Formula E: BMW debut made to measure 🎥
VICTORY AT THE START Portuguese driver Antonio Félix da Costa won the first race of the fifth Formula E season in Saudi Arabia in the BMW i Andretti Motorsport Gen2 race car. Sébastien Buemi lost the battle for the podium in his Nissan debut. Rainy days are rare in Saudi Arabia. So where nobody expected it, the rain initially took over. Due to heavy rainfall, the [...]
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Rainy days are rare in Saudi Arabia. So where nobody expected it, the rain initially took over. Due to heavy rainfall, practice had to be interrupted and the qualifying mode changed to save time. The super pole qualifying session was canceled and the starting grid was determined by the lap times of two groups of eleven in qualifying.
The fastest man on the 2.5 km Ad Diriyah circuit just outside the capital was Antonio Felix da Costa. After taking pole position, the Portuguese driver also won the first race, which lasted 45 minutes plus one lap.
This then took place in dry conditions. Thanks to the more powerful batteries, it was no longer necessary to change the car. A perfect debut for BMW, which is now operating as a works team (i Motorsport) in partnership with Andretti Motorsport.
Decisive penalties
The newly introduced Attack Mode and the already familiar Fan Boost provided additional excitement and variety in all positions. Da Costa was one of five drivers who were able to use this additional energy boost in the final phase of the race.
In the meantime, the winner had to relinquish the lead to Jean-Eric Vergne. His team-mate André Lotterer also passed him in the second half of the race. However, both had to take a pit drive-through penalty (energy management error) and dropped back as a result.
Until the final phase, defending champion Vergne was once again breathing down his neck in the Techeetah car, which now had technical support from DS, but was unable to get past. Third place went to Jérôme d'Ambrosio in his first outing for Mahindra Racing.
Buemi quietly disappointed after super start
Sébastien Buemi made a super start from third to second position. However, the hoped-for podium finish on his debut with Nissan came to nothing.
Sébastien Buemi: "We didn't quite have the pace of the front-runners. The newly introduced attack mode is definitely a good thing and can help you. It cost me a few places because I didn't activate it at the right moment. If you are second in the first corner, then you must be slightly disappointed with sixth place. Now we are working all the harder to do better in Marrakesh."
The next race will take place on January 12 in Morocco.
Mortara twice in the wall
Edoardo Mortara had a race to forget. The man from Geneva already had problems with the brakes of his Venturi VFE-05 in practice and touched the wall as a result.
Shortly after the start, Edo hit the brakes again and slid straight into the barriers. Although he was able to continue the race with a new front end, he was unable to finish higher than 18th.
