Formula E 2019: Ad Diriyah ePrix offers wheel-to-wheel action, no indication of form factor and penalties galore

Currently there’s almost no Motorsport series that is as exciting, unpredictable and entertaining as Formula E. In fact, it is time that all thoughts otherwise are laid to rest for good. The 2019 Ad Diriyah ePrix in Saudi Arabia, the opening double-header round of the new season, offered close wheel-to-wheel action, no indication of form factor and penalties galore. The more surprising part of the weekend though was the series’ decision to host Race 1 on Friday - in key Motorsport markets, the live broadcast was right in the middle of the last working day of the week. Of course, Friday-Saturday being considered as a weekend in Saudi Arabia might have constituted this decision, but is there anything about classic Motorsport that Formula E is yet to challenge?

While these are early days in the Formula E Championships, a double-header weekend means that big points are up for grabs. After two rounds of racing around the streets of Riyadh, BMW’s Alexander Sims leads the Drivers’ Championship by five points to Mercedes’ Stoffel Vandoorne. Sam Bird, one of four series veterans, is third, nine points adrift to the leader. The reigning Formula E champion, Jean-Eric Vergne, had a weekend to forget - currently only 12th in the standings. 16 out of the 24 drivers scored points in the 2019 Ad Diriyah ePrix and this is one of the most interesting aspects of Formula E - the wide range of points scorers at each ePrix. This keeps the championship fight wide open till the very last race and allows for far more contenders till the late stage of the season.

This is what winning feels like! 😂😃

Once again the only team and driver to have won in every @FIAFormulaE season to date!#DiriyahEPrix #ABBFormulaE pic.twitter.com/fzG26DbxTN

— Envision Racing (@Envision_Racing) November 22, 2019

In the Teams’ Championship, Mercedes lead the standings with 38 points - a surprise debut for the German manufacturer, after Vandoorne scored a podium in both races. Virgin Racing and BMW are only two and three points away respectively followed by Audi. The only team that failed to score a single point in the 2019 Ad Diriyah ePrix was the NIO Formula E team. The reigning Teams’ Champion, Techeetah, managed to score only seven points across both races and lie in ninth place in the championship standings.

Race 1

BMW won in Ad Diriyah last year and Alexander Sims furthered the team’s prospects of a repeat win by scoring the season’s first pole position. The surprise result in qualifying was that of the Mercedes drivers - claiming second (Vandoorne) and third (Nyck de Vries) on their Formula E debut. Mahindra Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio claimed sixth - the position in the Super Pole group. In the group qualifying session, only 1.7 seconds covered positions from first till 17th.

In the race, it was Bird (Virgin Racing) who claimed the series’ first win - his ninth win overall in the all-electric series, a number that puts him in third place for a driver with maximum number of wins. The Virgin Racing driver started fifth and pulled off measured overtakes en route victory - first on the pole starter Sims followed by Vandoorne. Despite starting from pole, Sims went backwards in the race to eventually finish eighth. The BMW driver later revealed that he battled energy management issues throughout the race.

“Great to be back in season six. I haven’t missed a race so far and I’m not planning to miss one in the future. It was a really good race for us. We’ve been quick right from the start here. We’ve done a lot of work during the off-season with the simulators back in Silverstone and with the testing. We learned a lot more about the car which we couldn’t do last season. And this is the reward we got for our work,” exclaimed a victorious Bird. “The first five to ten laps looked fine but not fantastic for me and the car. We seemed to keep a strong pace but compared to the cars ahead, we were consuming more energy,” explained Sims.

We're back! Watch highlights from a thrilling 2019 SAUDIA #DiriyahEPrix right here 👇 pic.twitter.com/6Uo25FmNqN

— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) November 22, 2019

Nissan driver and former Formula E champion Sebastien Buemi, was one of the first retirements of the season. Strangely, his Nissan race car barely lasted more than the first five minutes of the race. The other notable retirement from Race 1 was Vergne, who suffered from irreparable damage to his right front wheel. A late race Safety Car failed to change the finish order at the front as Porsche’s Andre Lotterer followed Bird and Vandoorne in third place, scoring a memorable podium on Porsche’s debut.

Vergne explained after his retirement: “From the beginning, I felt something wrong with the steering wheel and I was not confident with the car. I could live with it but I knew something was wrong and I had the fear that something would break in a high-speed corner and wreck the car but I just wanted to bring some points home. It became impossible to steer and then, in my last lap, I had to give it all the strength I had to bring it back to the box safely.”

Race 2

Sims scored a repeat pole position - his third successive after he scored pole in the season-ending 2019 New York City ePrix in July. Along with Sims, Mahindra Racing’s d’Ambrosio (fourth) was the only other driver to feature in both the Super Pole sessions of the 2019 Ad Diriyah ePrix. For Race 2, the Formula E regulars - Buemi and Lucas di Grassi, claimed the second and third starting spots. Techeetah’s Antonio Felix da Costa, who won the 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix with BMW, qualified fifth, ahead of Jaguar’s Mitch Evans. Thanks to track evolution, the pole position time difference between Race 1 and Race 2 was a staggering 3 seconds.

14 ePrixs, 2 pole positions but zero race wins was Sims’ record in Formula E. However, he drove smartly in Race 2 to steadily build his lead from the start itself. In fact, Sims’ win could be considered as an outlier in Formula E terms. He was challenged, yes, but barely beaten by his rivals. At the flag, Sims lead a BMW 1-2 finish across the line after his team-mate Maximilian Guenther drove a stellar race from 9th place on the grid to the podium. “That was pretty much a dream race,” said Sims after the win. “Crossing the line was an amazing feeling - there’s so many lessons we’ve learnt.”

What a race! Highlights from the 2019 SAUDIA #DiriyahEPrix. Which driver impressed you most? pic.twitter.com/WywYikw66E

— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) November 23, 2019

BMW’s joy was short-lived due to a post-race penalty of 24 seconds saw Guenther be demoted from second to out of the points - a decision that promoted Audi’s di Grassi and Mercedes’ Vandoorne to second and third place respectively. In fact, Guenther was one of the many drivers who were penalised during the chaotic Race 2 on Saturday. Venturi’s Felipe Massa, a Motorsport veteran, suffered a double penalty for rookie errors that included lining up in the incorrect grid slot and speeding in the pit-lane!

The other list of penalised drivers included Buemi, da Costa and Evans - all of whom lost out on good points scoring positions. In the case of Buemi, it was shocking to see an experienced racer as him rejoining the track in the dangerous manner he did. The winner of Race 1, Bird, retired from Race 2 after damage to his car from collisions with Evans and Mahindra Racing’s Pascal Wehrlein. Techeetah’s Vergne suffered a battery replacement after a crash in the practice session, a move that incurred him a grid penalty. However, a low qualifying position meant that the grid penalty was converted into a stop-go penalty in the race. The Frenchman eventually finished 8th and opened his championship tally with 4 points. The other notable performances were of Jaguar’s rookie driver James Calado and Mercedes’ de Vries. Calado, who started 21st, finished 10th to score his first point in Formula E. As for de Vries, he converted a 23rd place start to a seventh place finish.

We’re 💔 the #DiriyahEPrix was not the race we hoped for or deserved. Sadly due to technical reasons @thereal_JDA didn’t make the start of the race & @PWehrlein had damage after an incident on track. We’re true #passioneers, we will come back and race hard next time. #ABBFormulaE pic.twitter.com/cJZcgCreyq

— Mahindra Racing (@MahindraRacing) November 23, 2019

Mahindra Racing

The Indian-owned Formula E team is tied in 10th place with Dragon Racing - both teams having a lowly score of only 2 points. For Mahindra Racing, d’Ambrosio’s Super Pole entry in both races is proof that their package is worthy to battle with the front runners. While d’Ambrosio led the charge for the team, it seemed as though Wehrlein required more time to re-adapt into the newer and faster-paced format of Formula E.

Up next is the 2020 Santiago ePrix in Chile on 18th January - a near two-month break. After delivering doses of high-adrenaline action, Formula E fans will have to wait a wee bit longer for their next.