In many ways, Dariya’s ePrix was a promising curtain-raiser for the new Formula E season. But it was once again an embarrassing incident that caught the eye.
With just under 10 minutes plus a lap to go, Alexander Sims (Mahindra) hit the wall and had to come to a stop on the track. The race direction was then slow to announce the intervention of the safety car, thus allowing the cars to pass on the stage at good speed with only a waved yellow flag.
Then, during the neutralization, a crane entered the track to move the damaged single-seater without the teams being informed. They were also not informed of the safety car’s intention to slow down substantially at the bend in question – blindly at that – so the drivers were taken by surprise. Several clashes therefore occurred in the peloton.
“The race director had the opportunity to come on the radio and say, ‘the safety car is waiting, you’re going to stop at the third corner’, but everyone crashed into everyone. No communication”, complained the double champion Jean-Éric Vergne (DS Techeetah).
“Yes, we are under the safety car regime, but there are people who crashed into each other because no one told us that there was a crane on the track and that we were going to stop.
Robin Frijns (Envision) was second behind Edoardo Mortara (Venturi) at the time, where he finished the race. However, he was never able to avoid the leader, being at the origin of a small collision without consequence.
“All I could hear was the sound of carbon fiber creaking behind me,” Frijns commented.
Mea culpa
Race director Scot Elkins also accepted the blame. He said he was surprised by the positioning of the crane on the runway. This situation had a snowball effect on the management of the incident.
“That’s the mea culpa I want to do, I just got involved in other things and didn’t pass on the information,” he said.
The next Formula E event will be the Mexico City ePrix which will take place on February 12. Qualifying and the race will be broadcast on TVA Sports.