Hello everyone and welcome to another ChargeSmart blog post! Today we'll be reviewing the races and results from Round 1 and 2 of Formula E that took place in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia over the weekend.
Season 6 got underway in Diriyah, this time with an action packed double header to keep the fans going until the next race which is on January 18th in Santiago, Chile.
Round 1
BMW i Andretti driver, Alexander Sims had a stellar weekend behind the wheel of his car as he started both the races in pole position and managed to hold on for the second race to get his first win in Formula E! The first race wasn't so kind to him as he slipped down the order as the race went on. British driver, Sam Bird took out the win in emphatic fashion and he was followed by Andre Lotterer for Porsche and Stoffel Vandoorne for Mercedes EQ. It was an impressive race by the two new teams on the grid. There were also some surprise exits as reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne had to retire from the race due to faults with his car. Formula E's most successful driver in terms of race wins, Sebastian Buemi also had electrical faults which led him to retire from the race. Nico Muller was also ruled out of the race early while Daniel Abt crashed out during the race. Kiwi, Brendon Hartley placed 19th in his first ever Formula E race while his national counterpart, Mitch Evans placed 10th for Panasonic Jaguar.
Round 2
The second race was underway a mere 24 hours later with Sims on pole once again. This time, the BMW driver managed to hold onto his pole position for the entirety of the race and convert it to a win. In typical unpredictable Formula E fashion, Jerome d'Ambrosio was ruled out of the race just as the lights went green as a technical fault with his car meant he couldn't set off. That was a shame for the Mahindra driver as he started the race in fifth. Experienced driver, Lucas Di Grassi placed second with Stoffel Vandoorne finishing in third and achieving his second podium of the weekend. Reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne started the race in 11th but drove well to finish the race in 8th. The positions were reversed for the Kiwis this time where Brendon Hartley placed 9th for Geox Dragon and Mitch Evans could only managed 18th place. There was more drama this time as last race's winner, Sam Bird was sent into the wall by another driver and so did not finish the race. His teammate Robin Frijns, also had to retire from the race along with Nico Muller and Nio's Oliver Turvey who was disqualified from the race.
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