The 2021 Diriyah ePrix (officially the 2021 ABB FIA Formula E Diriyah ePrix) was a pair of Formula E electric car races held at the Riyadh Street Circuit in the town of Diriyah, north-west of Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia on 26 and 27 February 2021. It was the opening round of the 2020–21 Formula E season and the third edition of the Diriyah ePrix, and marked the first ever Formula E race held at night. The first race was won by Nyck de Vries, with Edoardo Mortara and Mitch Evans rounding out the podium. Sam Bird won the second race, ahead of Robin Frijns and António Félix da Costa.
Classification Race one Qualifying Group draw Group 1 DAC () VAN (2) JEV (3) BUE (4) ROW (5) DIG (6) Group 2 EVA (7) LOT (8) GUE (9) BIR (10) DEV (11) FRI (12) Group 3 SIM (13) MOR (14) RAS (15) LYN (17) WEH (18) TUR (24) Group 4 MUL (25) BLO (26) SET (27) DEN (–) CAS (–) NAT (–)
Driver Team 1 17 Nyck de Vries Mercedes 1:08.786 1:08.157 1 2 99 Pascal Wehrlein Porsche 1:08.885 1:08.821 2 3 33 René Rast Audi 1:08.959 1:08.869 3 4 48 Edoardo Mortara Venturi-Mercedes 1:08.798 1:09.317 4 5 94 Alex Lynn Mahindra 1:09.133 1:09.345 5 6 20 Mitch Evans Jaguar 1:09.152 1:09.706 6 7 36 André Lotterer Porsche 1:09.157 7 8 10 Sam Bird Jaguar 1:09.265 8 9 28 Maximilian Günther Andretti-BMW 1:09.277 9 10 22 Oliver Rowland e.dams-Nissan 1:09.362 10 11 29 Alexander Sims Mahindra 1:09.559 11 12 71 Norman Nato Venturi-Mercedes 1:09.628 12 13 8 Oliver Turvey NIO 1:09.631 13 14 27 Jake Dennis Andretti-BMW 1:09.723 14 15 5 Stoffel Vandoorne Mercedes 1:10.128 15 16 11 Lucas di Grassi Audi 1:10.474 16 17 23 Sébastien Buemi e.dams-Nissan 1:10.594 17 18 13 António Félix da Costa Techeetah-DS 1:10.735 18 19 25 Jean-Éric Vergne Techeetah-DS 1:10.804 19 20 7 Sérgio Sette Câmara Dragon-Penske 1:21.445 20 21 37 Nick Cassidy Virgin-Audi 1:22.020 21 22 88 Tom Blomqvist NIO 1:23.165 22 23 6 Nico Müller Dragon-Penske 1:24.955 23 24 4 Robin Frijns Virgin-Audi no time 24Source: Notes: – Nick Cassidy, Tom Blomqvist, and Nico Müller had their fastest qualifying lap times deleted for failing to reduce speed under double yellow flag.
Race Driver Team Time/Retired Points 1 17 Nyck de Vries Mercedes 32 46:44.765 1 25+3+1 2 48 Edoardo Mortara Venturi-Mercedes 32 +4.119 4 18 3 20 Mitch Evans Jaguar 32 +4.619 6 15 4 33 René Rast Audi 32 +4.852 3 12+1 5 99 Pascal Wehrlein Porsche 32 +7.962 2 10 6 22 Oliver Rowland e.dams-Nissan 32 +9.318 10 8 7 29 Alexander Sims Mahindra 32 +9.686 11 6 8 5 Stoffel Vandoorne Mercedes 32 +9.973 15 4 9 11 Lucas di Grassi Audi 32 +11.089 16 2 10 8 Oliver Turvey NIO 32 +15.518 13 1 11 13 António Félix da Costa Techeetah-DS 32 +16.225 18 12 27 Jake Dennis Andretti-BMW 32 +17.025 14 13 23 Sébastien Buemi e.dams-Nissan 32 +17.273 17 14 71 Norman Nato Venturi-Mercedes 32 +17.312 12 15 25 Jean-Éric Vergne Techeetah-DS 32 +18.402 19 16 36 André Lotterer Porsche 32 +18.417 7 17 4 Robin Frijns Virgin-Audi 32 +18.822 24 18 88 Tom Blomqvist NIO 32 +19.072 22 19 37 Nick Cassidy Virgin-Audi 32 +19.951 21 20 7 Sérgio Sette Câmara Dragon-Penske 32 +20.174 20 21 6 Nico Müller Dragon-Penske 32 +20.586 Ret 28 Maximilian Günther Andretti-BMW 23 Accident 9 Ret 10 Sam Bird Jaguar 22 Collision damage 8 Ret 94 Alex Lynn Mahindra 16 Collision 5 Source: Notes: – Pole position; fastest in group stage. – Fastest lap.
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Nyck de Vries 29 2 Edoardo Mortara 18 3 Mitch Evans 15 4 René Rast 13 5 Pascal Wehrlein 10
Teams' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team 33 2 ROKiT Venturi Racing 18 3 Jaguar Racing 15 4 Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Formula E Team 15 5 TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 10
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
Race two Qualifying Group draw Group 1 DEV () MOR (2) EVA (3) RAS (4) WEH (5) ROW (6) Group 2 SIM (7) VAN (8) DIG (9) TUR (10) DAC (11) DEN (12) Group 3 BUE (13) NAT (14) JEV (15) LOT (16) FRI (17) BLO (18) Group 4 CAS (19) SET (20) MUL (21) GUE (22) BIR (23) LYN (24)
Driver Team 1 4 Robin Frijns Virgin-Audi 1:07.810 1:07.889 1 2 7 Sérgio Sette Câmara Dragon-Penske 1:08.333 1:08.178 2 3 10 Sam Bird Jaguar 1:08.384 1:08.405 3 4 8 Oliver Turvey NIO 1:08.424 1:08.439 4 5 88 Tom Blomqvist NIO 1:08.367 1:08.732 5 6 6 Nico Müller Dragon-Penske 1:08.432 1:09.060 6 7 25 Jean-Éric Vergne Techeetah-DS 1:08.471 7 8 23 Sébastien Buemi e.dams-Nissan 1:08.544 8 9 94 Alex Lynn Mahindra 1:08.632 12 10 13 António Félix da Costa Techeetah-DS 1:08.649 9 11 37 Nick Cassidy Virgin-Audi 1:08.733 10 12 28 Maximilian Günther Andretti-BMW 1:08.797 11 13 22 Oliver Rowland e.dams-Nissan 1:08.798 13 14 29 Alexander Sims Mahindra 1:08.876 14 15 11 Lucas Di Grassi Audi 1:08.970 15 16 99 Pascal Wehrlein Porsche 1:09.601 16 17 27 Jake Dennis Andretti-BMW 1:11.194 17 18 20 Mitch Evans Jaguar 1:13.868 18 19 33 René Rast Audi 1:13.954 19 20 17 Nyck De Vries Mercedes no time 20 21 48 Edoardo Mortara Venturi-Mercedes no time 21 22 5 Stoffel Vandoorne Mercedes no time 22 23 71 Norman Nato Venturi-Mercedes no time 23 24 36 André Lotterer Porsche no time 24Source: Notes: – Alex Lynn received a 3-place grid penalty for causing a collision in race one. – Following a brake failure in Edoardo Mortara's car that caused him to crash heavily into the barriers in free practice, all four Mercedes-powered cars were deemed unsafe and therefore not allowed to participate in qualifying.
Race Driver Team Time/Retired Points 1 10 Sam Bird Jaguar 29 39:50.836 3 25 2 4 Robin Frijns Virgin-Audi 29 +2.194 1 18+3+1 3 13 António Félix da Costa Techeetah-DS 29 +6.900 9 15 4 7 Sérgio Sette Câmara Dragon-Penske 29 +12.817 2 12 5 6 Nico Müller Dragon-Penske 29 +13.924 6 10 6 8 Oliver Turvey NIO 29 +15.523 4 8 7 22 Oliver Rowland e.dams-Nissan 29 +16.389 13 6 8 11 Lucas di Grassi Audi 29 +20.612 15 4 9 17 Nyck de Vries Mercedes 29 +22.482 20 2+1 10 99 Pascal Wehrlein Porsche 29 +25.395 16 1 11 36 André Lotterer Porsche 29 +27.257 12 25 Jean-Éric Vergne Techeetah-DS 29 +28.846 7 13 5 Stoffel Vandoorne Mercedes 29 +29.112 22 14 37 Nick Cassidy Virgin-Audi 29 +33.079 10 15 29 Alexander Sims Mahindra 29 +43.885 14 16 71 Norman Nato Venturi-Mercedes 29 +48.192 23 17 33 René Rast Audi 29 +1:06.254 19 18 88 Tom Blomqvist NIO 29 +1:09.508 5 Ret 23 Sébastien Buemi e.dams-Nissan 26 Retired 8 Ret 28 Maximilian Günther Andretti-BMW 26 Collision 11 Ret 20 Mitch Evans Jaguar 26 Collision 18 Ret 94 Alex Lynn Mahindra 26 Collision 12 Ret 27 Jake Dennis Andretti-BMW 16 Collision 17 DNS 48 Edoardo Mortara Venturi-Mercedes 0 Did not start 21Source: Notes: – Pole position; fastest in group stage. – Fastest lap. – Jean-Éric Vergne, René Rast and Tom Blomqvist received a drive-through penalty apiece for failing to activate the second of the two mandatory attack modes. Rast and Blomqvist also received a further drive-through penalty for speeding under full course yellow, as did Nick Cassidy. Alexander Sims and Alex Lynn received a drive-through penalty each for a technical infringement involving the throttle pedal map. All these penalties were issued after the race and were therefore converted into 24-second time penalties.
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Nyck de Vries 32 21 2 Sam Bird 25 14 3 Robin Frijns 22 2 4 Edoardo Mortara 18 6 5 António Félix da Costa 15
Teams' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 3 1 Jaguar Racing 40 1 2 Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team 36 8 3 Envision Virgin Racing 22 8 4 Dragon / Penske Autosport 22 2 5 Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Formula E Team 19
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
Events Major incidents Edoardo Mortara suffered a brake failure in his Venturi-Mercedes car while making practice starts after the end of Saturday's free practice 3, causing him to crash heavily into the barriers at turn one. He was taken to hospital for precautionary checks. Mortara was permitted to race, despite not taking part in qualifying. However, he did not take the start as his mechanics could not repair the damage to his car in time.
Later on in the day, race two ended early following an accident – not shown on the international broadcast, but on one of the track's CCTV cameras – involving Mitch Evans and Alex Lynn in which the latter's car flipped over. It came shortly after Sébastien Buemi had come to a halt and Maximilian Günther and Tom Blomqvist had made contact further up ahead on the same lap. Immediately after Lynn's car stopped, Evans jumped out of his car to check on the Briton. The safety car was called out, and eventually the race was concluded with a red flag. Lynn was taken to hospital for examination, and later the Mahindra team announced on Twitter that he had been cleared from the hospital, and would thus be allowed to take part in the Rome ePrix. The way the crash unfolded looked similar to that of Formula One driver Mark Webber at the 2010 European Grand Prix, with the exception that Lynn's car landed upside down rather than Webber's right side up.
Other During the award ceremony, the government of Saudi Arabia, with a Patriot missile, neutralized a missile over Riyadh, near the town of Diriyah, allegedly fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels. There were no injuries, but flights were diverted or cancelled, making some participants go back to their hotels, and a house was damaged. This also raised concerns about the then-upcoming Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with regards to safety for the staff, teams, and drivers; such a missile attack did occur during the 2022 running of the Formula One event.
Notes
References
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