Mercedes-EQ wins at the Formula E season opener in Saudi Arabia

Pole-sitter Nyck de Vries got off to a very good start, unlike Wehrlein, who could only defend his second place with very late braking. The only position change in the leading group was made by Mitch Evans, who passed Alex Lynn. Nico Müller had to start the race from the pit lane. Misfortune also awaited his Dragon teammate Sergio Sette Camara, who received a drive-through penalty early on and had to go directly through the pit lane.

In the second lap, Sam Bird overtook his BMW rival Max Günther for position 7 - good move from the Jaguar driver. Wehrlein was able to maintain the pressure on the leader, de Vries, in the first few laps and got closer and closer. Rene Rast also kept well as third. The two Virgin drivers at the back of the field activated their first of two attack modes after just seven minutes.

Rast decisively passes Wehrlein

After ten minutes, Bird made another strong move: At the end of the long start-finish straight, he pulled out late on the inside of Lynn and squeezed past. The two Jaguars now held positions 5 and 6. Meanwhile, de Vries built up a small lead of about 2.5 seconds, while Rast increased the pressure on Wehrlein.

In lap 9, Rast attacked his compatriot and passed him with a strong maneuver around the outside in turn 18. Wehrlein reacted quickly and activated the attack mode on his Porsche, but even with the additional power (235 instead of 200 kW), he couldn't get past the Audi driver. A few seconds earlier, de Vries had also activated the additional power and further extended his lead.

Bird surprises Lynn, both collide

After nearly 20 minutes, Rast picked up his first attack mode. Then a grand attack by Edo Mortara: The Venturi driver overtook Evans in attack mode on the long straight and then also passed Wehrlein. Evans seized the opportunity and also squeezed past the German. Mortara was now third ahead of Evans and Wehrlein. Meanwhile, Rast closed in on de Vries.

Then the first crash of the race: Bird tried to position himself late next to Lynn, but the Mahindra driver closed the door very late and pushed Bird's Jaguar into the wall. Bird inevitably spun Lynn, and both cars crashed nose-to-nose. Both were able to free themselves using reverse gear, but Lynn could only go a few meters further. The race control deployed the safety car to tow away the Mahindra - neutralizing all gaps at the halfway point of the race.

Heavy collision for Max Günther - second safety car

With a little more than 14 minutes remaining, racing resumed. Andre Lotterer and also Bird came to the pits, losing numerous places and effectively ending their races. Shortly after de Vries activated his second attack mode, Max Günther had a heavy crash, hitting the wall side-on and even shifting it slightly. The German BMW driver immediately reported over the radio that he was not injured. Although he stopped near an emergency exit, the safety car had to come out again for the BMW to be towed away.

Just moments earlier, Rast had wisely activated his second attack mode, since Mortara, who moved up to second place because of this, hadn't yet activated his second attack mode and would lose the position. A seemingly smart tactical decision by the Audi team, which however, would not pay off.

With just under six minutes left, racing resumed. Mortara quickly activated his attack mode as expected, lost a place, but then chased down Rast. At the end of the long straight, the German conceded the place. Both were however "under investigation" by race control for possibly overtaking under safety car conditions. De Vries extended his lead again to three seconds in a short time.

Picture-perfect season start for Mercedes, point for Nio

Evans then attacked Rast in attack mode and passed him in turn 18. Oliver Rowland also attacked Wehrlein but couldn't get past the German. Rast tried again with an energy advantage against Evans but stayed behind and finished fourth. Nyck de Vries secured the win with more than a four-second lead over Edo Mortara and Mitch Evans.

For de Vries, it was his first victory in Formula E, and Mercedes stood at the top of the podium for the second time - coincidentally at the final race of 2020 in Berlin. In the team standings, the "Silver Arrows" lead the championship after the opening race. Remarkably, Nio 333 scored a point thanks to Oliver Turvey's 10th place - more than the Chinese team had managed in the entire previous season.

The second race of the season in Diriyya is already scheduled for Saturday. The race start is again at 18:00 German time - this time, however, Sat.1 will broadcast its first race in the main program.