Analysing the strategies followed by drivers and teams and the rivalries and fighting in the race alongwith the horrific crash of Lynn and also the events leading upto the race – from the crashes in the Practice session and just after it to the investigation on the Mercedes powered cars. Complete comprehensive understandable and unique analysis.
The Formula E series promises racing to the limit, and racing so close that each and every blink of an eye can make you miss a big moment and after a successful first race, Formula E was back for its second race of the 7th season – on the same track, same time of the day, and with the same drivers as in the first race, as it was time for the Diriyah E – Prix R2. The racers had raced on the same track and in similar conditions just 23 hours and 12 minutes ago as they waited with bated breaths for the lights to go off, with Robert Frijns being at the front this time and Nyck De Vries being at the complete back of the grid. But as the drivers cleared their minds and waited with bated breath for the 5 red lights to go off, many of them would have definitely taken a look back at the events that shaped up the race. The race in itself was great but a lot of things that happened as early as the race in Round 1 affected the events in Race 2. So, let’s take a quick look before the race analysis!
To skip to the race analysis click here.
THE PRE – RACE LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION AND DRAMA!
Lynn squeezed him so much in trying to close the door that he actually made contact and pushed him into the wall, after which he spun and the Jaguar ended up crashing into Lynn’s Mahindra and damaging both the cars tremendously. Lynn failed to understand what Bird’s actual move was.
– DIRIYAH E – PRIX R1 – RACE ANALYSIS
Lynn was given a punishment for this crash after the race, and was handed a three place grid penalty for Round 2. So, Alex Lynn started the race 3 places below from where he had qualified. But even his qualification position was affected by a events that took place as early as in the 3rd Practice Session, held an hour before the qualifying session had begun.
Andre Lotterer had really bad crash, but not the most serious one in that hour, and had to retire almost halfway through the 45 minute practice session as he crashed into the wall while losing control of his car which damaged his car from the side and also broke the left front wheel. This meant that the engineers and mechanics had to get the car ready to drive in insanely less time, which they weren’t able to and hence, had to sadly and with a lot of things going on in their mind had to inform during the Qualifying session, that André Lotterer will not be taking part in the Qualifying session later on and many fans were disappointed to not see him.
But this wasn’t all. The qualifying was complete Formula E surprise as an Envision Virgin Racing car took pole under the Dutchman Frijns, which was followed closely by the Dragon / Penske Autosport of Sérgio SETTE CÂMARA, with Nick De Vries, Stoffel Vandoorne, and Norman Nato not being allowed on the track as an investigation of the Mercedes powertrain, which powers the respective cars of Mercedes – EQ Formula E team and Rokit Venturi Racing, after a horrific crash of Edoardo Mortara, Nato’s fellow driver at Rokit Venturi Racing who did the Overtake of the race in R1. During the practice starts right after the end of the Practice session, after a few cars had done theirs it was Edoardo’s turn to do a practice start and after the lights went off and he put his fott on the throttle and accelerated forward, his car dis not react to the braking on time and seemed to be speeding up as it passed the first turn, entered the straight run – off area and crashed into the safety barriers straight ahead, which was followed by Edoardo ending up in the hospital, who did not suffer any serious physical and mental health issues.
This meant that a total of 5 drivers did not set any time in the Qualifying session and 2 drivers failed to set a fast lap time as in the first group they left the pit lane a little too late and were bunched up behind Oliver Rowland who lead for the the Out Lap plus one lap and was the only one to cross the line in time to start his race as the other two were around a second behind him, and this meant they – namely, René RAST and Mitch Evans – finished last of the time – setters, just behind Jake Dennis of BMW who did not have a good Sector 2 Group in Group 2, and Pascal Wehrlein who was in Group 1 and left the pits even later but just in time to et a clear track fir his single fast lap.
So, a couple of hours after all that strategical moves by Nissan e.dams and Oliver Rowland and the issues with the Mercedes powered cars took place, the LED lights came on highlighting the track and it was time to go racing soon!
THE RACE ANALYSIS
After faster lap times than R1 in Qualifying and a lot of events that had taken place, the Race Start was guaranteed was supposed to be a frenzy and fiery and so it was. It was Nyck De Vries starting in the 20th positions in front of Stoffel Vandoorne behind whom was Norman Nato with Andre Lotterer starting from the pits, as his team required some extra time to fix the car, and Edoardo Mortara did not start the race, although he is safe and conscious.
Sette CÂMARA had a very bad start and even locked up going into Turn 1 and this was the golden opportunity for Sam Bird who made a smooth overtake on Sette to take the second posititon and start challenging and pressurizing Robin FRIJNS. Alex Lynn was a part of a group who were trying to make several overtakes but Alex Lynn had some kind of failure and an issue and dropped down 8th positions to the 20th position, with Nyck De Vries being the only driver at the back of the grid to make an overtake. The race progressed and the two DS Techeetahs had put them in a very good place and the Top 2 were separated from the rest of the grid. Bird had the best start in a car which seems to a championship contender but mainly only in the hands of Bird as Bird seems to be able to push the car and keep a balance between saving energy and accelerating.
As the race progressed, the top 10 were having a lot of action as the DS Techeetah drivers were fighting in between them and also challenging the ones in front. They had placed themselves beautifully and were on alternate strategies with Vergne being the first driver to activate his Attack Mode and attack the Top 6 group in front, as Da Costa approached him after taking advantage of mistakes by Lynn and Buemi and using his experience to overtake them quickly and challenge his own teammate. The rivalry from the previous season continued as the two DS Techeetahs fought each other out on almost every lap. Once came a situation when Vergne overtook Da Costa, which was the sensible move with Vergne showing good pace and having one Attack Mode activation remaining which he could use to challenge the one in the Top 2 and not waste on overtaking his teammate, but a Costa tried tried to fightback and both almost pushed each pother into the wall, after making contact, and ended each others’ race. This is the moment when it does seem that team orders would be more helpful than just clean racing as Vergne being ahead would be more beneficial to the team as Da Costa would have to concede to him anyway.
They did almost take each other out but they did not back down from working together and pressuring the drivers in front as both the drivers driving well, and faster than the ones in front, especially drivers of teams like Nio, Dragon/Penske Autosport and Envision Virgin Racing. DS Techeetah has drivers that are very competitive and a car from the previous season which is capable of challenging others and is very efficient as the drivers even after driving it very aggressively had more power than others around them – So, they do have the perfect combination – and if the new powertrain which they will run from Round 3 onwards, which is in April is able to increase the race pace even just by a little bit, which their driver does not think it will, they can actually defend their championship.
The Sam Bird – Robin Frijns battle excited everyone throughout the race. They exchanged position around more times than anyone else. Sam Bird was pressurizing Frijns a lot and Frijns as a result of trying to defend a lot from a faster car behind, started to overconsume and Jaguar Racing, who have been pointed out as a very intelligent and possibly one of the smartest teams on the grid. They went on a path in which the took the strategy which Frijns did not. So, every Attack Mode by Bird was used efficiently with Frijns first having used his Attack Mode, Bird having created a gap from the driver in 3rd position or atleast from the driver in the 4th position and then attacking later on. This ensured that Bird was never wasting his opportunities and made what was almost an overcut on Frijns which did not backfire and Vergne was unable to challenge either of them later on with his Attack Mode as the race first got Full Course Yellow Flagged and then finally Red Flagged when about 2 minute and 25 seconds were remaining. Vergne was actually and realistically snatched of an opportunity to if not win then atleast come second in the race. And then later on he was also not given the third position – the position in which he finished – because he did not activate his second Attack Mode, and drivers have to compulsorily use both of them but in his defence, he did not know that the race was end early and if he would even take the Attack Mode under the Safety Car it wouldn’t change anything. So, should such results be changed?
And although not shown on the Live broadcast and with their being no clarity around it, Alex Lynn actually had a major crash in which car overturned and it skidded a long way across. A footage of that was released by some official who seemed to be standing beside the track and recording.
UPDATE ON 28 FEB, 2021 : Around 19 hours after the incident, the first footage of the crash was released and it was more serious than some imagined. It was another overtaking clash beween the Mahindra of Alex Lynn and a Jaguar Racing car, just that in a 24 hours that car was not Sam Bird’s who was trying to overtake Lynn in Round 1 but this time it was the car of Mitch Evans which Lynn was trying to overtake. Lynn was trying to enter what you could call an “ever closing gap”. Evans saw him and seems to be closing the gap as per the footage, and Lynn still kept on coming as a result of what way maybe the setting of his mind at that point of time. He was focused on making that overtake, and kept coming in at great speed in a straight trajectory angled at the gap which had closed by the time he reached Evans. There wasn’t a car’s gap left and Lynn had simultaneous contact with the wall and the back of Evans’s car. Lynn was trying to overtake Evans in what seemed like a situation which did not support it. The driver was protected from any injuries by the several safety structures like the Halo, which takes impact from the front and mainly the roll hoop which is situated behind the driver and sustains the force so that the driver does not make contact with ground upon the car overturning and sustains a serious head or neck injury. Alex Lynn might also have been helped by the fact that it was at a corner where there was sufficient runoff area and his car did not have to sustain any further big shocks against cars or walls.
Mitch Evans also got out of his car after the crash, stopping right in the runoff area and coming to Lynn’s aid. That was some good sportsmanship.
CAUTION: DISTURBING FOOTAGE, IT HAS BEEN OUT ONLY AFTER CONFIRMATION THAT LYNN IS SAFE!
Some serious crashes took place in the race and there was some chaos towards the ending stage and that might just have affected how the Top 3 ended up.
PREVIEW OF THE REMAINING SEASON!
It seems that Mercedes – EQ are only able to perform as well as Nyck, who did very well in R2 also making up 6 places, did in R1 and utilise their pace if they qualify in the front, or it could also be the case that they need to make some further tweaks with their software for it to pose that threat to others, and Stoffel Vandoorne who had to serve a stop go penalty in R2 is still not up to his own benchmark in terms of racing. DS Techeetah do actually have the power to defend their championship title but Jaguar Racing could be very big challengers in 2021. The next around is in April, and a lot of development can take place in that time and this will make the single race of a lot of importance.
| A LONG WAIT AND THEN A BIG RACE AWAITS|
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