Nyck de Vries: “That’s the sort of start to a season that I really like”

Nyck de Vries began the defence of his ABB FIA Formula E World Championship drivers’ crown in a perfect way on Friday, with the Dutchman claiming victory under the floodlights in the first of the two races of the Diriyah E-Prix weekend.

The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team driver recovered from crashing within five minutes of the start of Thursday’s practice session around the Saudi Arabian circuit to get into the knockout stages of Qualifying, although he was eliminated by team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne at the semi-final stage.

He jumped front row starter Jake Dennis of Avalanche Andretti Formula E Team at the start and was following Vandoorne in second place for much of the race and was in the right position when the Belgian made a mistake when attempting to activate his attack mode. 

The failure of Vandoorne to activate the attack mode allowed de Vries to take over in the lead, a position he would then hold onto until the chequered flag.  It is the second consecutive season where de Vries has taken victory in the opening race of the season, having done so in the same event last February.

“That’s the sort of start to a season that I really like: a strong performance with a substantial haul of points,” said de Vries.  “After my mistake yesterday in the first free practice, this result comes as a huge relief for me.

“We used FP2 to prepare ourselves optimally and went on to have a good qualifying. It’s a fantastic feeling to win the opening race here in Diriyah yet again – and what’s more with a one-two finish. It’s a great result for the team and I’m really happy for them.

“We’ve worked hard for this over the winter, but we also know that Formula E is a fiercely competitive championship. Tomorrow, we have to give it everything we’ve got again if we’re going to achieve a good result in the second race of the season.”