E-Prix Diriyah-1, Race: De Vries opens 2022 with a win | FormulaPassion.it

The first race of the 2022 Formula E season ended with the affirmation of the reigning world champion Nyck De Vries, who climbed the top step of the podium at the Diriyah circuit behind his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne. The latter, despite the pole position conquered in the afternoon, nevertheless gave great satisfaction to Mercedes, which thanks to this result archived the first round of the eighth Formula E world championship with a double scored by the German team. A race in which Vandoorne himself had maintained the leadership of the standings when the red light went out, with Dennis author of an excessive skidding of the tires fatal to be able to maintain the second position on De Vries. In this way, the two German single-seaters take off on their pursuers, with the exception of the same driver of the Andretti, who remains in the vicinity of the two drivers. The one who leaves the scene immediately is Felix Da Costa, who was immediately forced to return to the pits due to a technical problem. The situation at the top of the standings remains unchanged even after the activation of the first attack mode, but the real turning point of the race takes place 34 minutes from the end: in the middle of the group a close battle between Frijns and Rowland, with the Dutchman bumping into the British without too many compliments after a previous contact between the two.

The impact against the barriers of the Mahindra driver forces the Race Direction – which also punishes Frijns with a 5-second penalty – to impose the Safety Car, with the gaps that are canceled. After 8 minutes behind the safety car, De Vries manages to get the better of his teammate, conquering the top of the standings even after the activation of the second attack mode. The fight for the podium is enriched especially for the 3rd position, with Lotterer which surpasses Dennis. In the following moments, the German of the Porsche manages to defend the lowest step of the podium first with a decisive move on Dennis, and subsequently forcing the British to use the escape route. However, with 9 minutes remaining, Dennis resumes third position with a lot of doors between the two. From that moment on, Lotterer definitely lost pace, so much so as to allow Bird and Di Grassi to drastically get closer, taking 4th and 5th position respectively.

.@nyckdevries WINS the #DiriyahEPrix for the second year in a row 🏆

Teammate @svandoorne makes it a @MercedesEQFE 1-2 and @ JakeDennis19 rounds off the podium in P3 👏⚡️

🇸🇦 2022 #DiriyahEPrix pic.twitter.com/YXKJlgVGVb

– ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) January 28, 2022

Furthermore, starting from that juncture, the Race Direction is active 5 additional minutes in addition to the final lap, thanks to the time lost behind the Safety Car. Despite the energy available to all the cars running out at the opening of the last lap, De Vries firmly maintains the first position until the finish, thus winning the first E-Prix of the 2022 season. The Dutchman’s success is enriched by the second place of Vandoorne, who concretizes the double win for the Mercedes team. Finally, on the podium, Dennis, who finished third after a hard-fought race. At the same time, the first race of Giovinazzi in FE it ended with the 20th place in the standings, the last among the riders to reach the finish line. The appointment with the second Diriyah E-Prix is ​​therefore set for Saturday 29 January, with qualifying starting at 13:40 Italian time. In the meantime, here is the final ranking of the first act of the 2022 season.

E-Prix Diriyah-1 | Order of arrival