 2019 Diriyah E-Prix II
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|---|---|---|
 Diriyah's street circuit remained unchanged for the second race. | ||
| Race Information | ||
| Date | 23 November 2019 | |
| E-Prix No. | 60 | |
| Official Name | 2019 SAUDIA Diriyah E-Prix | |
| Location |  Ad Diriyah Street Circuit, Ad Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| |
| Lap length | 2.495 km (1.550 mi) | |
| Distance | 30 laps / 74.850 km (46.510 mi) | |
| Support Race | 2019 Diriyah eTrophy Race 2
| |
| Qualifying Result | ||
| Pole Sitter |  Alexander Sims
| |
| Team |  BMW i Andretti Motorsport
| |
| Time | 1:11.476 | |
| Fastest Lap | ||
| Driver |  António Félix da Costa
| |
| Team |  DS Techeetah
| |
| Fastest Lap | 1:12.481 on lap 30 | |
| ePrix Result | ||
| First | Second | Third |
| Alexander Sims
|
 Lucas di Grassi
|
 Stoffel Vandoorne
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| Winner Team | BMW i Andretti Motorsport
| |
| Time | 46:48.327 | |
| ePrix Guide | ||
| Previous | Next | |
| 2019 Diriyah E-Prix I
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 2020 Santiago E-Prix
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The 2019 Diriyah E-Prix II, otherwise officially advertised as the 2019 SAUDIA Diriyah E-Prix II (2019 بطولة الدرعية الإلكترونية in Arabic), is set to be the second round of the 2019/20 FIA Formula E Championship, staged at the Ad Diriyah Street Circuit in Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, on 23 November 2019.[1] The race was the second of the weekend to be staged in Diriyah, and would prove to be one of the more chaotic in FE history.[2]
Before the day's activity got underway there would be some alterations made to the track, with the inside wall at turn four moved further inwards to narrow the circuit.[3] This came after complaints about grip during the first race, while a change in wind direction meant less dust and sand was blown onto the circuit.[3]
The change in conditions meant that pace was vastly improved during qualifying, with Alexander Sims sweeping to pole position once again in Super Pole.[3] He beat former Champions Sébastien Buemi and Lucas di Grassi to top spot, with Mitch Evans, Jérôme d'Ambrosio and António Félix da Costa completing the shootout.[3]
There was drama ahead of the E-Prix itself as Jean-Éric Vergne was sent to the back of the grid due to a battery change, while d'Ambrosio had an issue on the dummy grid.[2] That meant that the Belgian ace was stranded as the field pulled away to line-up on the proper grid, although the marshals were quick to drag the Mahindra to safety before the start.[2]
When the E-Prix did get underway there was no stopping Sims, who duly blasted off the grid to establish an impressive lead.[2] Behind, Buemi and di Grassi squabbled for second, the Swiss ace emerging ahead, while Evans and Sam Bird gave chase behind da Costa.[2]
Sims' plan in the early stages was the break clear and establish a lead big enough that he could arm Attack Mode and not slip down the order.[2] That plan came off beautifully as he established a three second gap at the head of the field, leaving Buemi and co. to fight for second.[2]
da Costa proved to be the man to watch in that fight, scything past di Grassi before launching an attack at Buemi.[2] Unfortunately their fight would end with da Costa tipping Buemi into a spin at turn eighteen as the Swiss racer went to arm Attack Mode, resulting in da Costa getting a penalty, and Buemi causing a few heart attacks as he rejoined right in the path of André Lotterer.[2]
The fight for second rumbled on, however, and when di Grassi tried a lunge on da Costa, he found Bird trying to make a move on the outside of turn two.[2] Yet, Evans would manage to squeeze his Jaguar inside of the Virgin, with Bird dancing in the dust on the outside as they ran through turns two, three and four.[2] At turn four the two eventually touched and sent Bird sliding towards the outside wall, before the Brit was finally punted out of the race at turn five by Pascal Wehrlein.[2]
That brought out the BMW Qualcomm i8 safety car for the first time, with a six minute clean-up required to remove the Envision Virgin.[2] Sims controlled the restart beautifully to arm Attack Mode, although there was chaos behind as drivers further down also tried to activate the boost.[2]
da Costa was the first, having to slam on the brakes to avoid overtaking Sims, while Maximilian Günther in the sister BMW-Andretti overtook both di Grassi and Stoffel Vandoorne.[2] Nyck de Vries and Ma Qing Hua were also guilty looking parties of SC overtaking, resulting in a very different order behind Sims, particularly after da Costa served his penalty.[2]
A second safety car soon followed, however, as Robin Frijns slid into the wall at turn eight/nine.[2] However, there was a worrying moment as the race was restarted before the Virgin had been fully cleared, and only quick reactions from Scott Elkins in race control to deploy a Full Course Yellow prevented a serious accident with marshals still on the circuit.[2]
Once the race did get back underway there were only a handful on minutes remaining, with Sims breaking clear ahead of Günther, Vandoorne and di Grassi.[2] di Grassi used his final Attack Mode to take third from Vandoorne, although he ran out of time, and boost, to pass Günther.[2]
With that the race, on the track at least, was run, with Sims running home unopposed to claim his maiden FE victory.[2] Günther made it a BMW-Andretti one-two, although was placed under investigation for the first safety car restart, while di Grassi was provisionally classified in third ahead of Vandoorne.[2]
After the race, however, there would be a wave of penalties resulting from the chaotic final third of the race.[4] The biggest change was a penalty for Günther for overtaking under the safety car, throwing the German racer down to eleventh and putting Vandoorne onto the podium.[5]
Background[]
The ABB FIA Formula E Championship had opened its sixth campaign on familiar soil, with the Ad Diriyah Street Circuit returning for a second straight season as the season opener.[1] Furthermore, Diriyah had been selected to host a second race the following day, with the circuit having received some minor alterations for the new season.[6] These included some minor re-profiling of the majority of the corners and improving drainage, relocating the pitlane entry, and moving the Attack Mode activation point to the turn 18/19 chicane.[6]
Further alterations were made for the second race, with the inside wall at turn four moved to cover a poor track surface that had been criticised by drivers after the first race.[3] There would also be some new kerbs, caused by damage from the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy races on Friday and Saturday, combined with some minor breakup of the track surface from Friday's running.[7]
Early Runners[]
Victory for Sam Bird in the opening race, combined with an additional point for setting the fastest lap in the group stage of qualifying, meant that the British racer led the Championship with 26 points. He hence held an eight point advantage over André Lotterer, while Stoffel Vandoorne completed the early top three ahead of the second race. Behind, Oliver Rowland and Robin Frijns completed the top five ahead of Nyck de Vries, the only of the rookies to claim debut points, with ten drivers on the score sheet.
In the Teams Championship it was Envision Virgin Racing whom led the charge after the opening round, a double score leaving them with 36 points. Mercedes were next, sitting on 23 points, with a five point advantage over third placed Porsche. Nissan e.Dams and BMW-Andretti then completed the top five, with eight of the twelve teams scoring at the opening race.
FanBoost for the second race of the season opened on Friday evening after the 2019 Diriyah E-Prix I.[8]
Entry List[]
The full entry list for the 2019 Diriyah E-Prix II is displayed below:
Practice[]
FP1[]
FP2[]
Qualifying[]
Qualifying for the 2019 Diriyah E-Prix II would be conducted in FE's standard format, with the field split into four groups of six cars, based on Championship position.[3] The first group would feature those in the top six in the Championship and so on, with each group getting six minutes on track to set a full 250 kW lap.[3] The top six overall would then progress to the Super Pole shootout, getting one final lap at full power to try and claim pole position.[3]
After the session a point would be handed to the fastest driver in the Group Stage, while three were to be awarded to the winner of Super Pole.[3]
Group 1[]
The opening group of the second FE qualifying session of the season would see the top six in the Championship venture out onto the circuit, headlined by race one winner Sam Bird of Envision Virgin.[3] He was to be joined on circuit by both of the Mercedes of Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries, as well as his teammate Robin Frijns.[3] Completing the group would be Porsche's André Lotterer and Oliver Rowland in the first of the Nissan e.Dams.[3]
First to venture out onto the circuit would be Rowland in the Nissan, with the rest of the sextet following the #22 car out onto the circuit.[10] Regardless, it was the Brit who was the first to deliver a lap, and it was clear that the overnight sweeping of the circuit, combined with a slight change in wind direction, had ensured that there was far less dust on the circuit.[10] That, unsurprisingly, would result in stronger lap times, with Rowland duly trouncing the best lap from Friday with a 1:12.660.[10]
de Vries was next to set a lap, although a strong first sector was undermined by an awful third sector, which left the Dutchman trailing by almost a second and a half.[10] Vandoorne was next and duly made up for a poor opening sector to go fastest overall, only to be beaten by Lotterer a few moments later, the German racer claiming a 1:12.153.[10] Frijns was next but a mistake and slide in turn fourteen saw him slot into third, before Bird swept across the line to complete the group and go fastest, recording a 1:12.007.[10]
Group 2[]
Group two was to feature those positioned seventh through twelfth in the Championship, and would be headlined by race one pole sitter Alexander Sims of BMW-Andretti.[3] The #27 BMW was to be joined on track by the two remaining Mercedes run by ROKiT Venturi, those of Edoardo Mortara and Felipe Massa, as well as the Mahindra duo of Pascal Wehrlein and Jérôme d'Ambrosio.[3] Mitch Evans would then complete the sextet in the first of the Jaguars.[3]
Sims would be the man to get the ball rolling in the second group, heading out of the pitlane first with a lot of time in hand with rumours that he would go straight into a full 250 kW lap.[10] However, the Brit would complete a very quick warm-up effort at 200 kW, which was faster that de Vries' full power effort, before delivering an excellent lap to go fastest overall with a 1:11.858.[10] Indeed, the #27 BMW appeared to be dancing on the edge throughout the second sector, with Sims having several minor twitches particularly through turn fourteen.[10]
His run overshadowed that of Massa in the #19 Venturi, with a clean second and third sector enough to make up for a poor opening sector, leaving him in sixth at the end of his effort.[10] Mortara was next with a clean run to secure third, knocking his teammate out of Super Pole, with Wehrlein chasing him having overtaken d'Ambrosio and Evans on his warm-up lap.[10] Yet, Wehrlein's pace was not spectacular as he claimed seventh, only for Evans and d'Ambrosio to knock him further down the order, Evans slotting into third while d'Ambrosio went fastest with a 1:11.835.[10]
Group 3[]
The third sextet of the session featured those drivers who were placed thirteenth through eighteenth after the opening round, with two big names among them in title contending cars.[3] Indeed, Lucas di Grassi of Audi and António Félix da Costa of DS Techeetah would be in action, both hoping that track evolution would aid their quest to get into Super Pole having dropped points in the opening race.[3] They were joined by new BMW employee Maximilian Günther, Neel Jani in the second Porsche, James Calado's #51 Jaguar, and Oliver Turvey in the already out-classed NIO.[3]
Günther led the third group into their warm-up laps with a couple of minutes left, and would adopt the same strategy as teammate Sims, completing a very quick warm-up lap before setting up for his 250 kW effort.[10] The German racer's lap would be a mixed one, however, with a strong first sector undercut by a poor third, resulting in him only claiming sixth at the end of his effort.[10] Calado was next across the line, having fought with Günther on their out-laps, although an awful run through the end of sector one and into sector saw the Brit slump to thirteenth ahead of de Vries.[10]
Behind, di Grassi would pass Jani and Turvey on his warm-up lap to grab third in the order, and duly delivered a strong 250 kW lap to claim third with a 1:11.939.[10] Jani was next but could only claim fourteenth, followed by Turvey who duly nudged the Swiss racer back a spot by claiming fourteenth for himself.[10] Finally, da Costa came charging across the line set the fastest time of the session, a 1:11.418 which saw the Portuguese ace claim the fastest first and third sectors as well.[10]
Group 4[]
The final group of the session featured those who were in the bottom six of the Championship hunt, and had two major Championship contenders among them.[3] Indeed, both Sébastien Buemi of Nissan and defending Champion Jean-Éric Vergne of DS Techeetah would venture out in the group, and with the advantage of a clean track after their issues on Friday.[3] Their appearances would likely overshadow those of the rest of the group, which featured both GEOX Dragons of Nico Müller and Brendon Hartley, Daniel Abt in the second factory Audi, and Ma Qing Hua in the second NIO.[3]
Unfortunately for Vergne he would start qualifying knowing he was facing a grid penalty and little relevant track knowledge, with an accident in practice having resulted in the #25 Techeetah needing a new battery.[10] He, however, would have to wait to set his time, as Müller was the first to set a time, venturing out right at the start having also lost time on both Friday and Saturday morning.[10] Yet, the Swiss ace was not competitive despite completing a clean lap, slotting in towards the back of the overall order in eighteenth.[10]
Hartley was next although the New Zealander's race was over as soon as it begun, a massive broadside slide at turn four leaving him down in seventeenth.[10] Buemi was next and delivered an impressive effort to go second with a 1:11.774, with the fastest first sector, while Ma made very little impact in the #33 NIO, securing nineteenth.[10] Vergne was next up and delivered a clean opening pair of sectors, although a lock-up at turn eighteen/nineteen saw him slump to eleventh, followed by Abt across the line, who was left a disappointed fifteenth after a mistake ridden lap.[10]
Super Pole[]
The Super Pole sextet would have ten minutes to prepare for their runs, with Evans, di Grassi, Sims, d'Ambrosio, Buemi and da Costa set to run in that order, one at a time.[10] Evans duly ventured out for his single shot at claiming pole, with a slide through turns four and six costing him a little time.[10] Yet, the New Zealander would rally back with a strong second sector, and an OK third sector after a lock-up into turn seventeen, to record a 1:11.929.[10]
di Grassi was next up and immediately looked to have the beating of Evans with a strong opening sector, only for oversteer exiting turn seventeen to cost him a few hundredths and leave him on a 1:11.784.[10] Sims went next and duly delivered another spectacular lap, with a small drift through turn four leaving him three tenths up on the Brazilian.[10] However, it was an outrageous second sector, matched by an equally impressive slide through turn seventeen onto the back straight, that left the Brit fastest, ending his lap on a 1:11.476.[10] Indeed, Sims was particularly happy with himself, asking over the radio: 'Did you see my slide out of turn seventeen?'[10]
With the excitement of Sims' lap still hanging in the air it was d'Ambrosio's turn to hit the circuit, although a huge slide at turn four left the Belgian well adrift of the ultimate pace, ending on a 1:12.093.[10] Buemi was next and duly set about matching Sims, matching the Brit's run through the first sector, only to fade away over the rest of the lap to settle into second with a 1:11.676.[10] Next out to complete the session was da Costa, although the Portuguese ace's hopes of pole after setting the fastest first sector by three hundredths were ended come the end of the second sector, with two slides at turns fourteen and seventeen seeing the DS Techeetah brush the wall.[10]
That left Sims on pole ahead of Buemi and di Grassi, with Evans getting thrown out of Super Pole after his car was found to be underweight.[11] He would, however, start the race from sixth as his car had passed the post group stage check without issue.[11]
Post Qualifying[]
The final qualifying result for the 2019 Diriyah E-Prix II are outlined below:
| 2019 Diriyah E-Prix II Qualifying Result | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Time | Gap | Grid | Group |
| 1st | 27 | Alexander Sims
|
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
|
1:11.476 | — | 1 | G2 |
| 2nd | 23 |  Sébastien Buemi
|
 Nissan e.Dams
|
1:11.696 | +0.220s | 2 | G4 |
| 3rd | 11 | Lucas di Grassi
|
 Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
|
1:11.784 | +0.308s | 3 | G3 |
| 4th | 64 | Jérôme d'Ambrosio
|
 Mahindra Racing
|
1:12.093 | +0.617s | 4 | G2 |
| 5th | 13 | António Félix da Costa
|
DS Techeetah
|
1:14.134 | +2.658s | 5 | G3 |
| EXC* | 20 |  Mitch Evans
|
Jaguar Racing
|
1:11.929 | 6 | G2 | |
| Super Pole | |||||||
| 1st | 13 | António Félix da Costa
|
DS Techeetah
|
1:11.418 | — | SP | G3 |
| 2nd | 23 | Sébastien Buemi
|
Nissan e.Dams
|
1:11.774 | +0.356s | SP | G4 |
| 3rd | 64 | Jérôme d'Ambrosio
|
Mahindra Racing
|
1:11.835 | +0.417s | SP | G2 |
| 4th | 27 | Alexander Sims
|
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
|
1:11.858 | +0.440s | SP | G2 |
| 5th | 11 | Lucas di Grassi
|
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
|
1:11.939 | +0.521s | SP | G3 |
| 6th | 20 | Mitch Evans
|
Jaguar Racing
|
1:11.972 | +0.554s | SP | G2 |
| 7th | 2 | Sam Bird
|
Envision Virgin Racing
|
1:12.007 | +0.589s | 7 | G1 |
| 8th | 48 | Edoardo Mortara
|
 ROKiT Venturi Racing
|
1:12.008 | +0.590s | 8 | G2 |
| 9th | 28 | Maximilian Günther
|
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
|
1:12.051 | +0.633s | 9 | G3 |
| 10th | 36 | André Lotterer
|
Porsche Formula E Team
|
1:12.153 | +0.735s | 10 | G1 |
| 11th† | 25 | Jean-Éric Vergne
|
DS Techeetah
|
1:12.327 | +0.909s | 24 | G4 |
| 12th | 5 | Stoffel Vandoorne
|
Mercedes
|
1:12.422 | +1.004s | 11 | G1 |
| 13th | 4 |  Robin Frijns
|
Envision Virgin Racing
|
1:12.454 | +1.036s | 12 | G1 |
| 14th | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein
|
Mahindra Racing
|
1:12.635 | +1.217s | 13 | G2 |
| 15th | 66 | Daniel Abt
|
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
|
1:12.642 | +1.224s | 14 | G4 |
| 16th | 19 | Felipe Massa
|
ROKiT Venturi Racing
|
1:12.656 | +1.238s | 15 | G2 |
| 17th | 22 | Oliver Rowland
|
Nissan e.Dams
|
1:12.660 | +1.242s | 16 | G1 |
| 18th | 3 | Oliver Turvey
|
NIO 333 FE Team
|
1:12.671 | +1.253s | 17 | G3 |
| 19th | 18 | Neel Jani
|
Porsche Formula E Team
|
1:12.732 | +1.314s | 18 | G3 |
| 20th | 6 | Brendon Hartley
|
GEOX Dragon
|
1:13.182 | +1.764s | 19 | G4 |
| 21st | 33 | Ma Qing Hua
|
NIO 333 FE Team
|
1:13.205 | +1.787s | 20 | G4 |
| 22nd | 51 | James Calado
|
Jaguar Racing
|
1:13.430 | +2.012s | 21 | G3 |
| 23rd | 7 | Nico Müller
|
GEOX Dragon
|
1:13.703 | +2.285s | 22 | G4 |
| 24th | 17 | Nyck de Vries
|
Mercedes
|
1:14.082 | +2.664s | 23 | G1 |
| 110% Time: 1:18.559[12] | |||||||
| Source:[12] | |||||||
- * Evans was excluded from the results of Super Pole as his car was found to be underweight after the Shootout.[11]
- † Vergne was handed a twenty place grid penalty for changing his battery.[11]
Race[]
Temperatures sat at 22°C in the afternoon sun as the field gathered for the start of the race, with the aftermath of the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy race requiring kerbs to be replaced in several places.[13] Fortunately, there would be no issues for the FE field, barring a pre-ordained stop-go penalty for Jean-Éric Vergne for changing his battery, until Jérôme d'Ambrosio found himself unable to move when the drivers were sent around to line-up on the proper grid to take the start.[11][13] The Mahindra was soon dragged to the side to prevent the start being delayed, although d'Ambrosio was soon forced to accept that he was not going to race.[13]
Report[]
With d'Ambrosio's car out of danger the start could proceed without interuption, although Felipe Massa would make a major mistake an line-up on the wrong side of the grid, resulting in a gap forming as those behind him tried to compensate.[13] At the head of the field, meanwhile, there would be no stopping Alexander Sims, with the Brit sweeping away when the lights went out to claim the lead and leave Sébastien Buemi to fend off the attentions of Lucas di Grassi.[13] The Swiss ace would manage to keep his old rival at bay in the turn eighteen/nineteen chicane, with António Félix da Costa, Mitch Evans and Sam Bird lining up behind the Brazilian.[13]
Sims would attempt to build a fair lead over the rest of the opening lap, moving almost two seconds clear by the time the field came across the start/finish line for the first time.[13] His motive was to build a large enough gap behind that he could arm Attack Mode without losing the lead, although at the cost of using more energy, and with the potential for a Safety Car to eliminate his hard work.[13] Yet, miraculously the opening lap would prove fairly tame, with no incidents of note through the entire field.[13]
Indeed, Sims was left to build his lead in the early stages, setting a succession of fastest laps as he waited to take Attack Mode at the best time.[13] Further back, Nyck de Vries would work to overcome his qualifying issues, passing Ma Qing Hua, Neel Jani and Brendon Hartley in two laps, while Robin Frijns found his way past André Lotterer for twelfth, while Vergne bailed out of the back of the field to serve his penalty.[13] Among the lead group, meanwhile, da Costa would prove to be the man to watch, as he lined up a move on di Grassi while managing to keep Evans at bay in fourth.[13]
The inevitable lunge from da Costa would come on lap six, with the #13 DS Techeetah sent slithering inside the #11 Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler at the turn eighteen/nineteen chicane.[13] da Costa duly emerged ahead as di Grassi washed out wide, having attempted to squeeze the Techeetah, only to find Evans trying to mug him for fourth on the exit.[13] Fortunately for di Grassi he would have the inside line for turn nineteen, and hence managed to keep the New Zealander at bay.[13]
With that da Costa was away to challenge Buemi, leaving di Grassi to again defend from Evans, with a lunge from the New Zealander into turn eighteen only resulting in Bird passing him with a run into turn one.[13] Sims, meanwhile, would use the developing Buemi/da Costa battle to arm Attack Mode for the first time without losing the lead, and soon claimed both fastest lap and a three second lead.[13] Indeed, Attack Mode would once again become a deciding factor in the race, albeit not in the same way that it had impacted the first race of the season.[13]
The issue came on lap nine, with Buemi deciding to take Attack Mode, just as da Costa launched a lunge at the Swiss ace for second, resulting in both diving to the inside of turn eighteen.[13] However, as Buemi had to slow more to get into the Attack Mode activation zone, da Costa's momentum would carry him right into the back of the Nissan e.Dams, pitching the #23 car into a spin.[13] Buemi ended up perpendicular to the track on the entry to the Attack Mode zone as da Costa continued in second, and would cause several minor heartattacks as he rejoined, straight into the path of Edoardo Mortara and André Lotterer, while several others including teammate Oliver Rowland had to take avoiding action.[13]
With da Costa and Buemi placed under investigation the race would barely have time to settle down, with Stoffel Vandoorne able to take seventh from Maximilian Günther as the German racer armed Attack Mode.[13] da Costa, meanwhile, would lose second to di Grassi when he armed Attack Mode himself, before trying to get back ahead of the Brazilian at the first corner a few moments later, lunging inside the Brazilian.[13] However, di Grassi would try to resist and squeeze the Techeetah, failing again, with the loss of momentum allowing Bird to try and follow da Costa through past the sister Audi.[13]
Yet, Bird's attempt would result in the Envision Virgin Audi running around the outside of turn two, and hence lose a lot of grip on the dust and sand.[13] Evans duly took advantage and swept inside the #2 Virgin, with Bird trying to hang on and squeeze back onto the racing line through turns three and four.[13] This, inevitably, led to contact between the Brit and the Kiwi, with Bird sent skating across the circuit and into the outside wall, breaking his rear suspension, before being punted out of the race completely by Pascal Wehrlein when he tried to take turn five at half-speed.[13]
Bird's race hence came to an end with his Virgin smashed against the barriers on the outside of turn six, meaning the BMW Qualcomm i8 safety car was needed to cover its removal.[13] In the mean time Evans would make a stop for checks, rejoining without losing a lap, while their incident was placed under investigation.[13] Fortunately, however, the interruption would be brief, requiring just over four minutes, and hence result in a 4 kW/h deduction of energy for the entire field.[13]
Sims would cause a stir at the restart, however, with a very slow approach to the end of the lap resulting in the field bunching up more than usual as the safety car pulled into the pitlane.[13] This was part of a ploy by Sims, who had read the rules carefully to uncover that the field would only be allowed to activate Attack Mode once the safety car was in the pitlane.[13] As such, the Brit had opted to wait as long as possible to let the safety car escape to safety, before leaping away to arm Attack Mode, resulting in en-masse chaos behind that would rumble on beyond the end of the race itself.[13]
Indeed, as Sims armed Attack Mode da Costa would sweep past the Brit, only to stamp on the brakes on the exit of turn nineteen to avoid making one of motorsport's ultimate taboos, overtaking under safety car conditions.[13] Behind, however, several drivers would simply carry on as others took Attack Mode, with Sims' teammate Günther leaping from fifth to third by passing both di Grassi and Vandoorne at turn eighteen, despite the fact that Vandoorne had not gone to arm Attack Mode.[13] Others to do so included Frijns, Lotterer, Felipe Massa, Evans and Ma Qing Hua, all of whom were placed under investigation for doing so.[13]
Indeed, the race had only formally resumed when Sims crossed the start/finish line to start lap seventeen, meaning there was a large amount of confusion about the actual order.[13] Regardless, Sims would once again set about building a lead as da Costa served his drive-through penalty for pushing Buemi, while the Swiss ace himself was penalised for rejoining the race in a dangerous fashion.[13] Elsewhere, Vandoorne fended off an attack from Mortara, which resulted in the Swiss ace having to battle Lotterer, before the race was once again brought back under the safety car's jurisdiction after another accident.[13]
This time it was Frijns who caused the intervention, having got onto the dust at turn eight and entered a broadside slide, which was duly ended by the barriers on the outside of turn nine, destroyed the #4 Virgin.[13] That required another four minute clean-up, with the safety car called back in after two laps on track, with Sims opting to go with the SC as it broke for the pitlane to deny anyone the chance to arm Attack Mode.[13] Yet, cameras at the scene of Frijns' incident revealed that the car had not been cleared, resulting in a very quick call by race director Scot Elkins to deploy a Full Course Yellow to cover the marshals.[13]
The cause of that incident was later revealed to have been the tractor, which had got stuck just as the decision was made to withdraw the safety car.[13] Fortunately the field was brought under control and there would be no incident of note, although the incident was embarrassing for both the FIA, FE and the race organisers.[13] Regardless, after a minute under FCY conditions the race would finally resume, with Sims leading Günther in a BMW-Andretti one-two.[13]
After the FCY restart di Grassi would arm Attack Mode for the second and final time, slipping behind Vandoorne as he did so before re-passing the Belgian at the chicane a lap later.[13] He duly charged off to attack Günther, who had dropped off the back of his teammate as Sims tried to build another lead.[13] Indeed, with Günther facing a likely penalty for the first safety car restart he was now solidly performing the role of a tail gunner for his teammate, and would place the #28 BMW beautifully to prevent di Grassi getting past.[13]
Indeed, once di Grassi's Attack Mode boost ended he was unable to match even Günther's pace, with the German racer duly scampering away to leave the Brazilian in third.[13] For the rest of the remaining two laps di Grassi would have to defend from Vandoorne, while behind there was a huge fight for ninth between Daniel Abt, Oliver Turvey, de Vries and a recovering Buemi.[13] That would last through to the final lap, with Turvey desperately defending what he hoped would be his, and NIO's first points of the campaign.[13]
Out front, meanwhile, Sims was able to cruise through the final lap to claim victory, with teammate Günther claiming a provisional second, albeit with investigations about the first SC ongoing.[13] di Grassi, meanwhile, would just fend off the attentions of Vandoorne for third, with Mortara, Lotterer, Rowland and de Vries completing the top eight.[13] The fight for ninth, meanwhile, would end with Turvey passing Buemi in the final corner as the Swiss racer ran out of usable energy, with Abt also able to pass the coasting Nissan on the run to the line to claim tenth.[13]
Post-Race[]
It would take two hours for the final finishing order to be formally published, with numerous penalties, and penalty points, handed to the field that drastically changed the order.[4] Indeed, the biggest change came for Günther, who was one of seven drivers to be awarded a 24 second time penalty for overtaking behind the safety car, dumping him down to twelfth.[4] Elsewhere, Turvey was disqualified completely for using more energy than permitted, while teammate Ma picked up five penalty points for a variety of incidents.[4]
Indeed, the only man to be unaffected by the penal wave would be race winner Sims, who was formally declared the victor ahead of di Grassi and Vandoorne.[4] Mortara was subsequently promoted to fourth ahead of Rowland and Abt, while James Calado was pushed up to seventh to secure his maiden points finish, ahead of Jean-Éric Vergne.[4] Brendon Hartley would also be shuffled into the points for the first time as a result of the penalties, while da Costa claimed the final point, with his promotion into the top ten also resulting in him being awarded the bonus point for fastest lap.[4]
Result[]
The final classification of the 2019 Diriyah E-Prix II is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold.
| 2019 Diriyah E-Prix II Race Result | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Laps | Race Time | Fastest lap | Pts. |
| 1st | 27 | Alexander Sims
|
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
|
30 | 46:48.327 | 1:13.088 | 28 |
| 2nd | 11 | Lucas di Grassi
|
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
|
30 | +2.817s | 1:12.499 | 18 |
| 3rd | 5 | Stoffel Vandoorne 
|
Mercedes
|
30 | +3.581s | 1:12.713 | 15 |
| 4th | 48 | Edoardo Mortara
|
ROKiT Venturi Racing
|
30 | +4.294s | 1:13.146 | 12 |
| 5th | 22 | Oliver Rowland
|
Nissan e.Dams
|
30 | +5.475s | 1:13.141 | 10 |
| 6th | 66 | Daniel Abt
|
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
|
30 | +16.942s | 1:13.514 | 8 |
| 7th | 51 | James Calado
|
Jaguar Racing
|
30 | +17.221s | 1:13.678 | 6 |
| 8th | 25 | Jean-Éric Vergne
|
DS Techeetah
|
30 | +19.394s | 1:12.810 | 4 |
| 9th | 6 | Brendon Hartley
|
GEOX Dragon
|
30 | +20.702s | 1:13.070 | 2 |
| 10th | 13 | António Félix da Costa
|
DS Techeetah
|
30 | +22.634s | 1:12.481 | 3G |
| 11th* | 28 | Maximilian Günther
|
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
|
30 | +25.383s | 1:12.788 | |
| 12th† | 23 | Sébastien Buemi
|
Nissan e.Dams
|
30 | +26.291s | 1:12.614 | |
| 13th | 18 | Neel Jani
|
Porsche Formula E Team
|
30 | +27.493s | 1:13.909 | |
| 14th* | 36 | André Lotterer
|
Porsche Formula E Team
|
30 | +29.046s | 1:13.114 | |
| 15th | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein
|
Mahindra Racing
|
30 | +35.290s | 1:13.207 | |
| 16th‡ | 17 | Nyck de Vries
|
Mercedes
|
30 | +36.318s | 1:13.041 | |
| 17th* | 19 | Felipe Massa
|
ROKiT Venturi Racing
|
30 | +45.758s | 1:13.156 | |
| 18th* | 20 | Mitch Evans
|
Jaguar Racing
|
30 | +1:01.105 | 1:13.324 | |
| 19th§ | 33 | Ma Qing Hua
|
NIO 333 FE Team
|
30 | +1:28.165 | 1:14.216 | |
| DSQ | 3 | Oliver Turvey
|
NIO 333 FE Team
|
30 | Disqualified | 1:13.838 | |
| Ret | 7 | Nico Müller
|
GEOX Dragon
|
28 | Retired | 1:14.344 | |
| Ret* | 4 | Robin Frijns
|
Envision Virgin Racing
|
18 | Accident | 1:13.031 | |
| Ret | 2 | Sam Bird
|
Envision Virgin Racing
|
13 | Collision | 1:14.261 | |
| DNS♠ | 64 | Jérôme d'Ambrosio
|
Mahindra Racing
|
||||
| Source:[12] | |||||||
Indicates a driver was awarded FanBoost during the race.- G Indicates a driver was awarded a bonus point for setting the fastest lap in the group stage of qualifying.
- * Günther, Lotterer, Massa, Evans and Frijns were handed drive through penalties, converted to 24 second time penalties, for overtaking behind the safety car.[4][5]
- † Buemi handed a ten second time penalty for rejoining the track in an unsafe manner.[4]
- ‡ de Vries awarded a 24 second time penalty for overtaking behind the safety car, with an additional five second time penalty for a battery infringement.[4]
- § Ma awarded a 24 second time penalty for overtaking behind the safety car, plus an additional five second time penalty for an undercharged battery.[4]
- ƒ Turvey was disqualified from the results of the race for using more energy than permitted (40.06 kWh).[4]
- ♠ d'Ambrosio was unable to start the race due to a failure on the dummy grid.[2]
Milestones[]
- 60th E-Prix to be staged as part of the FIA Formula E Championship.
- 50th entry for Oliver Turvey.
- Fifteenth race for Stoffel Vandoorne, Felipe Massa and Alexander Sims.
- Debut race for Nico Müller.
- Maiden victory for Sims.
- Andretti Motorsport claimed their second win as an entrant.
- BMW scored their second victory as a powertrain supplier.
- Maiden points finish for James Calado and Brendon Hartley.
- António Félix da Costa and Vandoorne scored their fifteenth FanBoost awards.
Standings[]
Victory put Alexander Sims at the head of the early Championship table, leaving Diriyah with 35 points to his name as the final race order was finalised. Stoffel Vandoorne was now up in second, five off the lead, while Race One winner Sam Bird slipped to third having failed to score. Oliver Rowland and Lucas di Grassi were next, with di Grassi level on eighteen points with André Lotterer, with sixteen drivers having scored in the opening two rounds.
In the Teams Championship it was Mercedes who had been shuffled to the head of the pack, leaving their debut weekend on 38 points. They hence led series veterans Envision Virgin Racing by two points, in spite of the British squad failing to score at all in the second race, with a further point back to BMW-Andretti. Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler and Nissan e.Dams then completed the top five, with everyone bar NIO having registered their first points of the campaign.
|
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Only point scoring drivers are shown.
References[]
Videos and Images:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 '2019/20 calendar revealed: London and Seoul star in sixth Formula E campaign', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 14/06/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/june/2019-20-season-calendar-revealed, (Accessed 14/06/2019)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 'Sims clinches first win in Saudi showdown, BMW scoops one-two finish ', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 23/11/2019)
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 'Sims scoops second Julius Baer Pole Position in Saudi', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 23/11/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/november/qualifying-diriyah-2019-2, (Accessed 23/11/2019)
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 'Guenther dropped after penalty, Vandoorne inherits third place podium finish', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 23/11/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/november/guenther-dropped-stoffel-gets-podium, (Accessed 23/11/2019)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 'Decision No. 40', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 23/11/2019), https://results.fiaformulae.com/en/noticeboard, (Accessed 23/11/2019)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sam Smith, 'FORMULA E: Ad Diriyah Track Mods Implemented', e-racing365.com, (John Dagys Media, LLC., 14/11/2019), https://e-racing365.com/formula-e/ad-diriyah-track-mods-implemented/, (Accessed 14/11/2019)
- ↑ Sam Smith, 'FORMULA EDiriyah Post-Event Notebook', e-racing365.com, (John Dagys Media, LLC., 24/11/2019), https://e-racing365.com/formula-e/diriyah-post-weekend-notebook/, (Accessed 25/11/2019)
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedFBO - ↑ 'Final 2019/20 season entry list revealed', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 11/10/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/november/season-six-full-entry-list, (Accessed 14/11/2019)
- ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 10.17 10.18 10.19 10.20 10.21 10.22 10.23 10.24 10.25 10.26 10.27 10.28 10.29 10.30 10.31 10.32 10.33 '2019 SAUDIA Diriyah E-Prix | Saturday Qualifying LIVE | ABB FIA Formula E Championship', youtube.com, (YouTube: FIA Formula E, 23/11/2019), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwYRnxzQtBg&t=4487s, (Accessed 24/11/2019)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 'BREAKING: Reigning champ Vergne dropped to back of the grid', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 23/11/2019), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2019/november/vergne-dropped-to-back-of-grid, (Accessed 23/11/2019)
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 'Round 2 - Diriyah ePrix: Results Booklet', fiaformulae.alkamelsystems.com, (FIA Formula E, 23/11/2019), http://fiaformulae.alkamelsystems.com/Results/05_2019-20/02_R02%20Diriyah/ABB%20FIA%20Formula%20E%20Championship/Event%20Booklet/ABB%20FIA%20Formula%20E%20Championship_Saudi%20Arabia_BOOKLET.pdf, (Accessed 23/11/2019)
- ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 13.17 13.18 13.19 13.20 13.21 13.22 13.23 13.24 13.25 13.26 13.27 13.28 13.29 13.30 13.31 13.32 13.33 13.34 13.35 13.36 13.37 13.38 13.39 13.40 13.41 13.42 13.43 13.44 13.45 13.46 13.47 13.48 13.49 13.50 13.51 13.52 13.53 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedRH