2023 Diriyah E-Prix II

2023 Diriyah E-Prix II
The Diriyah E-Prix Circuit returned in 2023.
Race Information
Date	28 January 2023
E-Prix No.	103 (3 of 2022/23)
Official Name	2023 CORE Diriyah E-Prix II
Location	Ad Diriyah Street Circuit Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Format	100 km / 60 mins
Lap length	2.495 km (1.550 mi)
Distance	39 (+1) laps / 101.705 km (63.197 mi)
Support Race
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Jake Hughes
Team	NEOM McLaren Formula E Team
Time	1:08.693
Fastest Lap
Driver	Sam Bird
Team	Jaguar TCS Racing
Fastest Lap	1:09.010 on lap 34
ePrix Result
First	Second	Third
Pascal Wehrlein	Jake Dennis	René Rast
Winner Team	TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team
Time	50:40.304 (120.428 km/h)
ePrix Guide
Previous		Next
2023 Diriyah E-Prix I		2023 Hyderabad E-Prix
Post-Race Test

The 2023 CORE Diriyah E-Prix II, otherwise known as the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix II, was the third race of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, staged at the Ad Diriyah Street Circuit in Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 28 January 2023. The race would see Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis battle their way to the front of the field as they had Friday, with the factory Porsche pilot ultimately emerging as the victor once again.

Qualifying had again seen Jake Hughes shine in only his third appearance in the Series, with the Brit securing his and McLaren's maiden pole position, having defeated Mitch Evans in the final duel by just a single tenth of a second. Hughes had to defeat Dennis and then exact revenge on Sébastien Buemi, who had beaten Hughes to pole for race one, in order to reach the final, while Edoardo Mortara and René Rast had fallen to Evans as the New Zealander made his first final appearance of the campaign.

The start of the race saw Evans make the better getaway, overcoming the fact that he was on the dirty side of the track to elbow his way up the inside of Hughes to snatch the lead into the chicane at the end of the start-straight. Behind, Wehrlein completed a mirror manoeuvre to leap into fourth, blasting around the outside of Buemi, Mortara vaulted from seventh to fifth, while Dennis slipped to seventh having been shoved wide at the chicane.

Much like the E-Prix on Friday the race on Saturday would quickly settle down, with Evans keeping Hughes and Rast at arm's length, while Wehrlein stalked the lead trio without using as much energy as those around him, the strongest trait of the Porsche 99X powertrain. Dennis too seemed to be biding his time, remaining glued to Buemi's tail as he chased Mortara, with the whole top ten separated by three seconds at the end of lap nine, and the entire field bar the Mahindra powered quartet at the back split by ten seconds.

Attack Mode would break the stalemate, with Evans bravely opting to surrender the lead as he was the first man in the top half of the field to take the boost, slipping behind both Hughes and Rast to leave a McLaren one-two at the head of the field. Hughes went a lap later and slipped back behind Evans, while Rast stayed away from AM until Evans' ran out, and then delivered a devastating lap to arm his boost without losing the lead. With that Rast was away, using the boost to immediately build a one second lead, with Rast and Hughes now finding themselves under pressure from a now awakened Wehrlein.

Hughes and Evans would prove short work for the #94 Porsche, Wehrlein carving past them on successive laps with identical lunges into the chicane, before building enough of a gap to arm his AM boost without falling back behind the #9 Jaguar. That AM boost would carry Wehrlein back onto the tail of Rast, who would react by arming his second AM boost, leaving Wehrlein in the lead and immediately returning to preservation mode, awaiting a potential attack from Rast.

That attack would not come, with the action instead being found in the wake of Mortara who was to be mugged by first Dennis and then Bird, the latter pulling off an early contender for move of the season with an over-under on the #48 Maserati at the final corner. Dennis' charge continued with further quick-fire moves on Hughes, Evans and then Rast, who had been unable to keep with Wehrlein after his second AM boost ended, with the #27 Avalanche Andretti left two seconds behind the factory #94 Porsche with just under half the race left to go.

Bird did his best to follow Dennis up the order, taking a few more laps to clear the two McLarens and teammate Evans, before Nico Müller reset the race picture by finding the barriers at turn sixteen, triggering a Safety Car. At the restart Dennis and Bird both went for their second AM boosts, the latter falling to Rast, who duly worked as hard as he could to keep the #10 Jaguar behind him, with Bird ultimately unable to move past the #58 McLaren before his first AM boost ended.

Out front, meanwhile, Wehrlein would prove unreachable for Dennis, who even with his last three-minutes worth of AM would be unable to draw the #94 Porsche pilot into a fight for victory, with Wehrlein duly claiming the win and the Championship lead. Rast's defence remained stern to the chequered flag meaning he claimed third ahead of Bird, while Hughes ran-out of energy entering the final corner and managed to cover off Evans, who got stuck on the back of the #5 McLaren on the exit of the final tour. Buemi used that opportunity to rob the New Zealander of sixth at the chequered flag, only just failing to beat Hughes too, while the final points were handed to Sacha Fenestraz, Mortara and Dan Ticktum.

Background

There were no changes to the Ad Diriyah Street Circuit overnight ahead of the second E-Prix of the race weekend, with conditions also expected to remain the same as they had on Friday with no threat of rain. There were also no changes to the entry list, with Maserati MSG Racing having successfully completed a full rebuild of Maximillian Günther's #7 car after his heavy accident in qualifying for the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix I on Friday.

A Point Apart

There was just a point separating the lead duo in the Championship after the opening two races, with Jake Dennis and Pascal Wehrlein having one win and one second place apiece at the midway point of the Diriyah weekend. It was Dennis' fastest lap point in the season opener in Mexico City that had kept the Brit ahead of the German pilot, with those two 20 clear of Sébastien Buemi in third. Lucas di Grassi and Sam Bird then completed the early top five, with Bird, René Rast and Jean-Éric Vergne having been the latest drivers to add their names to the scoresheet.

In the Teams' Championship there was little surprise that the two Porsche powered teams headed the charge, with Avalanche Andretti heading the field on 58 points, nine ahead of the factory Porsche Formula E Team squad. The latter entry also held a healthy sixteen point advantage over Envision Racing in third, with the British squad having leapt up to third from fifth. McLaren and Jaguar Racing then completed the top five, sat on 25 and 20 points apiece, while Mahindra Racing and DS Penske were the only other scorers after two races.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix II is displayed below:

2023 Diriyah E-Prix II Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Car
1	Stoffel Vandoorne	DS Penske	DS	E-Tense FE23
3	Sérgio Sette Câmara	NIO 333 Racing Formula E Team	NIO	333 ER9
4	Kelvin van der Linde	ABT Cupra Formula E Team	Mahindra	M9Electro
5	Jake Hughes	NEOM McLaren Formula E Team	Nissan	e-4ORCE 04
7	Maximilian Günther	Maserati MSG Racing	Maserati	Tipo Folgore
8	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra Racing	Mahindra	M9Electro
9	Mitch Evans	Jaguar TCS Racing	Jaguar	I-Type 6
10	Sam Bird	Jaguar TCS Racing	Jaguar	I-Type 6
11	Lucas di Grassi	Mahindra Racing	Mahindra	M9Electro
13	António Félix da Costa	TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team	Porsche	99X Electric
16	Sébastien Buemi	Envision Racing	Jaguar	I-Type 6
17	Norman Nato	Nissan Formula E Team	Nissan	e-4ORCE 04
23	Sacha Fenestraz	Nissan Formula E Team	Nissan	e-4ORCE 04
25	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS Penske	DS	E-Tense FE23
27	Jake Dennis	Avalanche Andretti Formula E	Porsche	99X Electric
33	Dan Ticktum	NIO 333 Racing Formula E Team	NIO	333 ER9
36	André Lotterer	Avalanche Andretti Formula E	Porsche	99X Electric
37	Nick Cassidy	Envision Racing	Jaguar	I-Type 6
48	Edoardo Mortara	Maserati MSG Racing	Maserati	Tipo Folgore
51	Nico Müller	ABT Cupra Formula E Team	Mahindra	M9Electro
58	René Rast	NEOM McLaren Formula E Team	Nissan	e-4ORCE 04
94	Pascal Wehrlein	TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team	Porsche	99X Electric
Source:

Qualifying

Qualifying for the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix II would be conducted according to the knockout format, introduced ahead of season eight. 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 300 kW. The fastest eight overall would then proceed to the knockout phase, now running at the maximum 350 kW qualifying mode, with the fastest from group A against the fourth fastest from group A and so on, until four drivers were left.

Those four would move on to the Semi-Final, with the winner of A1/A4 taking on the victor of A2/A3, while the triumphant driver of B3/B2 would take on B4/B1's winner. 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.

Post Qualifying

The final qualifying result for the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix II are outlined below:

2023 Diriyah E-Prix II Qualifying Results
Final
Heat	Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Grid
I	Win	5	Jake Hughes	McLaren	1:08.693	—	1
	Lose	9	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	1:08.797	+0.104s	2
Semi-Finals
Heat	Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Grid
I	Win	5	Jake Hughes	McLaren	1:08.680	—	F
	Lose	16	Sébastien Buemi	Envision Racing	1:08.926	+0.246s	4
II	Win	9	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	1:08.690	—	F
	Lose	58	René Rast	McLaren	1:08.922	+0.232s	3
Quarter Finals
Heat	Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Grid
QF 1	Win	16	Sébastien Buemi	Envision Racing	1:08.925	—	SF
	Lose	1	Stoffel Vandoorne	DS Penske	1:09.282	+0.357s	8
QF 2	Win	5	Jake Hughes	McLaren	1:08.748	—	SF
	Lose	27	Jake Dennis	Avalanche Andretti	1:09.198	+0.450s	6
QF 3	Win	58	René Rast	McLaren	1:08.855	—	SF
	Lose	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche Formula E Team	1:09.028	+0.173s	5
QF 4	Win	9	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	1:08.909	—	SF
	Lose	48	Edoardo Mortara	Maserati	1:09.279	+0.370s	7

Group Stage
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Grid	Group
1st	5	Jake Hughes	McLaren	1:09.361	—	QF 2	GA
2nd	9	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	1:09.401	+0.040s	QF 4	GB
3rd	16	Sébastien Buemi	Envision Racing	1:09.422	+0.061s	QF 1	GA
4th	58	René Rast	McLaren	1:09.435	+0.074s	QF 3	GB
5th	1	Stoffel Vandoorne	DS Penske	1:09.518	+0.157s	QF 1	GA
6th	27	Jake Dennis	Avalanche Andretti	1:09.572	+0.211s	QF 2	GA
7th	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche Formula E Team	1:09.576	+0.215s	QF 3	GB
8th	48	Edoardo Mortara	Maserati	1:09.623	+0.262s	QF 4	GB
9th	10	Sam Bird	Jaguar Racing	1:09.628	+0.267s	9	GA
10th	7	Maximilian Günther	Maserati	1:09.643	+0.282s	10	GB
11th	23	Sacha Fenestraz	Nissan	1:09.670	+0.309s	12	GB
12th	8	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra Racing	1:09.690	+0.329s	14	GB
13th	33	Dan Ticktum	NIO 333 Racing	1:09.698	+0.337s	11	GA
14th	3	Sérgio Sette Câmara	NIO 333 Racing	1:09.735	+0.374s	13	GA
15th	37	Nick Cassidy	Envision Racing	1:09.761	+0.400s	15	GA
16th	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS Penske	1:09.794	+0.433s	16	GB
17th	13	António Félix da Costa	Porsche Formula E Team	1:09.832	+0.471s	17	GA
18th	36	André Lotterer	Avalanche Andretti	1:09.843	+0.482s	18	GB
19th	11	Lucas di Grassi	Mahindra Racing	1:09.975	+0.614s	20	GB
20th	51	Nico Müller	ABT Cupra	1:10.072	+0.711s	22	GB
21st	17	Norman Nato	Nissan	1:10.107	+0.746s	19	GA
22nd	4	Kelvin van der Linde	ABT Cupra	1:10.221	+0.860s	21	GA
Group A 110% Time: 1:16.297
Group B 110% Time: 1:16.341
Source:

Race

Result

The final classification of the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix II is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold.

2023 Diriyah E-Prix II Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche Formula E Team	40	50:40.304	1:09.409	25
2nd	27	Jake Dennis	Avalanche Andretti	40	+1.252s	1:09.114	18
3rd	58	René Rast	McLaren	40	+4.554s	1:09.584	15
4th	10	Sam Bird	Jaguar Racing	40	+4.851s	1:09.010	13
5th	5	Jake Hughes	McLaren	40	+10.869s	1:09.846	13
6th	16	Sébastien Buemi	Envision Racing	40	+10.947s	1:09.876	8
7th	9	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	40	+11.088s	1:09.817	6
8th	23	Sacha Fenestraz	Nissan	40	+12.409s	1:09.631	4
9th	48	Edoardo Mortara	Maserati	40	+12.753s	1:10.022	2
10th	33	Dan Ticktum	NIO 333 Racing	40	+13.275s	1:09.690	1
11th	13	António Félix da Costa	Porsche Formula E Team	40	+15.229s	1:09.970
12th	36	André Lotterer	Avalanche Andretti	40	+15.623s	1:09.876
13th	37	Nick Cassidy	Envision Racing	40	+17.038s	1:09.233
14th	17	Norman Nato	Nissan	40	+19.569s	1:10.237
15th	11	Lucas di Grassi	Mahindra Racing	40	+20.796s	1:10.582
16th	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS Penske	40	+21.221s	1:10.166
17th	3	Sérgio Sette Câmara	NIO 333 Racing	40	+22.243s	1:10.577
18th	4	Kelvin van der Linde	ABT Cupra	40	+25.291s	1:10.597
19th	7	Maximilian Günther	Maserati	40	+27.137s	1:09.985
20th*	1	Stoffel Vandoorne	DS Penske	40	+37.572s	1:10.125
Ret	8	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra Racing	30	Retired	1:11.186
Ret	51	Nico Müller	ABT Cupra	25	Accident	1:11.055
Source:

• ^* Vandoorne was awarded a drive through penalty, converted to a 24 second time penalty, for failing to use both of his Attack Mode boosts.

Milestones

• Maiden pole position for Jake Hughes.
• First pole for the McLaren Formula E Team as an entrant.
• Third victory for Pascal Wehrlein.
• The Porsche Formula E Team earned their third win.
  • Fourth win for a Porsche powertrain.
• René Rast secured the first podium finish for the McLaren as an entrant.
• Maiden points finish for Sacha Fenestraz.
• First points for Maserati MSG Racing and the Nissan Formula E Team as entrants.

Standings

Victory for the second race in succession had left Pascal Wehrlein with the lead of the Championship as the Series left Diriyah, the German pilot having moved onto 68 points after two wins and a second place. That meant that Wehrlein held a six point lead over early pace setter Jake Dennis, who had one win and two second places to his name from the opening three races, before a huge 31 point gap separated him from third placed Sébastien Buemi. The Swiss racer was then three ahead of Sam Bird, Jake Hughes had continued his strong start to his FE career and risen to fifth, while Sacha Fenestraz, Edoardo Mortara and Dan Ticktum had all added their names to the scoresheet.

In the Teams' Championship it was a near perfect picture for Porsche, as their customers Avalanche Andretti and factory team TAG Heuer Porsche headed the field by a healthy margin after the opening trio of races. However, it was customers Andretti who led overall on 76 points, two ahead of the factory squad, while McLaren led the anti-Porsche charge from third on 53. Envision Racing made it three customer teams in the top four in fourth, two ahead of their suppliers Jaguar Racing, while Nissan, Maserati and NIO 333 Racing had all secured their first points of the campaign.

 

2022/23 Drivers Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Pascal Wehrlein 68 ▲1 2nd Jake Dennis 62 ▼1 3rd Sébastien Buemi 31 ◄0 4th Sam Bird 28 ▲1 5th Jake Hughes 27 ▲2 6th René Rast 26 ▲2 7th Lucas di Grassi 18 ▼3 8th André Lotterer 14 ▼2 9th Mitch Evans 11 ▲3 10th Nick Cassidy 10 ▼1 11th Jean-Éric Vergne 6 ▼1 12th António Félix da Costa 6 ▼1 13th Sacha Fenestraz 4 ▲7 14th Edoardo Mortara 2 ▲8 15th Stoffel Vandoorne 1 ▼2 16th Dan Ticktum 1 ▲1

2022/23 Teams Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Avalanche Andretti 76 ◄0 2nd Porsche 74 ◄0 3rd McLaren 53 ▲1 4th Envision Racing 41 ▼1 5th Jaguar Racing 39 ◄0 6th Mahindra Racing 18 ◄0 7th DS Penske 7 ◄0 8th Nissan 4 ▲1 9th Maserati 2 ▼1 10th NIO 333 Racing 1 ◄0 11th ABT Cupra 0 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers are shown.

References

Videos and Images:

References: