DIRIYAH, Saudi Arabia –Â Reigning Formula E champion Nyck de Vries started the season in dominant fashion after winning the first race of the season at the Diriyah UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Riyadh Street Circuit.
De Vries took advantage of an uncharacteristic slip-up by Mercedes-EQ teammate Stoffel Vandoorne when the Belgian missed the Attack Mode activation line. The pair and Mercedes-EQ were superior from then on, winding up eight seconds clear of third place Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis.
“The result might be the same, but the way we achieved it felt very different – obviously starting with yesterday tapping the wall in lap one didn’t help,” de Vries said. “It put myself and the team on the backfoot, then you have to rebuild your confidence and the conditions were very slippery, very different to last year. There is always a lot of track evolution, so you have to build it up in FP2 and then straight into qualifying. So I was actually very happy with what we achieved in qualifying, and then I knew we had a strong race car to capitalise on our qualifying position. We had great pace, the team did a great job and I was a bit fortunate with Stoff missing his Attack Mode, but at the end of the day it was faultless from our garage and we managed to win the first race. I am very pleased with the way we managed to win this race and start the season strong.”
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Sam Bird crossed the line fourth, with TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E’s Andre Lotterer looking strong early on – particularly in a feisty duel with Dennis – but eventually slipped down from a provisional podium position as his usable energy became ever more marginal as the race drew on.
Lucas di Grassi finished fifth in his debut for ROKiT Venturi Racing ahead of teammate Edoardo Mortara and Nick Cassidy – the Envision Racing man also taking the point for TAG Heuer Fastest Lap.
DS TECHEETAH’s Jean-Eric Vergne followed in eighth, pipping rookie Oliver Askew, who came home ninth. Jaguar’s Mitch Evans was 10th.Â
Formula E’s new knockout Duel qualifying format delivered a new challenge for all drivers with Vandoorne taking to it quickest and also claiming the Julius Baer Pole Position. After beating teammate and race winner de Vries in the semi final, Vandoorne bested Dennis in the final Duel on his way to sealing pole position.