Formula E: Joy and sorrow for the Swiss 🎥

The highlights of Race 1 show a sensational overtaking maneuver by Mortara between Evans (Jaguar) and Wehrlein (Porsche) after 1: 30 minutes.

Edoardo Mortara succeeded optimally in the first World Championship race under floodlights in Saudi Arabia. The Geneva native, who started fourth, brought the Mercedes-powered Venturi home in second place on the 2.5-kilometer Diriyah circuit. Only Nyck de Vries in the factory Mercedes, who was in front from the start, was faster.

Bad luck for Nico Müller
For the first time, Nico Müller, who turned 29 on February 25, would have made it into the super pole qualifying of the fastest six from qualifying as early as Friday. Unfortunately, his Dragon teammate Sergio Sette Camara of all people triggered a yellow sector in qualifying.

Because the chase for best times only lasts four minutes and this therefore only allows one fast flying lap, Müller didn't take too much speed out of the race and realized the fifth-best time of all 24 competitors in the process.

Unfortunately, it was cancelled for him, as well as two others from his qualifying group, so that he was denied entry into the final time chase. Starting from the pit lane to save energy, he was left with only 21st place.

Sébastien Buemi without a chance
Like the other top 6 from the previous season, Sébastien Buemi had to chase times in the first group on a "green" track, which put everyone at a disadvantage. Like defending champion da Costa and predecessor Vergne (both DS Techeetah), he finished 13th and outside the points.

Luck of the draw for Mortara
Mortara also caused a stir on Saturday. After the practice start at the end of the third session, the brakes on his Virgin failed, causing him to drive straight into the emergency exit and crash head-on into the barriers.

Fortunately, the doctors at the hospital found no injuries, but his e-car could not be repaired before the start of the race. For safety reasons, all four Mercedes-powered race cars remained in the pits for inspection during qualifying.

First points for Müller
The Swiss flag was then held high by Nico Müller. This time he made it into the final qualifying session in the Penske EV-4. After two sectors he was on his way to the front row of the grid before he missed the racing line in a corner in the third sector, giving away a good second. However, sixth place on the grid was no longer out of his reach.

Müller finished the second race, which was stopped early due to a high-speed rollover by Alex Lynn (Mahindra), who was also uninjured thanks to the stable crash structure of these monoposti, in seventh place. Because several riders, including two ranked ahead of him, had not activated the second activation mode (more power for 4 minutes), he moved up to fifth position. This meant the first ten points of his Formula E career.

The second race also had a clash, which led to the race being stopped.

Zero number for Buemi
Sébastien Buemi was also in the championship points when he crashed his Nissan Ariya, leaving him completely empty-handed on the first race weekend of 2021. Jaguar driver Sam Bird emerged victorious after a duel with Robin Frijns (Virgin-Audi).

All further information can be found on the German homepage of the FIA Formula E.

Race 1 results Race 2 results

fiaformulae.com/en