Defending champion Nyck de Vries leads a Mercedes one-two at the opening race of the 2022 Formula E season in Riyadh: Lotterer’s fight goes unrewarded
Nyck de Vries (Mercedes) won the first race of the 2022 Formula E World Championship in Riyadh on Friday. The reigning champion thus got off to a perfect start in the enterprise of defending his title. The same goes for his team, as Stoffel Vandoorne finished in second place to complete the Mercedes one-two. Third was Jake Dennis (Andretti).
Sam Bird (Jaguar) missed the podium in fourth. Lucas di Grassi was fifth ahead of Edoardo Mortara (both Venturi) and Nick Cassidy (Envision). Jean-Eric Vergne (DS-Techeetah), Oliver Askew (Andretti) and Mitch Evans (Jaguar) completed the top 10, with Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche), Maximilian Günther (Nissan-e.dams) and Andre Lotterer (Porsche) missing out on the points in eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth.
De Vries made up first position at the start, passing Dennis from third on the grid and lining up behind his teammate Vandoorne, who had started the race from pole position.
Lotterer fights hard against Dennis
The two Mercedes drivers gradually pulled away from their pursuers. The decision in the battle for victory came towards the middle of the race when the attack mode was activated for the second time. Vandoorne missed the zone on his first attempt and fell behind de Vries without the extra power. Subsequently, the Belgian was unable to get past his team-mate.
How close is too close? 🤏
We've missed this 😉
🇸🇦 2022 #DiriyahEPrix | @JakeDennis19 @Andre_Lotterer https://t.co/vjEHzNSjU9 pic.twitter.com/hPWXFpeFUL
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) January 28, 2022
Much more worth seeing than the formation flight of the two Silver Arrows was the battle for third place, in which Dennis and Lotterer fought a fierce duel – including several touches. In the third attempt, Dennis finally pushed past the German, who paid the price for his fighting spirit towards the end of the race.
Lotterer had used more energy than his rivals and had to save it accordingly in the final phase. He thus became a defenceless victim and was eventually pushed through to 13th place.
Rowland is cleared by Frijns
For Antonio Felix da Costa (DS-Techeetah), the 2019/20 season champion, the race was over after just one lap. Due to technical problems after a contact shortly after the start, the Portuguese had to pit his car already at the end of the first laps.
Oliver Rowland (Mahindra), who had been fastest in both free practices, did not see the chequered flag either. After a tough duel, the Briton had collided with Robin Frijns (Envision) on lap 8, spun and crashed backwards into the tyre barrier at turn 17. While he was recovering his car, the safety car came onto the track. Frijns received a drive-through penalty from the stewards because of the collision.
The second race of the season-opening “double-header” will take place tomorrow (Saturday, 28 January) at 18:00 CET. This will be preceded by qualifying from 13:45 onwards.