.395s | 1:10.598 | 1 |
| 11th | 36 | André Lotterer
|
Porsche Formula E Team
|
29 | +27.257s | 1:09.364 | |
| 12th* | 25 | Jean-Éric Vergne
|
DS Techeetah
|
29 | +28.846s | 1:10.202 | |
| 13th | 5 | Stoffel Vandoorne
|
Mercedes
|
29 | +29.112s | 1:09.689 | |
| 14th† | 37 | Nick Cassidy
|
Envision Virgin Racing
|
29 | +33.079s | 1:09.754 | |
| 15th‡ | 29 | Alexander Sims
|
Mahindra Racing
|
29 | +43.885s | 1:09.755 | |
| 16th* | 71 | Norman Nato
|
ROKiT Venturi Racing
|
29 | +48.192s | 1:10.028 | |
| 17th*† | 33 | René Rast
|
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
|
29 | +1:06.254 | 1:09.454 | |
| 18th*† | 88 | Tom Blomqvist
|
NIO 333 FE Team
|
29 | +1:09.508 | 1:10.557 | |
| Ret | 23 | Sébastien Buemi
|
Nissan e.Dams
|
29 | Retired | 1:09.999 | |
| Ret§ | 28 | Maximilian Günther
|
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
|
26 | Collision | 1:09.991 | |
| Ret | 20 | Mitch Evans
|
Jaguar Racing
|
26 | Collision | 1:09.355 | |
| Ret‡ | 94 | Alex Lynn
|
Mahindra Racing
|
26 | Collision | 1:09.632 | |
| Ret | 27 | Jake Dennis
|
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
|
16 | Collision | 1:10.684 | |
| DNSƒ | 48 | Edoardo Mortara
|
ROKiT Venturi Racing
|
||||
| Source:[12] | |||||||
Indicates a driver was awarded FanBoost during the race.[15]- G Indicates a driver claimed a bonus point for setting the fastest lap in the group stage of qualifying.
- * Vergne, Nato, Rast, Blomqvist were handed drive through penalties converted to 24 second time penalties for failing to arm Attack Mode a second time.[16][17][18][19]
- † Cassidy, Rast and Blomqvist were handed drive through penalties converted to 24 second time penalties for speeding under Full Course Yellow conditions.[20][21][22]
- ‡ Sims and Lynn were handed handed drive through penalties converted to 24 second time penalties for exceeding the power out of RESS due to their throttle map.[23][24]
- § Günther handed a 5 place grid penalty for the next E-Prix he takes part in for causing a collision with Blomqvist.[25]
- ƒ Mortara was unable to start the race due to damage sustained during free practice.[14]
Milestones[]
- Fifth Diriyah E-Prix to be staged.
- Maiden pole position for Robin Frijns.
- Frijns set a new record for most entries before achieving his first pole position: 46.
- Tenth career victory for Sam Bird.
- Bird maintained his record of being the only driver to claim a victory in each season of the FIA Formula E Championship.
- Jaguar Racing secured their third victory as an entrant.
- Also the third win for a Jaguar powertrain.
- Maiden fastest lap recorded by Nyck de Vries.
Standings[]
The post-race shuffles due to penalties amid the late-race chaos ensured that Nyck de Vries ended the opening round of the season as the Championship leader, with the Dutchman ending the weekend on 32 points after two races. Sam Bird, meanwhile, had leapt from second to last to second with victory, seven off of de Vries, while Robin Frijns was up to third after his own fourteen position ascent. Edoardo Mortara, meanwhile, had only slipped to fourth despite not starting the second race in Diriyah, while António Félix da Costa completed the top five.
In the Teams' Championship it was Jaguar Racing who had emerged as the leaders leaving Diriyah, the British squad's two podiums including a win leaving them on 40 points as the dust and sand settled. They hence overhauled day one leaders Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, who fell four behind their British rivals, while Envision Virgin were up to third as the best customer team. Dragon/Penske were next up in fourth ahead of the factory Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler entry, while BMW i Andretti Motorsport were the only team that had failed to score in either Diriyah race.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Only point scoring drivers are shown.
References[]
Videos and Images:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 'Second set of 2020/21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship races announced', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 28/01/2021), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2021/january/calendar-update-2020-21, (Accessed 28/01/2021)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 'Jaguar Racing's Sam Bird soars to Round 2 victory at Diriyah', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2021/february/diriyah-round-2, (Accessed 27/02/2021)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Matt Kew, 'Diriyah FE: Mercedes, Venturi stopped from qualifying after Mortara crash', autosport.com, (Motorsport Network, 27/02/2021), https://www.autosport.com/fe/news/155253/mercedes-venturi-disallowed-from-fe-diriyah-qualifying, (Accessed 28/02/2021)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 'Maiden Julius Baer Pole Position for Frijns ahead of Round 2 in Diriyah amid qualifying drama', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2021/february/diriyah-qualifying-round-2, (Accessed 27/02/2021)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sam Smith, 'MERCEDES TEAMS GIVEN PERMISSION TO START FORMULA E RACE', the-race, (The Race, 27/02/2021), https://the-race.com/formula-e/mercedes-teams-get-permission-to-start-diriyah-formula-e-race/, (Accessed 28/02/2021)
- ↑ Mahindra Racing, 'STATEMENT: Following precautionary hospital checks', twitter.com, (Twitter: Mahindra Racing, 27/02/2021), https://twitter.com/MahindraRacing/status/1365785112324022274, (Accessed 27/02/2021)
- ↑ James Somper, 'RACETRACK TERROR: British Formula E drivers caught up in missile attack during Saudi Arabia GP', thesun.co.uk, (News Group Newspapers Limited, 02/03/2021), https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/14186610/formula-e-missile-attack-saudi-arabia/, (Accessed 21/04/2021)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 'Decision No. 23', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 26/02/2021), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/noticeboard, (Accessed 26/02/2021)
- ↑ 'Entry list confirmed for 2020/21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 11/12/2020), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2020/december/2020-21-formula-e-confirmed-entry-list-fia, (Accessed 11/02/2021)
- ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 'Qualifying Groups - Race 2', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://fe-noticeboard.s3.amazonaws.com/06_2020-21/02_R02%20Diriyah/ABB%20FIA%20Formula%20E%20World%20Championship/68_Doc%2068%20-%20Qualifying%20Groups.pdf#pdfjs.action=download, (Accessed 28/02/2021)
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 11.14 11.15 11.16 11.17 11.18 11.19 11.20 11.21 11.22 11.23 11.24 11.25 11.26 11.27 11.28 11.29 11.30 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedQH - ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 'Round 2 - Diriyah ePrix: ABB FIA Formula E World Championship: Results Booklet', results.fiaformuale.com, (FIA Formula E, 28/02/2021), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/timing-results, (Accessed 21/04/2021)
- ↑ 'Decision No. 27', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://fe-noticeboard.s3.amazonaws.com/06_2020-21/02_R02%20Diriyah/ABB%20FIA%20Formula%20E%20World%20Championship/81_Doc%2081%20-%20Decision%20No.%2027.pdf, (Accessed 28/02/2021)
- ↑ 14.00 14.01 14.02 14.03 14.04 14.05 14.06 14.07 14.08 14.09 14.10 14.11 14.12 14.13 14.14 14.15 14.16 14.17 14.18 14.19 14.20 14.21 14.22 14.23 14.24 14.25 14.26 14.27 14.28 14.29 14.30 14.31 14.32 14.33 14.34 14.35 14.36 14.37 14.38 14.39 14.40 14.41 14.42 14.43 14.44 14.45 14.46 14.47 14.48 14.49 14.50 14.51 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedRH - ↑ 'FanBoost Race 2', fiaformuale.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/noticeboard, (Accessed 28/02/2021)
- ↑ 'Decision No. 40', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/noticeboard, (Accessed 27/02/2021)
- ↑ 'Decision No. 45', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/noticeboard, (Accessed 27/02/2021)
- ↑ 'Decision No. 43', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/noticeboard, (Accessed 27/02/2021)
- ↑ 'Decision No. 44', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/noticeboard, (Accessed 27/02/2021)
- ↑ 'Decision No. 39 ', fiaformuale.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://fe-noticeboard.s3.amazonaws.com/06_2020-21/02_R02%20Diriyah/ABB%20FIA%20Formula%20E%20World%20Championship/107_Doc%20107%20-%20Decision%20No.%2039.pdf, (Accessed 27/02/2021)
- ↑ 'Decision No. 42', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/noticeboard, (Accessed 27/02/2021)
- ↑ 'Decision No. 38', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/noticeboard, (Accessed 27/02/2021)
- ↑ 'Decision No. 37', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://fe-noticeboard.s3.amazonaws.com/06_2020-21/02_R02%20Diriyah/ABB%20FIA%20Formula%20E%20World%20Championship/105_Doc%20105%20-%20Decision%20No.%2037.pdf, (Accessed 27/02/2021)
- ↑ 'Decision No. 36', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://fe-noticeboard.s3.amazonaws.com/06_2020-21/02_R02%20Diriyah/ABB%20FIA%20Formula%20E%20World%20Championship/104_Doc%20104%20-%20Decision%20No.%2036.pdf, (Accessed 27/02/2021)
- ↑ 'Decision No. 41', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 27/02/2021), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/noticeboard, (Accessed 27/02/2021)