Formula E

Mercedes scores commanding Rome Formula E win with Vandoorne

by Matt Beer
8 min read

Stoffel Vandoorne escaped from more ABB FIA Formula E World Championship chaos to give Mercedes another victory in the second Rome race.

Vandoorne made rapid progress from fourth on the grid. The race again began behind the safety car due to slightly damp conditions, and surprise polesitter Nick Cassidy spun down to 11th as he braked for the tight Turn 7 right-hander on the first racing lap.

That handed the lead to his fellow rookie Norman Nato, but it wasn’t long before first Pascal Wehrlein’s Porsche then Vandoorne overtook the Venturi Mercedes.

Wehrlein relinquished first place when he took his first of three attack modes before Vandoorne, with the Mercedes staying ahead when the new leader also headed for the deployment zone.

A full course yellow – caused by Lucas di Grassi’s Audi slamming into the wall on the straight before Turn 7 in an incident with old rival Sebastien Buemi – helped cement the gap between Vandoorne and Wehrlein.

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And it then stretched out when Mahindra driver Alexander Sims jumped Wehrlein for second with a perfect restart as the race went green again. Wehrlein was also repassed by Nato on track later on.

Vandoorne built his lead as big as five seconds as the race progressed, and then coped smoothly when a late safety car brought the pack onto his tail.

That was caused by the other Audi of Rene Rast – having charged from 19th to 11th – breaking its suspension at the final corner and then spinning into the wall at the first.

One lap of racing remained at the restart, and Vandoorne stayed clear of Sims to wrap up his first win of 2021, as Sims took his first podium at new team Mahindra.

Vandoorne had another boost with two of his main championship rivals ended up in the barriers in a final lap tangle.

The second Mercedes of Nyck de Vries slid into both pre-race points leader Sam Bird’s Jaguar and Oliver Rowland’s Nissan, and only Rowland managed to continue at the back.

Bird 77

Nato clung on to third on the road ahead of Wehrlein despite running very low on energy in the final corners, but was then placed under investigation for energy over-use.

He was duly excluded, which put Wehrlein’s Porsche on the podium after all.

Nato’s team-mate Edoardo Mortara coped with similarly low energy and contact with Maximilian Guenther’s BMW to grab what turned into fourth, chased by Mitch Evans, Antonio Felix da Costa and Alex Lynn – though a penalty for not taking all his attack modes amid the cautions dropped Lynn back.

Buemi escaped the di Grassi clash to take what therefore became eighth ahead of Tom Blomqvist and Nico Mueller.

Cassidy made a spirited charge back up to seventh after his spin, before contact with Rowland sent him into the barriers.

Saturday winner Jean-Eric Vergne made little progress from the back and finished 14th on the road before the various penalties elevated him to 11th.

Race Results

Pos Name Team Car Laps Laps Led Total Time Fastest Lap Pitstops Pts
1 Stoffel Vandoorne Mercedes-Benz EQ Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 23 16 46m52.603s 1m41.82s 0 26
2 Alexander Sims Mahinda Racing Mahindra M7Electro 23 0 +0.666s 1m42.24s 0 18
3 Pascal Wehrlein TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Porsche 99X Electric 23 4 +2.346s 1m42.752s 0 15
4 Edoardo Mortara RokIT Venturi Racing Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 23 0 +5.018s 1m41.825s 0 12
5 Maximilian Günther BMW i Andretti Motorsport BMW iFE.21 23 0 +5.305s 1m42.065s 0 10
6 Mitch Evans Jaguar Racing Jaguar I-Type 5 23 0 +5.671s 1m42.035s 0 8
7 António Félix da Costa DS Techeetah DS E-Tense FE21 23 0 +6.133s 1m41.838s 0 6
8 Sébastien Buemi Nissan e.DAMS Nissan IM02 23 0 +9.795s 1m42.362s 0 4
9 Tom Blomqvist NIO 333 Formula E Team NIO 333 001 23 0 +12.032s 1m42.003s 0 2
10 Nico Müller Dragon / Penske Autosport Penske EV-4 23 0 +12.872s 1m42.839s 0 1
11 Jean-Eric Vergne DS Techeetah DS E-Tense FE21 23 0 +15.676s 1m42.594s 0 0
12 Sérgio Sette Câmara Dragon / Penske Autosport Penske EV-4 23 0 +16.009s 1m42.491s 0 0
13 Jake Dennis BMW i Andretti Motorsport BMW iFE.21 23 0 +16.352s 1m41.369s 0 0
14 Oliver Turvey NIO 333 Formula E Team NIO 333 001 23 0 +17.134s 1m42.419s 0 0
15 André Lotterer TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Porsche 99X Electric 23 0 +17.838s 1m43.682s 1 0
16 Oliver Rowland Nissan e.DAMS Nissan IM02 23 0 +21.14s 1m41.975s 0 0
17 Alex Lynn Mahinda Racing Mahindra M7Electro 23 0 +37.697s 1m41.713s 0 0
18 Robin Frijns Envision Virgin Racing Audi e-tron FE07 23 0 +43.103s 1m41.581s 0 0
Sam Bird Jaguar Racing Jaguar I-Type 5 22 0 DNF 1m41.482s 0 0
Nyck de Vries Mercedes-Benz EQ Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 22 0 DNF 1m40.771s 0 0
Nick Cassidy Envision Virgin Racing Audi e-tron FE07 21 0 DNF 1m41.935s 2 3
René Rast Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Audi e-tron FE07 19 1 DNF 1m40.902s 0 0
Lucas Di Grassi Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Audi e-tron FE07 7 0 DNF 1m43.964s 0 0
Norman Nato RokIT Venturi Racing Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 23 2 DQ 1m41.945s 0 1
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