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Flag of Saudi Arabia 2022 Diriyah E-Prix I
Ad Diriyah Layout 2019
The Diriyah E-Prix Circuit returned in 2022.
Race Information
Date 28 January 2022
E-Prix No. 85 (1 of 2021/22)
Official Name 2022 SAUDIA Diriyah E-Prix I
Location Flag of Riyadh Ad Diriyah Street Circuit
Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Format 45 min + 1 Lap
Lap length 2.495 km (1.550 mi)
Distance 41 laps / 102.295 km (63.563 mi)
Support Race
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne
Team Flag of Germany Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
Time 1:08.626
Fastest Lap
Driver Flag of New Zealand Nick Cassidy
Team Flag of Germany Audi Envision Racing
Fastest Lap 1:09.207 on lap 18
ePrix Result
First Second Third
Dutch Flag Nyck de Vries Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne Flag of the United Kingdom Jake Dennis
Winner Team Flag of Germany Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
Time 52:14.642
ePrix Guide
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Flag of Germany 2021 Berlin E-Prix II Flag of Saudi Arabia 2022 Diriyah E-Prix II
Post-Race Test

The 2022 Diriyah E-Prix I, formally known as the 2022 SAUDIA Diriyah E-Prix I, is set to be the opening round of the 2021/22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, staged at the Ad Diriyah Street Circuit in Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 28 January 2022.[1] The race would be sixth to be held at the Diriyah circuit, and would also be staged under floodlights for the second successive season.[1]

Nyck de Vries would start the season as the defending Champion, while his employers, the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, started their final FE campaign as the reigning Teams' Champions.[2] Elsewhere, Audi and BMW had left the series, resulting in ABT Sportsline also leaving the grid, while 2016/17 Champion Lucas di Grassi found a new seat at ROKiT Venturi Racing.[3]

Qualifying, which saw a new knockout format implemented for the first time, saw Stoffel Vandoorne sweep to pole position, having defeated Jake Dennis in the Final.[4] Reigning Champion de Vries would start from third, having been defeated in the semi-final by his teammate, while André Lotterer completed the second row having been defeated by Dennis.[4]

The start of the race saw the two Mercedes start in imperious fashion, with de Vries easing past Dennis for second as Vandoorne eased into the lead.[5] Behind, the start was relatively tame barring a near miss between the two Envision Racing Audis, before António Félix da Costa was taken out of contention after contact with Dan Ticktum.[5]

The opening minutes saw the field quickly settle down, with Vandoorne, de Vries and Dennis slowly escaping from Lotterer, who was himself able to secure his hold on fourth.[5] Behind there was more action as di Grassi found himself fighting with Sam Bird, Maximilian Günther, the Envisions and Edoardo Mortara, with the rest of the field trailing the sextet.[5]

On lap six the Attack Mode game began for the leaders, with de Vries, Dennis and Lotterer all jumping first, before Vandoorne covered a lap later and held the lead.[5] Elsewhere, the AM wranglings had shaken up the fight behind di Grassi, resulting in Robin Frijns and Oliver Rowland fighting hard for ninth with Mortara.[5]

That fight would end in disaster for Rowland, with the #30 Mahindra first barging past Frijns with a nudge at turn seven, before Frijns punted the Brit into the wall at turn fourteen in revenge.[5] The Safety Car was scrambled as a result with Rowland in the barriers and facing the wrong way, staying out for five minutes before the Mahindra was cleared.[5]

At the restart the top four again broke clear, with Lotterer the first of that group to arm AM, hoping to undercut his rivals.[5] de Vries and Dennis went next before Vandoorne made his first mistake of the weekend, missing the sensors in the Activation Zone when he tried to arm the boost and hence failed to activate it.[5]

A lap later and Vandoorne would successfully arm AM, although this time he fell back behind de Vries and almost fell to Lotterer and Dennis too.[5] Regardless, the Belgian would soon pull away from the fight for third in the wake of teammate de Vries, with the two Mercedes imperiously pulling clear as Dennis harried Lotterer.[5]

The fight for third proved to be spectacular, with Lotterer as ever putting together some questionable defensive moves to deny Dennis, before his resistance was finally broken by the Brit on lap 27.[5] With that, and a 2% energy deficit, Lotterer began to fall back down the field, with Bird and di Grassi the next to elbow their way past the now limping #36 Porsche.[5]

With that the race was run, with de Vries and Vandoorne some eight seconds clear when the chequered flag fell, and both with energy in hand.[5] Dennis was next up to complete the podium in a lonely third ahead of Bird and di Grassi, while Mortara battled past Nick Cassidy to secure sixth.[5] Jean-Éric Vergne completed a late race charge to secure eighth ahead of Oliver Askew, the best of the debutantes, while Mitch Evans rounded out the scorers in tenth ahead of Pascal Wehrlein.[5]

Background[]

The eighth edition of the FIA Formula E Championship would open on 28 - 29 January 2022, with the field gathering after the post-season break at the Ad Diriyah Street Circuit in Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[1] There had been several changes since the end of the 2020/21 season, with two manufacturers having withdrawn, one team having left and several drivers having changed seats.[6] In contrast, the Diriyah circuit was unaltered since the Series' previous visit in 2021, with the two planned races to open the 2021/22 season set to race under floodlights.[1]

A Germanic Exodus[]

The 2021/22 season would open with both Audi and BMW having left the series, which had resulted in ABT Sportsline also leaving the FE paddock having been unable to secure Audi's entry.[7][8] However, Audi's former customer team Envision Virgin Racing, which for season eight would be renamed as Envision Racing, would remain in the Championship, and would continue to use the Audi e-tron FE07s for the campaign.[9] Likewise, BMW's former factory squad Andretti Formula E would also retain their position in the Championship, and would use the Munich manufacturer's iFE.21 design for the season.[10]

Elsewhere, Mercedes-Benz would also reveal that they would leave FE, although they would wait until the end of the 2021/22 season which was to be the end of the Generation 2 cycle.[2] Their departure, which came as a surprise given they had won both the Drivers' and Teams' Championships in 2020/21, was set to leave both their factory Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team entry and the Venturi Formula E Team without a supplier for the 2022/23 season.[2] Regardless, the German manufacturer would compete in season eight, with regining Drivers' Champion Nyck de Vries partnering Stoffel Vandoorne for a third season.[11]

Rookies and Wanderers[]

The withdrawal of Audi and BMW would also cause a shuffle on the driver front, with Lucas di Grassi left without a race seat at all, while former teammate René Rast found employment back in the DTM.[3] The Brazilian racer would quickly secure himself a spot alongside Edoardo Mortara at the Venturi team, with Norman Nato losing his spot on the grid as a result.[3] Elsewhere, Maximilian Günther left the Andretti team to join Sébastien Buemi at Nissan e.Dams, with Oliver Rowland moving from the Japanese team to take a seat at Mahindra Racing, replacing Alex Lynn.[12][13]

There would also be three new faces on the grid for season eight, with Andretti, Dragon/Penkse and NIO all finding themselves with rookies in their second cars.[14] Andretti would opt to hire Oliver Askew in their first campaign as a customer team, with the American racer set to become the first driver from his country to compete in FE since Scott Speed in 2014/15.[14] Dragon, meanwhile, pulled off something of a PR coup by signing ex-Formula One pilot Antonio Giovinazzi, while NIO signed Dan Ticktum as the British youth's bid to break into F1 had stalled.[15][16]

Power Push[]

In terms of the regulations there would be tweaks to both the sporting and technical rulebooks, resulting in a power increase, major revisions to the Safety Car/Full Course Yellow rules, and a complete reform of qualifying.[17] For 2021/22 the power available to drivers in "Race Mode" would be upped from 200 kW to 220 kW, while Attack Mode was boosted up from 235 kW to 250 kW.[17] These changes meant that the cars would require more re-gen to complete the race, and potentially cited an end to FanBoost as 250 kW was the maximum power output for the Spark SRT05e.[17]

Elsewhere, the power reduction rules that were introduced in 2019/20 for SC and FCY periods were to be abandoned, largely as a reaction to the farcial nature of the 2021 Valencia E-Prix I.[17] The updated rules for season eight would see time added on to the race for each minute under SC/FCY conditions, up to a maximum of ten minutes.[17] This time extension format was intended to make the impact of SC periods less severe, while also maximising the amout of time the field were actually racing.[17]

Quali Quality[]

Qualifying in 2021/22 would involve a knockout format based on one that had been used in the short-lived Super League Formula, beginning with the field split into two groups based on Championship position.[17] Those in Group A, who were those in even positions in the Championship, would go first, getting ten minutes on track to set as many laps at 220 kW as they wanted, and with the ability to change tyres.[17] The other eleven drivers would then take to the track in Group B, before the fastest four from each group progressed into the Quarter Finals.[17]

The first QF would see the fastest driver from Group A battle against the fourth fastest driver from Group B, leaving the pitlane a few seconds apart to set one lap at 250 kW.[17] A2 would then battle B3, A3 against B2 and A4 against B1 until four drivers remained, with the other four filling positions fifth through eighth on the grid.[17] The winner from A1/B4 would then face the victor from A2/B3 to secure a place in the final, with the victor from A3/B2 -v- A4/B1 also making it through.[17]

The final duel would hence decide who started the race from pole position, while the loser from that fight would start from second.[17]

Entry List[]

The full entry list for the 2022 Diriyah E-Prix I is displayed below:

2022 Diriyah E-Prix I Entry List
No. Name Entrant Constructor Car
3 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Turvey Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team NIO 333 FE 001
4 Dutch Flag Robin Frijns Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Racing Audi e-tron FE07
5 Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne Flag of Germany Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 02
7 Flag of Brazil Sérgio Sette Câmara Flag of the United States Dragon/Penske Autosport Penske EV-5
9 Flag of New Zealand Mitch Evans Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar TCS Racing Jaguar I-Type V
10 Flag of the United Kingdom Sam Bird Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar TCS Racing Jaguar I-Type V
11 Flag of Brazil Lucas di Grassi Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 02
13 Flag of Portugal António Félix da Costa Flag of France DS Techeetah DS E-Tense FE 21
17 Dutch Flag Nyck de Vries Flag of Germany Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 02
22 Flag of Germany Maximilian Günther Flag of France Nissan e.Dams Nissan IM03
23 Flag of Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Flag of France Nissan e.Dams Nissan IM03
25 Flag of France Jean-Éric Vergne Flag of France DS Techeetah DS E-Tense FE 21
27 Flag of the United Kingdom Jake Dennis Flag of the United States Avalanche Andretti Formula E BMW iFE.21
28 Flag of the United States Oliver Askew Flag of the United States Avalanche Andretti Formula E BMW iFE.21
29 Flag of the United Kingdom Alexander Sims Flag of India Mahindra Racing Mahindra M7Electro
30 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Rowland Flag of India Mahindra Racing Mahindra M7Electro
33 Flag of the United Kingdom Dan Ticktum Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team NIO 333 FE 001
36 Flag of Germany André Lotterer Flag of Germany TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team Porsche 99X Electric
37 Flag of New Zealand Nick Cassidy Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Racing Audi e-tron FE07
48 Flag of Switzerland Edoardo Mortara Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 02
94 Flag of Germany Pascal Wehrlein Flag of Germany TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team Porsche 99X Electric
99 Flag of Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Flag of the United States Dragon/Penske Autosport Penske EV-5
Source:[18]

Practice[]

FP1[]

FP2[]

Qualifying[]

Qualifying for the 2022 Diriyah E-Prix I would be conducted according to the knockout format, introduced ahead of season eight.[19] The field would be split into two groups of eleven drivers, based on Championship position, with each group then getting ten minutes on track to complete as many laps as they wished at 220 kW.[19] The fastest eight overall would then proceed to the knockout phase, now running at the maximum 250 kW qualifying mode, with the fastest from group A against the fourth fastest from group B and so on, until four drivers were left.[19]

Those four would move on to the Semi-Final, with the winner of A1/B4 taking on the victor of A2/B3, while the triumphant driver of A3/B2 would take on A4/B1's winner.[19] The winners from those duels would then go into the final, with the winner of that duel taking pole, while the runner-up would start from second, before any grid penalties were applied.[19]

Group A[]

For the first ever staging of FE's new-for-2021/22 knockout qualifying, the field would be split into two, with one driver from each team in each group rather than on Championship position.[20] Jean-Éric Vergne in the #25 DS Techeetah would be the first driver to take to the circuit as the session opened, with the Frenchman soon joined on circuit by Oliver Rowland, Sébastien Buemi and Sérgio Sette Câmara, all of whom opted to complete prep laps.[21] Indeed, the rest of the group's runners would also venture out in the opening two minutes, with Pascal Wehrlein the last to leave his garage, although he too would opt to complete a preparation lap before launching into his first flyer.[21]

With everyone completing prep-laps it would be Vergne who set the opening benchmark, a 1:11.275, only for that effort to be instantly beaten by Rowland with a 1:10.540, who was then supplanted by Sette Câmara, while Buemi went slower than the #7 Dragon/Penske and into third.[21] Oliver Askew then relegated the Swiss racer to third with a reasonable effort before being replaced by Lucas di Grassi, followed swiftly by Robin Frijns in the #4 Envision as he broke into the 1:09.000s.[21] Sam Bird was next up and slotted into second having also dipped below 1:10.000, with Wehrlein just falling shy as he claimed third overall as all eleven drivers completed the mandatory lap within the first six minutes of the session.[21]

Several drivers then headed for the pitlane for fresh tyres, although Rowland and di Grassi stayed out to complete additional runs, the Brit claiming fourth while di Grassi shot into third, and surprisingly opted not to pit at all.[21] He was hence still circulating when Vandoorne came out of the pits with nearly four minutes left on the clock, with the rest of the group joining him on track over the following minute.[21] However, while some opted to complete prep-laps others would go all out straight away, with Sette Câmara setting two fastest sectors to claim second, only to be pushed back to third as di Grassi went fastest with a 1:09.617, while Buemi abandoned a good effort at the chicane after a minor lock-up, and seeing traffic ahead.[21]

With one minute to go everyone began their final efforts to get into the top four, with Bird at the head of queue and duly going fastest overall with a 1:09.407 after a clean run.[21] His effort withstood the next challenges of Rowland, Wehrlein and di Grassi, while Buemi was a rather perplexed eleventh, having delivered a worse lap then the one he had opted to abandon.[21] Vandoorne was next across the line and jumped into second, Vergne mustered sixth, before Frijns set the fastest effort of the session, a 1:09.163, as the last man across the line.[21]

Frijns hence progressed into the duels, joined by Bird, Vandoorne and Rowland.[21]

Group B[]

The second qualifying group would see defending Champion Nyck de Vries head out onto the circuit, although he would be beaten out of the pitlane by António Félix da Costa in the #13 DS Techeetah, as well as Maximilian Günther and Edoardo Mortara.[21] da Costa seemed to decide to go for a flyer straight away but then backed out in the final sector, before pushing again on his second lap to set the benchmark time for the group, a 1:09.850, which would instantly be beaten by Mortara wheo set the fastest first sector en-route to a 1:09.696.[21] Günther chased the #48 ROKiT Venturi across the line and claimed second, Alexander Sims secured fourth only to end up sandwiched between Jake Dennis and André Lotterer, before Nyck de Vries delivered a new fastest effort, a 1:09.164, to hit the top of the timesheets.[21]

That left Nick Cassidy as the only man yet to set a time, and the #37 Envision would just manage to record a time before the six minute window came to an end, jumping up to second moments after Dennis had delivered another lap to slot in behind de Vries.[21] With that everyone bar Cassidy would decide to pit for new tyres, with the New Zealander instead deciding to complete several slow laps to cool his current set, and keep a fresh set in reserve.[21] Mortara, meanwhile, would take the opposite approach, taking off out of the pitlane as soon as his new tyres were fitted to get back on track, before immediately pushing to try and set a quick effort.[21]

Mortara's first effort saw too many minor mistakes, the #48 Venturi sliding through turns three and seventeen, while also having to navigate around Cassidy en-route to fourth overall, but with room for improvement.[21] However, moments after crossing the line Mortara's session was over, for the #48 Venturi would go skidding into the barriers at turn one after a braking issue, ending Mortara's session and triggering a yellow flag at turn one.[21] That yellow would remain out for the remaining 90 seconds of the session, and seriously hobbled several drivers, although there would still be some improvements.[21]

Indeed, Lotterer was one of a handful to run ahead of Mortara, and hence was able to deliver a run good enough for fourth to knock the Swiss pilot out of the knockout slots, while Dennis improved on his time to solidify his grip on third.[21] The Brit would go again however and further improve on his effort, while Günther and Evans opted to complete their laps having passed the scene of Mortara's accident, although they could not recover the time that they had lost from having to back off from the accident.[21] de Vries, meanwhile, would back off knowing he was already through to the knockouts, the defending Champion joined by Cassidy, Dennis and Lotterer.[21]

Knockouts[]

The knockouts were held after a short delay to allow Mortara's car to be cleared and the barriers inspected following the Venturi's earlier nose into them.[21] The first duel would see Lotterer take on Frijns, followed by an all-British affair between Dennis and Bird.[21] Quarter Final 3 would then see Vandoorne take on Cassidy, before de Vries battled with Rowland in the fourth Quarter Final.[21]

Quarter Finals[]

Lotterer would leave the pits first in the opening Quarter Final, and would survive a snap of oversteer through turn three/four to gain an initial lead over Frijns of 0.030s, although the Dutchman rallied back and kept the gap at 0.030s throughout the opening sector.[21] Another snap at the rear for Lotterer came at turn fourteen, although with Frijns suffering from a similar issue it was the #36 Porsche that emerged on top, a 1:09.018 to Frijns' 1:09.109.[21] Next out would be Dennis as he took on Bird, although a timing glitch meant that the #27 Avalanche Andretti's sector times were not shown until the Brit had completed his run, a 1:08.749, which would best Bird's 1:08.919.[21]

The second set of Quarter Finals began with Vandoorne against Cassidy, with the New Zealander initially ahead after delivering a very neat and deceptively slow opening sector, a tenth up on the Belgian pilot.[21] However, the balance of the duel would slip into Vandoorne's favour over the rest of the lap, with a wiggle at turn twelve for the #37 Envision handing the #5 Mercedes an advantage it would not relinquish.[21] Indeed, Vandoorne won the duel with a 1:08.873 to Cassidy's 1:08.951, the New Zealander having simply run out of time to atone for his minor error.[21]

The final QF saw Rowland take on de Vries, although that was settled as soon as Rowland locked up and ran wide at the first corner, which ruined his run through turns two, three and four, handing de Vries a half second advantage almost instantly.[21] Indeed, Rowland's 1:09.329 would be shattered by de Vries' 1:08.600, although the #29 Mahindra pilot would take some solace knowing that he had been faster through the second sector.[21]

Semi Finals[]

It was Lotterer versus Dennis in the opening Semi Final of the session, and it would again be a duel dictated by minor mistakes as rear slides on the #36 Porsche eroded Lotterer's initial 0.1s advantage after the first sector.[21] Ultimately it was a slide in twelve for Lotterer combined with a huge middle sector for Dennis that swung the duel in the #27 Andretti's favour, Dennis gaining three tenths in that sector alone to go fastest, a 1:08.371 to Lotterer's 1:09.014.[21]

The second Semi was an all Mercedes affair, with Vandoorne leading teammate de Vries onto the circuit, although it was the Dutchman who drew first blood with a better opening sector, a tenth faster than Vandoorne.[21] However, de Vries was pushing too hard and threw away what advantage he had in the second sector, a wiggle through turns nine and ten undermining his run and handing Vandoorne a two tenth advantage.[21] Vandoorne then aced the final sector to record a 1:08.407, while de Vries lost more time at the chicane to end his run with a 1:08.813.[21]

Final[]

It was Vandoorne who would venture out first in the final after setting the slower time in the Semis, and despite delivering a cleaner effort than he had against de Vries he would lose two tenths to Dennis in the first sector alone.[21] Yet, the second sector again saw Vandoorne gain the upperhand, as Dennis began to lose rear grip from his car in the twisty section, suffering small slithers of oversteer through almost every corner to surrender six tenths to Vandoorne.[21] That advantage was not one that Vandoorne would lose, and a tidy final sector duly delivered pole position to the Belgian ace, a 1:08.626 enough to best Dennis by three tenths come the end of the duel.[21]

Post Qualifying[]

The final qualifying result for the 2022 Diriyah E-Prix I are outlined below:

2022 Diriyah E-Prix I Qualifying Results
Final
Heat Pos. No. Name Team Time Gap Grid
I Win 5 Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne Flag of Germany Mercedes 1:08.626 1
Lose 27 Flag of the United Kingdom Jake Dennis Flag of the United States Avalanche Andretti 1:08.926 +0.300s 2
Semi-Finals
Heat Pos. No. Name Team Time Gap Grid
I Win 27 Flag of the United Kingdom Jake Dennis Flag of the United States Avalanche Andretti 1:08.379 F
Lose 36 Flag of Germany André Lotterer Flag of Germany Porsche Formula E Team 1:09.014 +0.635s 4
II Win 5 Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne Flag of Germany Mercedes 1:08.407 F
Lose 17 Dutch Flag Nyck de Vries Flag of Germany Mercedes 1:08.813 +0.406s 3
Quarter Finals
Heat Pos. No. Name Team Time Gap Grid
QF 1 Win 36 Flag of Germany André Lotterer Flag of Germany Porsche Formula E Team 1:09.018 SF
Lose 4 Dutch Flag Robin Frijns Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Racing 1:09.109 +0.091s 7
QF 2 Win 27 Flag of the United Kingdom Jake Dennis Flag of the United States Avalanche Andretti 1:08.749 SF
Lose 10 Flag of the United Kingdom Sam Bird Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 1:08.919 +0.170s 5
QF 3 Win 5 Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne Flag of Germany Mercedes 1:08.873 SF
Lose 37 Flag of New Zealand Nick Cassidy Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Racing 1:08.951 +0.078s 6
QF 4 Win 17 Dutch Flag Nyck de Vries Flag of Germany Mercedes 1:08.600 SF
Lose 30 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Rowland* Flag of India Mahindra Racing 1:09.329 +0.729s 11*
Group Stage
Pos. No. Name Team Time Gap Grid Group
1st 4 Dutch Flag Robin Frijns Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Racing 1:09.163 QF 1 GA
2nd 17 Dutch Flag Nyck de Vries Flag of Germany Mercedes 1:09.164 +0.001s QF 4 GB
3rd 36 Flag of New Zealand Nick Cassidy Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Racing 1:09.214 +0.051s QF 3 GB
4th 27 Flag of the United Kingdom Jake Dennis Flag of the United States Avalanche Andretti 1:09.284 +0.121s QF 2 GB
5th 36 Flag of Germany André Lotterer Flag of Germany Porsche Formula E Team 1:09.313 +0.150s QF 1 GB
6th 10 Flag of the United Kingdom Sam Bird Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 1:09.407 +0.244s QF 2 GA
7th 22 Flag of Germany Maximilian Günther Flag of France Nissan e.Dams 1:09.471 +0.308s 9 GB
8th 5 Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne Flag of Germany Mercedes 1:09.489 +0.326s QF 3 GA
9th 48 Flag of Switzerland Edoardo Mortara Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing 1:09.536 +0.373s 12 GB
10th 30 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Rowland Flag of India Mahindra Racing 1:09.549 +0.386s QF 4 GA
11th 9 Flag of New Zealand Mitch Evans Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 1:09.587 +0.424s 14 GB
12th 11 Flag of Brazil Lucas di Grassi Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing 1:09.617 +0.454s 8 GA
13th 13 Flag of Portugal António Félix da Costa Flag of France DS Techeetah 1:09.704 +0.541s 16 GB
14th 94 Flag of Germany Pascal Wehrlein Flag of Germany Porsche Formula E Team 1:09.710 +0.547s 10 GA
15th 25 Flag of France Jean-Éric Vergne Flag of France DS Techeetah 1:09.811 +0.648s 13 GA
16th 7 Flag of Brazil Sérgio Sette Câmara Flag of the United States Dragon/Penske Autosport 1:09.867 +0.704s 15 GA
17th 28 Flag of the United States Oliver Askew Flag of the United States Avalanche Andretti 1:09.891 +0.728s 17 GA
18th 29 Flag of the United Kingdom Alexander Sims Flag of India Mahindra Racing 1:10.039 +0.876s 18 GB
19th 3 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Turvey Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team 1:10.129 +0.966s 19 GA
20th 23 Flag of Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Flag of France Nissan e.Dams 1:10.185 +1.022s 21 GA
21st 33 Flag of the United Kingdom Dan Ticktum Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team 1:10.507 +1.344s 20 GB
22nd 99 Flag of Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Flag of the United States Dragon/Penske Autosport 1:10.596 +1.433s 22 GB
Source:[22]

Race[]

Night had fallen in Diriyah as the FE field gathered on the grid for the first E-Prix of the season, with conditions set to be dry and relatively cool as the heat of the day continued to bleed away.[23] There would be no late changes to the grid after qualifying, Edoardo Mortara getting to keep his times despite causing a yellow flag, while Attack Mode would be set to two activations, lasting for three minutes apiece.[24] With that the field were sent away from the pit-straight to the start line between turns seventeen and eighteen, serving as a de facto formation lap for the drivers.[23]

Report[]

The start of the race saw pole sitter Stoffel Vandoorne make a good launch, as behind teammate Nyck de Vries blasted past Jake Dennis to seize second in turn eighteen to leave the Brit to fend off André Lotterer.[23] Dennis was ultimately successful in his defence of third, swatting away the nose of Lotterer, while Robin Frijns and Nick Cassidy came to blows as the New Zealander locked up and dragged his teammate wide.[23] That opened the door for Lucas di Grassi and Maximilian Günther to pass both of the Envision-Audis, while at the back António Félix da Costa was taken out of the race by an errant Dan Ticktum as the British debutante tried to make some early ground.[23]

The rest of the opening lap, which featured an extra run through the final sector due to the positioning of the starting straight, would see no further dramas, although di Grassi and Günther did move into striking position behind Sam Bird, running in fifth.[23] di Grassi would have to wait until the end of lap three, however, to make a move on the #10 Jaguar, firing down the inside of the Brit into the chicane, with Bird unable to resist.[23] With that di Grassi was away to harass Lotterer, while Bird had to keep an eye on his mirrors to fend off an attack from Günther into turn one at the start of the following tour.[23]

With di Grassi closing and the lead trio pulling clear, Lotterer opted to take his first Attack Mode boost of the race on lap five, just managing to emerge still in fourth place and ahead of di Grassi's charging ROKiT Venturi.[23] That move would prompt the rest of the field to begin taking AM, with de Vries leading Dennis through the activation zone a lap later to cover off the Porsche, while Vandoorne did so from the lead on lap seven, and would remain ahead of his teammate.[23] Further back Oliver Rowland was attempting to use the boost to pass Frijns for ninth, trying an ambitious lunge into turn fourteen that saw the #30 Mahindra nudge the back of the #4 Envision.[23]

Frijns would slide wide as a result of that contact and hence lose ninth to Rowland, and was unsurprisingly upset about the British pilot's move.[23] As a result the Dutchman would close right onto Rowland's tail as they came into turns sixteen and seventeen, before a light touch against the back of the Mahindra saw Rowland spin 180° and go backwards into the outside wall at turn seventeen.[23] Frijns' run out of the corner was compromised and he was duly mugged by Edoardo Mortara and Pascal Wehrlein, with those two going on to fight right through to turn one before the Safety Car was scrambled.[23]

The SC intervention would last for six minutes as Rowland's car was pulled clear, with Vandoorne, de Vries and Dennis bolting clear into the chicane, opening out a huge gap back to Lotterer in fourth.[23] In response to being caught sleeping Lotterer would arm his second AM boost on the following tour, with di Grassi following him through, while behind Bird set about once again keeping Günther at bay, with Mortara and Wehrlein joining that particular fight.[23] Vandoorne then decided to take his second AM boost on lap fourteen, although he would miss one of the sensors in the activation zone and hence failed to get the extra power, gifting the lead to teammate de Vries without any benefit.[23]

A furious Vandoorne would successfully activate AM on the following tour, chasing de Vries through the activation zone, after two Mercedes had been gifted a gap behind as Dennis had armed his AM on the previous tour, but slipped behind Lotterer.[23] Those two then engaged in a heated fight for third, with Dennis trying to go inside and then outside of Lotterer into turn eighteen, only for the #36 Porsche to seemingly drift across to block both moves.[23] Dennis forced the issue however and would commit to a lunge around the outside of the Porsche, only for Lotterer to push him into the outside wall and succesfully hold the position.[23]

di Grassi was unable to take advantage of their duel as he armed AM, slipping behind Bird in the process before following the British ace onto the tail of the Lotterer/Dennis scrap over the next couple of minutes.[23] Indeed, the fight for third proved to be the main source of entertainment in the middle phase of the race, with Dennis throwing another lunge at Lotterer on lap 27, and this time managing to seize the inside line into turn eighteen.[23] Lotterer tried to hold on but found himself having to back off into turn nineteen, Dennis coming close to feeding the Porsche into the wall, with Lotterer's compromised exit almost allowing Bird to have a go into the final corner, although the German veteran would fend off the Brit's attentions.[23]

Bird continued to pressure Lotterer over the next couple of laps although a mistake at turn seven, where the #10 Jaguar went wide and got out on the dust, saw Bird drop back off of Lotterer's tail and into di Grassi's sights.[23] However, after resisting the Brazilian pilot's speculative look at turn eighteen on lap 29, Bird would soon catch onto the back of Lotterer, who was now running on his own as Dennis had escaped in the midst of the Lotterer/Bird squabble.[23] Lap 31 saw Bird move back into striking position behind the #36 Lotterer, and as they braked for turn eighteen/nineteen the Brit would send the #10 Jaguar diving down the inside of the #36 Porsche to grab fourth, before easing ahead through turn nineteen.[23]

Bird's move prompted Cassidy, who had quietly drafted onto the scrap behind di Grassi, to have a go at the aforementioned Brazilian pilot into the chicane at the same moment, although di Grassi fended off that challenge without issue.[23] di Grassi went on to throw a late lunge down the inside of Lotterer into turn one at the start of the following tour, snatching fifth, while Cassidy was unable to follow him through but closed right onto Lotterer's tail.[23] Cassidy would sit behind the Porsche throughout the lap, before sending a surprising lunge down the inside of the Porsche into the final corner to grab sixth, before chasing off after di Grassi.[23]

That seemingly broke Lotterer's resolve, with the #36 Porsche falling to both Mortara, Vergne and Evans over the following couple of laps without putting up anything of a fight, before being mugged by Oliver Askew as the race entered added time.[23] Indeed, the race seemed to be easing to a conclusion in added time, with de Vries and Vandoorne holding a comfortable advantage over Dennis, Bird holding off di Grassi, Cassidy and Mortara at arms length, leaving Evans' bid to try and pass Vergne as the last source of action in the top ten.[23] That was until the race entered the final lap, where Mortara survived a wiggle towards the wall in turns three and four to lunge at Cassidy into the chicane, while Evans was relieved of ninth by Askew.[23]

Out front, meanwhile, the two Mercedes would sweep across the line to record a daunting one-two, de Vries ahead of Vandoorne, with the Belgian's wobble trying to activate AM a second time their only issue of note.[23] Dennis then completed the podium ahead of Bird, di Grassi and Mortara, while Cassidy claimed fastest lap in seventh, comfortably ahead of Vergne in eighth.[23] Askew and Evans then completed the scorers, while Lotterer's fall ended with him in thirteenth behind teammate Wehrlein and Günther, in an worryingly early slump for the Porsches.[23]

Result[]

The final classification of the 2022 Diriyah E-Prix I is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold:

2022 Diriyah E-Prix I Race Result
Pos. No. Name Team Laps Race Time Fastest lap Pts.
1st 17 Dutch Flag Nyck de Vries FanBoost Flag of Germany Mercedes 41 52:14.642 1:09.611 25
2nd 5 Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne FanBoost Flag of Germany Mercedes 41 +0.636s 1:09.684 21
3rd 27 Flag of the United Kingdom Jake Dennis Flag of the United States Avalanche Andretti 41 +8.802s 1:09.884 15
4th 10 Flag of the United Kingdom Sam Bird Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 41 +14.925s 1:09.733 12
5th 11 Flag of Brazil Lucas di Grassi Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing 41 +15.152s 1:10.117 10
6th 48 Flag of Switzerland Edoardo Mortara Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing 41 +16.015s 1:09.480 8
7th 37 Flag of New Zealand Nick Cassidy Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Racing 41 +17.265s 1:09.207 7
8th 25 Flag of France Jean-Éric Vergne Flag of France DS Techeetah 41 +25.076s 1:10.214 4
9th 28 Flag of the United States Oliver Askew Flag of the United States Avalanche Andretti 41 +25.699s 1:09.630 2
10th 9 Flag of New Zealand Mitch Evans FanBoost Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 41 +27.320s 1:09.692 1
11th 94 Flag of Germany Pascal Wehrlein Flag of Germany Porsche Formula E Team 41 +28.781s 1:10.080
12th 22 Flag of Germany Maximilian Günther Flag of France Nissan e.Dams 41 +30.536s 1:10.462
13th 36 Flag of Germany André Lotterer Flag of Germany Porsche Formula E Team 41 +31.521s 1:09.855
14th 29 Flag of the United Kingdom Alexander Sims Flag of India Mahindra Racing 41 +34.572s 1:09.891
15th 7 Flag of Brazil Sérgio Sette Câmara Flag of the United States Dragon/Penske Autosport 41 +36.781s 1:10.389
16th 4 Dutch Flag Robin Frijns Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Racing 41 +39.953s 1:09.431
17th 23 Flag of Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Flag of France Nissan e.Dams 41 +41.334s 1:10.498
18th 33 Flag of the United Kingdom Dan Ticktum Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team 41 +49.222s 1:10.341
19th 3 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Turvey Flag of China NIO 333 FE Team 41 +50.965s 1:10.394
20th 99 Flag of Italy Antonio Giovinazzi FanBoost Flag of the United States Dragon/Penske Autosport 41 +1:16.527 1:10.789
Ret* 30 Flag of the United Kingdom Oliver Rowland Flag of India Mahindra Racing 7 Collision 1:10.201
Ret 13 Flag of Portugal António Félix da Costa FanBoost Flag of France DS Techeetah 0 Collision
Source:[22]

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Victory on the opening day of the campaign would see Nyck de Vries open his title defence in near-perfect fashion, mirroring the start to his title winning run in 2020/21. His teammate and pole sitter Stoffel Vandoorne occupied second, four off the lead, while Jake Dennis opened the campaign in third, three ahead of Sam Bird. Lucas di Grassi was next up ahead of Edoardo Mortara, Nick Cassidy and Jean-Éric Vergne, Oliver Askew secured his first FE points on his debut, while Mitch Evans rounded out the opening day top ten with the final point.

In the Teams' Championship it had been a near-perfect evening for Mercedes, the German squad having fallen just one-point shy of a perfect score having secured pole position and a one-two finish. Furthermore, their customer team ROKiT Venturi Racing occupied second with eighteen points, leaving them one ahead of Avalanche Andretti, while Jaguar Racing sat in third. Envision Racing and DS Techeetah then rounded out the scorers as six teams claimed points on the opening day.

2020/21 Drivers Championship
Pos. Name Pts. +/-
1st Dutch Flag Nyck de Vries 25 ◄0
2nd Flag of Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne 21 ◄0
3rd Flag of the United Kingdom Jake Dennis 15 ◄0
4th Flag of the United Kingdom Sam Bird 12 ◄0
5th Flag of Brazil Lucas di Grassi 10 ◄0
6th Flag of Switzerland Edoardo Mortara 8 ◄0
7th Flag of New Zealand Nick Cassidy 7 ◄0
8th Flag of France Jean-Éric Vergne 4 ◄0
9th Flag of the United States Oliver Askew 2 ◄0
10th Flag of New Zealand Mitch Evans 1 ◄0
2020/21 Teams Championship
Pos. Name Pts. +/-
1st Flag of Germany Mercedes 46 ◄0
2nd Flag of Monaco ROKiT Venturi Racing 18 ◄0
3rd Flag of the United States Avalanche Andretti 17 ◄0
4th Flag of the United Kingdom Jaguar Racing 13 ◄0
5th Flag of the United Kingdom Envision Racing 7 ◄0
6th Flag of France DS Techeetah 4 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.

References[]

Videos and Images:

References:

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  6. Sam Smith, 'AUDI TO LEAVE FORMULA E AFTER 2021 FOR LE MANS AND DAKAR', the-race.com, (The Race, 30/11/2020), https://the-race.com/formula-e/audi-to-leave-formula-e-at-end-of-2021-season/, (Accessed 17/01/2021)
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  23. 23.00 23.01 23.02 23.03 23.04 23.05 23.06 23.07 23.08 23.09 23.10 23.11 23.12 23.13 23.14 23.15 23.16 23.17 23.18 23.19 23.20 23.21 23.22 23.23 23.24 23.25 23.26 23.27 23.28 23.29 23.30 23.31 23.32 23.33 23.34 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named RH
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2021/22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship
Entrants
Avalanche Andretti Formula EDragon/Penske AutosportDS TecheetahEnvision RacingJaguar TCS RacingMahindra RacingMercedes-EQ Formula E TeamNIO 333 FE TeamNissan e.DamsROKiT Venturi RacingTAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team
Manufacturers
BMWDSJaguarMahindra & MahindraMercedes-BenzNIONissanPenskePorsche
Cars
Spark SRT05e
Audi e-tron FE07BMW iFE.21DS E-Tense FE21Jaguar I-Type VMahindra M7ElectroMercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02NIO 333 FE 001Nissan IM03Penske EV-5Porsche 99X Electric
Drivers
3 Oliver Turvey4 Robin Frijns5 Stoffel Vandoorne7 Sérgio Sette Câmara9 Mitch Evans10 Sam Bird11 Lucas di Grassi13 António Félix da Costa17 Nyck de Vries22 Maximilian Günther23 Sébastien Buemi25 Jean-Éric Vergne27 Jake Dennis28 Oliver Askew29 Alexander Sims30 Oliver Rowland33 Dan Ticktum36 André Lotterer37 Nick Cassidy48 Edoardo Mortara94 Pascal Wehrlein99 Antonio Giovinazzi
E-Prix
Diriyah IDiriyah IIMexico CityRome IRome IIMonacoBerlin IBerlin IIJakartaMarrakeshNew York City INew York City IILondon ILondon IISeoul ISeoul II
Cancelled E-Prix
Cape Town E-Prix • Vancouver E-Prix
Tests
Valencia
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