The first Formula E race of the Rome E-Prix weekend was red-flagged after nine laps following a major multi-car shunt that eliminated six drivers from the race.
Sam Bird had taken the lead from his polesitting Jaguar team-mate Mitch Evans at the start of the race but was sliding backwards down the order when he lost control of his car through the bumps at the sweeping high-speed Turn 6 left-hander.
Bird’s spinning car hit the barriers and ended up on the apex of the corner. An unsighted Sebastien Buemi then came upon Bird’s car and ran into its rear, initially Buemi’s car onto his side before he eventually ended up at the Turn 7 left-hander with a severely damaged car.
That pushed Bird’s car into the middle of the track and he then sustained a further violent hit from Edoardo Mortara’s Maserati, which became wedged together with the Jaguar.
Multiple drivers had to take avoiding action to avoid both Bird and Mortara’s car with the DS Penskes of Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne going either side of Bird, narrowly avoiding Mortara’s fate, although the latter brushed the outside wall at Turn 6.
Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa was right behind Buemi and slammed into the outside wall and then briefly went underneath Buemi’s car before grinding to a halt.
Mahindra’s Lucas di Grassi and Abt Cupra’s Robin Frijns were also collected in the ensuing chaos and retired on the spot along with Bird, Buemi and Mortara.
The race was immediately red-flagged with debris and avoiding action causing damage to many of the remaining cars. All drivers emerged from their cars with no obvious serious injuries.
“A very bad accident, nightmare scenario really, the fastest part of the circuit on a blind corner,” Jaguar team boss James Barclay said after the incident.
“Most importantly the car has been strong, it’s done its job and has protected the drivers.”
Envision Racing team boss Sylvain Filippi concurred that the FIA deserves “credit” for the fact that all of the drivers were able to quickly walk away from the incident.
Turn 6 was also the site of the multi-car pile-up in 2021 that involved Vandoorne spearing into the path of his then Mercedes team-mate Nyck de Vries, having had to swerve out of the path of a slow-moving di Grassi.
When the race resumes Nissan’s Formula E rookie Sacha Fenestraz should lead the pack away with Evans and the sole McLaren of Rene Rast behind him, following Jake Hughes’s DNS-inducing shunt in qualifying.
