Stoffel Vandoorne won Formula E’s second race of the weekend in Rome, 24 hours after being denied victory from pole position.
Proceedings began behind the Safety Car for the second day in a row, a decision arising from the mixed weather conditions and concerns over the starting grid placement on a track which has been altered since last year.Super Formula champion Nick Cassidy, who joined Virgin this season, started the fourth race of his Formula E career from pole position alongside fellow rookie Norman Nato. Vandoorne and Pascal Wehrlein lined up behind them on the second row.
Cassidy’s lead was short-lived: He held the lead for just two corners before a braking error saw him drop down the order. Nato inherited the lead but that also proved temporary, as Wehrlein was quickly able to make a move on him.
Wehrlein lost the lead to Vandoorne when he darted off-line to trigger his Attack Mode, with the view that he’d be able to get it back under the higher power mode. But to his misfortune the race was almost immediately neutralised and he had no opportunity to cash in his advantage.
Contact between Sebastien Buemi and Lucas di Grassi saw the latter tipped sideways into a barrier, tearing the front-left corner off his Audi on the wall. A full course yellow was called as the furious Di Grassi came to a stop in the turn four run-off.
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Once the racing restarted Wehrlein was not only unable to catch Vandoorne, but soon fell prey to Alexander Sims, the Mahindra driver claiming second place.
Vandoorne kept the lead at the restart, Sims giving pursuit in vain. The pair had twice the remaining energy of third-placed Nato, who had Wehrlein all over him.
Under pressure from behind, Edoardo Mortara dramatically wrestled his car under control into turn seven. But Nyck de Vries and Sam Bird weren’t as lucky, ending their race in the TecPro at the same corner, after going into it three-wide with Oliver Rowland.
Vandoorne took the chequered flag ahead of Sims and Nato, but the latter finished with too little in his battery and was disqualified, handing the final spot on the rostrum to Wehrlein. Mortara’s acrobatics ensured he kept hold of fourth place ahead of Maximilian Guenther.
Despite adding nothing to his points haul, Sam Bird retains the title lead, as does his team Jaguar. Formula E will continue its season-opening run of double-headers at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, in two weeks’ time.
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Race result
| Position | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Mercedes |
| 2 | Alexander Sims | Mahindra |
| 3 | Pascal Wehrlein | Porsche |
| 4 | Edoardo Mortara | Venturi |
| 5 | Max Günther | BMWi Andretti |
| 6 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar |
| 7 | Antonio Felix da Costa | DS Techeetah |
| 8 | Sebastien Buemi | Nissan e.Dams |
| 9 | Tom Blomqvist | NIO 333 |
| 10 | Nico Müller | Dragon Penske |
| 11 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Techeetah |
| 12 | Sergio Sette Camara | Dragon Penske |
| 13 | Jake Dennis | BMWi Andretti |
| 14 | Oliver Turvey | NIO 333 |
| 15 | André Lotterer | Porsche |
| 16 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan e.Dams |
| 17 | Alex Lynn | Mahindra |
| 18 | Robin Frijns | Envision Virgin |
| NC | Norman Nato | Venturi |
| DNF | Sam Bird | Jaguar |
| DNF | Nyck de Vries | Mercedes |
| DNF | Nick Cassidy | Envision Virgin |
| DNF | Rene Rast | Audi |
| DNF | Lucas di Grassi | Audi |
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F1 frog (@f1frog)
11th April 2021, 14:25
I think it would be better if, under the safety car, they stopped the clock instead of reducing the amount of energy available. This is because safety cars take up far more of timed races than races done on laps. Maybe energy used under the safety car could also be considered to not count towards the 100% and the cars could just keep extra energy in the battery in case of a safety car; the issue of running out of fuel does not apply to Formula e.
This way, we would always get a full 45 minutes of racing, and I don’t see what the downside is. Does anyone know why this rule is not in place currently?
glynh (@glynh)
11th April 2021, 14:56
They could possibly slow the clock but they’re still using some energy under the safety car so they wouldn’t have enough to complete the race if they stopped the clock.
glynh (@glynh)
11th April 2021, 14:59
Starts aside, I really enjoyed the races this weekend. It was a good track and both the races were close throughout with plenty of overtakes.
I think the combination of narrow tracks and (relatively) strong cars is creating some good quality racing recently.
ChrisVB
11th April 2021, 15:46
Are the teams correct in the table?
I thought Stoffel was driving for Mercedes, not DS Techeetah
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
11th April 2021, 15:46
vandoorne is not driving for ds.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
11th April 2021, 17:03
Another decent race marred by poor organisation. For example, leaving debris on the track after a full course yellow, and wasting several minutes under the safety car fetching a crane when the stricken car was about ten metres away from an escape road.
John H (@john-h)
11th April 2021, 22:43
The wheels were duffed in Andy, they needed a crane. I was actually impressed with how quickly they got that car out of the way.
Leaving the debris on track though, agreed that was unforgivable.
Duncan Idaho (@didaho)
12th April 2021, 15:04
Clinical execution by Vandoorne after a disastrous lockup by the pole sitter (interested to know if it was a software problem).