2021 Diriyah ePrix

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,[1] with Edoardo Mortara and Mitch Evans rounding out the podium. Sam Bird won the second race,[2] ahead of Robin Frijns and António Félix da Costa.

2021 Diriyah ePrix
Race 1 of 15 of the 2020–21 Formula E season
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Race details
Date 26 February 2021 (2021-02-26)
Official name 2021 Diriyah E-Prix
Location Riyadh Street Circuit, Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Course Street circuit
Course length 2.495 km (1.550 mi)
Distance 32 laps, 79.840 km (49.610 mi)
Pole position
Driver
Mercedes
Time 1:08.157
Fastest lap
Driver Stoffel Vandoorne
René Rast[lower-alpha 1]		 Mercedes
Audi
Time 1:09.583 (1:09.655) on lap 30 (16)
Podium
First
Mercedes
Second
Venturi-Mercedes
Third
Jaguar
Lap leaders
2021 Diriyah ePrix
Race 2 of 15 of the 2020–21 Formula E season
Next race →
Race details
Date 27 February 2021 (2021-02-27)
Official name 2021 Diriyah E-Prix
Location Riyadh Street Circuit, Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Course Street circuit
Course length 2.495 km (1.550 mi)
Distance 29 laps, 72.355 km (44.959 mi)
Pole position
Driver
Virgin-Audi
Time 1:07.889
Fastest lap
Driver Nyck de Vries Mercedes
Time 1:08.811 on lap 20
Podium
First
Jaguar
Second
Virgin-Audi
Third
Techeetah-DS
Lap leaders

Classification

Qualifying
Group draw[3]
Group 1 DAC (1) 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 (–)
Pos. No. Driver Team GS SP Grid
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 N/A 7
8 10 Sam Bird Jaguar 1:09.265 N/A 8
9 28 Maximilian Günther Andretti-BMW 1:09.277 N/A 9
10 22 Oliver Rowland e.dams-Nissan 1:09.362 N/A 10
11 29 Alexander Sims Mahindra 1:09.559 N/A 11
12 71 Norman Nato Venturi-Mercedes 1:09.628 N/A 12
13 8 Oliver Turvey NIO 1:09.631 N/A 13
14 27 Jake Dennis Andretti-BMW 1:09.723 N/A 14
15 5 Stoffel Vandoorne Mercedes 1:10.128 N/A 15
16 11 Lucas di Grassi Audi 1:10.474 N/A 16
17 23 Sébastien Buemi e.dams-Nissan 1:10.594 N/A 17
18 13 António Félix da Costa Techeetah-DS 1:10.735 N/A 18
19 25 Jean-Éric Vergne Techeetah-DS 1:10.804 N/A 19
20 7 Sérgio Sette Câmara Dragon-Penske 1:21.445 N/A 20
21 37 Nick Cassidy Virgin-Audi 1:22.0201 N/A 21
22 88 Tom Blomqvist NIO 1:23.1651 N/A 22
23 6 Nico Müller Dragon-Penske 1:24.9551 N/A 23
24 4 Robin Frijns Virgin-Audi no time N/A 24
Source:[4][5]

Notes:

  • ^1  – Nick Cassidy, Tom Blomqvist, and Nico Müller had their fastest qualifying lap times deleted for failing to reduce speed under double yellow flag.

Race
Pos. No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 17 Nyck de Vries Mercedes 32 46:44.765 1 25+3+11
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+12
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 PL
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:[6]

Notes:

  • ^1  – Pole position; fastest in group stage.
  • ^2  – Fastest lap.

Standings after the race
  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Qualifying
Group draw[7]
Group 1 DEV (1) 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)
Pos. No. Driver Team GS SP Grid
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 N/A 7
8 23 Sébastien Buemi e.dams-Nissan 1:08.544 N/A 8
9 94 Alex Lynn Mahindra 1:08.632 N/A 123
10 13 António Félix da Costa Techeetah-DS 1:08.649 N/A 9
11 37 Nick Cassidy Virgin-Audi 1:08.733 N/A 10
12 28 Maximilian Günther Andretti-BMW 1:08.797 N/A 11
13 22 Oliver Rowland e.dams-Nissan 1:08.798 N/A 13
14 29 Alexander Sims Mahindra 1:08.876 N/A 14
15 11 Lucas Di Grassi Audi 1:08.970 N/A 15
16 99 Pascal Wehrlein Porsche 1:09.601 N/A 16
17 27 Jake Dennis Andretti-BMW 1:11.194 N/A 17
18 20 Mitch Evans Jaguar 1:13.868 N/A 18
19 33 René Rast Audi 1:13.954 N/A 19
20 17 Nyck De Vries Mercedes no time4 N/A 20
21 48 Edoardo Mortara Venturi-Mercedes no time4 N/A 21
22 5 Stoffel Vandoorne Mercedes no time4 N/A 22
23 71 Norman Nato Venturi-Mercedes no time4 N/A 23
24 36 André Lotterer Porsche no time N/A 24
Source:[8][9]

Notes:

  • ^3  – Alex Lynn received a 3-place grid penalty for causing a collision in race one.[10]
  • ^4  – 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.[11]

Race
Pos. No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 10 Sam Bird Jaguar 29 39:50.836 3 25
2 4 Robin Frijns Virgin-Audi 29 +2.194 1 18+3+15
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+16
10 99 Pascal Wehrlein Porsche 29 +25.395 16 1
11 36 André Lotterer Porsche 29 +27.257 PL
12 25 Jean-Éric Vergne Techeetah-DS 29 +28.8467 7
13 5 Stoffel Vandoorne Mercedes 29 +29.112 22
14 37 Nick Cassidy Virgin-Audi 29 +33.0797 10
15 29 Alexander Sims Mahindra 29 +43.8857 14
16 71 Norman Nato Venturi-Mercedes 29 +48.192 23
17 33 René Rast Audi 29 +1:06.2547 19
18 88 Tom Blomqvist NIO 29 +1:09.5087 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 Collision7 12
Ret 27 Jake Dennis Andretti-BMW 16 Collision 17
DNS 48 Edoardo Mortara Venturi-Mercedes 0 Did not start 21
Source:[12]

Notes:

  • ^5  – Pole position; fastest in group stage.
  • ^6  – Fastest lap.
  • ^7  – 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.[13]

Standings after the race
  • 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.[14] 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.[15]

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.[16] Lynn was taken to hospital for examination,[17] 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.[18] 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,[19] allegedly fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels.[20] There were no injuries, but flights were diverted[21][22] or cancelled, making some participants go back to their hotels,[23] and a house was damaged.[24] 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
  1. Rast received the point for fastest lap as Vandoorne used FanBoost during his fastest lap.

References
  1. "Nyck De Vries the leading light as Formula E opens with night race in Diriyah". LiveScore. 26 February 2021.
  2. "Sam Bird wins second Formula E night race in Diriyah after horrror crash for Alex Lynn". LiveScore. 27 February 2021.
  3. "Doc 28 - Qualifying Groups" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  4. "Doc 51 - Final Classification Qualifying Superpole" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  5. "Doc 52 - Final Starting Grid Race" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  6. "Doc 65 - Final Classification Race" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  7. "Doc 68 - Qualifying Groups" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  8. "Doc 88 - Final Classification Qualifying - Superpole" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  9. "Doc 96 - Final Starting Grid Race" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  10. "Doc 63 - Decision No. 23" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  11. "Mercedes teams forced to miss qualifying after Mortara crash". The Race. 27 February 2021.
  12. "Doc 116 - Final Classification Race" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 February 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  13. "Vergne loses podium amid nine post-race Formula E penalties". The Race. 27 February 2021.
  14. "Mortara suffers massive post-practice crash, Frijns fastest". The Race. 27 February 2021.
  15. "ROKiT Venturi Racing on Twitter". Twitter. 27 February 2021.
  16. "Fórmula E: em prova com acidente feio no fim, Sam Bird vence na Arábia; Sette Câmara é quarto". Globoesporte.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). 27 February 2021.
  17. "Alex Lynn taken to hospital after dramatic crash in Formula E race". GPblog.com. 27 February 2021.
  18. "Mahindra Racing on Twitter". Twitter. 27 February 2021.
  19. "Saudi missile interception carried out near Diriyah Formula E track". FormulaRapida.net. 28 February 2021.
  20. "Saudis Say They Intercepted Houthi Missile Attack Over Capital". The New York Times. 27 February 2021.
  21. "Saudi Arabia hit by mass ballistic missile and drone attack – Iran backed rebels blamed". Express.co.uk. 27 February 2021.
  22. "Fórmula E: Sauditas repeliram ataque de mísseis". Autosport (in Portuguese). 28 February 2021.
  23. "Míssil assusta organização da Fórmula E na Arábia Saudita e gera preocupação para F-1". Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese). 28 February 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  24. "No injuries in missile attack on Riyadh during Formula E weekend". GPblog.com. 28 February 2021.
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