Formula E: Sam Bird's Victory Overshadowed by Serious Accident

Sam Bird won the second race of the Formula E season in Saudi Arabia. The race had to be stopped prematurely after several accidents. Among others, Alex Lynn had flipped over and was transported to the hospital.

Sam Bird won a high-class second race of the Formula E season in Saudi Arabia. The Jaguar driver was in an intense duel throughout the race with his former Virgin teammate Robin Frijns for the victory. Frijns finished second ahead of the two DS-Techeetah drivers Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa. After multiple accidents, the race had to be stopped prematurely. Alex Lynn had a more severe incident after a rollover - he was transported to the hospital.

When the lights went out just after 6 p.m. German time, pole-sitter Robin Frijns had a good start. Sam Bird behind him also got away well and overtook second-place Sergio Sette Camara in turn 1. One lap later, Antonio Felix da Costa passed Buemi in turn 18 - the champion was now eighth. At the same spot, Müller also attacked Blomqvist in front of him and moved up to fifth place.

Frijns could barely pull away in the first few minutes and had to keep an eye on his rearview mirror as his former teammate Bird increasingly put him under pressure. Meanwhile, the two DS-Techeetah drivers steadily worked their way forward, and Audi driver Lucas di Grassi was already scratching the top 10 after just under ten minutes.

DS Techeetah on the Rise

After ten minutes, Jean-Eric Vergne was the first to activate his first of two attack modes and passed his teammate. The 2018 and 2019 champion soon overtook Nico Müller and Oliver Turvey, who also used their attack modes. After eleven laps, the leader Frijns drove through the attack zone, and Bird consequently took the lead.

Frijns closed the gap thanks to the extra power in the next two laps and reclaimed the lead at the end of the long start-finish straight. Bird reacted and drove through the attack zone himself, but fell behind Sette Camara. The Jaguar driver overtook his Dragon rival a lap later but couldn't close the gap to Frijns as hoped. So he initially remained behind the Dutchman. After 20 minutes, Vergne overtook third-place Sette Camara in turn 18 and was now on course for a podium finish.

Jake Dennis & Pascal Wehrlein Collide

The next incident occurred in turn 19: BMW driver Jake Dennis was fighting Pascal Wehrlein for 15th position, and then there was contact. Wehrlein pushed Dennis sideways into the wall in the next turn, causing the front suspension of the BMW to break. Dennis rolled to a stop at the entrance of the pit lane. The race management called for a full-course yellow to recover the car. Wehrlein received a penalty.

Frijns activated his second attack mode and passed Bird after about 25 minutes of race time. The Virgin driver was now back in the lead - but only just. Felix da Costa also passed Vergne with his second attack mode and was now third. Both DS drivers were now fighting with the leading duo for the win - and with each other! Felix da Costa and Vergne nearly pushed each other into the wall. As a result, they lost two seconds to the leaders.

Bird then attacked and passed Frijns without using the attack mode. The Jaguar driver now led the race, but Frijns stayed close. When Bird activated his second attack mode, Frijns briefly went ahead again but soon fell behind his rival. Bird used the extra power to create a small gap. Vergne overtook Felix da Costa for third place.

Multiple Accidents Cause Safety Car Phase

Then things got even more turbulent: First, Buemi stopped after an accident in turn 4. Then Max Günther and Tom Blomqvist collided at the end of the long straight: The German braked too late and crashed into the Nio in front of him. Günther destroyed his car as he had done the day before and dropped out.

But that was not all: Mitch Evans and Alex Lynn also collided off-camera. What exactly happened was not yet visible. In any case, Lynn overturned and slid a considerable distance "on the roof" into the runoff area. The damaged Jaguar of Evans also remained in the runoff area of the long straight. "There's a debris field at the end of the straight," Frijns radioed to his team.

The race management initially called for a full-course yellow, and shortly after, the safety car came onto the track and collected the field. After a few minutes, the race management interrupted the E-Prix with red flags with 2:41 minutes remaining on the clock. Then the decision came: the race would not be resumed. Sam Bird was thus declared the race winner, continuing his unique streak of winning at least one race in every Formula E season.

Alex Lynn on the Way to the Hospital

As World Signal commentator Jake Nicholls reported shortly after the race, Lynn was taken to the hospital. The medical team on the track had freed the Brit from his car. At 7:19 p.m., Mahindra reported via Twitter: "Following Alex Lynn's accident in today's E-Prix, we can confirm that he is conscious, speaking, and on his way to the hospital for examination."

Jaguar & Nyck de Vries Leave Diriyya as Overall Leaders, BMW Only Team without Points

With his victory, Sam Bird climbed to second place in the overall standings. Nyck de Vries went pointless on Saturday but retained the lead. Robin Frijns and Edo Mortara follow in third and fourth places. The best German is Rene Rast in seventh place. In the teams' standings, Jaguar took the lead from Mercedes with their third overall Formula E victory. Virgin is in third place ahead of DS Techeetah, Venturi, and Audi. Nio scored four more points. BMW is the only team without any points after the opening weekend in Diriyya.

The next Formula E race will take place on April 10. The electric racing series will then start on the streets of Rome.