2022 Diriyah ePrix

The 2022 Diriyah ePrix was a pair of Formula E electric car races held at the Riyadh Street Circuit in the town of Diriyah, north-west of Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia on 28 and 29 January 2022. It was the opening round of the 2021–22 Formula E season and the fourth edition of the Diriyah ePrix, and was held at night for the second time. Novelties for the event included the introduction of a knockout-style qualifying format, which replaced the series' long-standing four-group and superpole qualifying.^[1]

2022 Diriyah ePrix
Race 1 of 16 of the 2021–22 Formula E season Next race →
Race details
Date	28 January 2022 (2022-01-28)
Official name	2022 Diriyah E-Prix
Location	Riyadh Street Circuit, Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Course	Street circuit
Course length	2.495 km (1.550 mi)
Distance	41 laps, 102.295 km (63.563 mi)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Stoffel Vandoorne	Mercedes
Time	1:08.626
Fastest lap
Driver	Nick Cassidy	Envision-Audi
Time	1:09.207 on lap 18
Podium
First	Nyck de Vries	Mercedes
Second	Stoffel Vandoorne	Mercedes
Third	Jake Dennis	Andretti-BMW
Lap leaders

2022 Diriyah ePrix
Race 2 of 16 of the 2021–22 Formula E season Next race →
Race details
Date	29 January 2022 (2022-01-29)
Official name	2022 Diriyah E-Prix
Location	Riyadh Street Circuit, Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Course	Street circuit
Course length	2.495 km (1.550 mi)
Distance	35 laps, 87.325 km (54.261 mi)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Nyck de Vries	Mercedes
Time	1:07.154
Fastest lap
Driver	Sam Bird Stoffel Vandoorne[a]	Jaguar Mercedes
Time	1:08.723 (1:08.917) on lap 24 (24)
Podium
First	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi-Mercedes
Second	Robin Frijns	Envision-Audi
Third	Lucas di Grassi	Venturi-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The first race was won by defending world champion Nyck de Vries, with Stoffel Vandoorne and Jake Dennis rounding out the podium.^[2] Edoardo Mortara won the second race, ahead of Robin Frijns and Lucas di Grassi.^[3]

Background

Nyck de Vries entered the event as the series' reigning world champion, whilst his team Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team are the defending constructors' champions in what is set to be their last season in Formula E.^[4]

Regulation changes

The races were the first to see the new knockout-style qualifying format introduced for the season. Under the new format, the grid is split into two groups of eleven cars, each of which will have ten minutes to set the fastest time with the cars set to deliver 220kW of power. The fastest four drivers from each group then advance to a knockout-style tournament to decide the top eight, with the drivers being eliminated via quarter-final and semi-final heats to leave a two-car battle for pole position. The cars' usable power is upped to 250kW for the knockout stages.^[5]

Driver changes

Following the withdrawal of Audi from Formula E at the end of the 2020–21 season, former champion Lucas di Grassi moved to ROKiT Venturi, partnering the incumbent Edoardo Mortara and replacing Norman Nato, the series' latest race winner, who moved to Jaguar as a reserve driver.^[6] Long-time Nissan e.dams driver Oliver Rowland switched to Mahindra Racing to replace the outgoing Alex Lynn,^[7][8] his space at Nissan being taken by former Andretti driver and three-time race winner Maximilian Günther.^[9]

Three drivers made their Formula E debuts at the event. Former Formula One driver Antonio Giovinazzi joined Dragon / Penske Autosport to partner Brazilian Sérgio Sette Câmara.^[10] Former Red Bull junior Dan Ticktum joined NIO to replace the outgoing Tom Blomqvist alongside Oliver Turvey.^[11] 2019 Indy Lights champion and former IndyCar driver Oliver Askew joined Andretti Autosport, no longer factory-backed by BMW, to partner Jake Dennis, who came third in the 2020–21 season as a rookie.^[12]

Classification

Race one

Qualifying

Group draw[13]
Group A	ASK	SET	JEV	FRI	BIR	ROW	VAN	TUR	BUE	DIG	WEH
Group B	DEN	GIO	DAC	CAS	EVA	SIM	DEV	TIC	GUE	MOR	LOT

Qualifying duels

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

B4

André Lotterer

A1

Robin Frijns

André Lotterer

Jake Dennis

B3

Jake Dennis

A2

Sam Bird

Jake Dennis

Stoffel Vandoorne

A3

Stoffel Vandoorne

B2

Nick Cassidy

Stoffel Vandoorne

Nyck de Vries

A4

Oliver Rowland

B1

Nyck de Vries

Overall classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	A	B	QF	SF	F	Grid
1	5	Stoffel Vandoorne	Mercedes	1:09.489	—	1:08.873	1:08.407	1:08.626	1
2	27	Jake Dennis	Andretti-BMW	—	1:09.284	1:08.749	1:08.379	1:08.926	2
3	17	Nyck de Vries	Mercedes	—	1:09.164	1:08.600	1:08.813	—	3
4	36	André Lotterer	Porsche	—	1:09.313	1:09.018	1:09.014	—	4
5	10	Sam Bird	Jaguar	1:09.407	—	1:08.919	—	—	5
6	37	Nick Cassidy	Envision-Audi	—	1:09.214	1:08.951	—	—	6
7	4	Robin Frijns	Envision-Audi	1:09.163	—	1:09.109	—	—	7
8	30	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra	1:09.549	—	1:09.329	—	—	111
9	11	Lucas di Grassi	Venturi-Mercedes	1:09.617	—	—	—	—	8
10	22	Maximilian Günther	e.dams-Nissan	—	1:09.471	—	—	—	9
11	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche	1:09.710	—	—	—	—	10
12	48	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi-Mercedes	—	1:09.536	—	—	—	12
13	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah-DS	1:09.811	—	—	—	—	13
14	9	Mitch Evans	Jaguar	—	1:09.587	—	—	—	14
15	7	Sérgio Sette Câmara	Dragon-Penske	1:09.867	—	—	—	—	15
16	13	António Félix da Costa	Techeetah-DS	—	1:09.704	—	—	—	16
17	28	Oliver Askew	Andretti-BMW	1:09.891	—	—	—	—	17
18	29	Alexander Sims	Mahindra	—	1:10.039	—	—	—	18
19	3	Oliver Turvey	NIO	1:10.129	—	—	—	—	19
20	33	Dan Ticktum	NIO	—	1:10.507	—	—	—	20
21	23	Sébastien Buemi	e.dams-Nissan	1:10.185	—	—	—	—	21
22	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Dragon-Penske	—	1:10.596	—	—	—	22
Source:[14][15]

Notes:

• ^1  – Oliver Rowland received a 3-place grid penalty for impeding another driver in the pit lane.^[16]

Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	17	Nyck de Vries	Mercedes	41	52:14.642	3	25
2	5	Stoffel Vandoorne	Mercedes	41	+0.636	1	18+31
3	27	Jake Dennis	Andretti-BMW	41	+8.802	2	15
4	10	Sam Bird	Jaguar	41	+14.925	5	12
5	11	Lucas di Grassi	Venturi-Mercedes	41	+15.152	8	10
6	48	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi-Mercedes	41	+16.015	12	8
7	37	Nick Cassidy	Envision-Audi	41	+17.265	6	6+12
8	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah-DS	41	+25.076	13	4
9	28	Oliver Askew	Andretti-BMW	41	+25.699	17	2
10	9	Mitch Evans	Jaguar	41	+27.320	14	1
11	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche	41	+28.781	10
12	22	Maximilian Günther	e.dams-Nissan	41	+30.536	9
13	36	André Lotterer	Porsche	41	+31.521	4
14	29	Alexander Sims	Mahindra	41	+34.572	18
15	7	Sérgio Sette Câmara	Dragon-Penske	41	+36.781	15
16	4	Robin Frijns	Envision-Audi	41	+39.953	7
17	23	Sébastien Buemi	e.dams-Nissan	41	+41.334	21
18	33	Dan Ticktum	NIO	41	+49.222	20
19	3	Oliver Turvey	NIO	41	+50.965	19
20	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Dragon-Penske	41	+1:16.527	22
Ret	30	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra	7	Collision	11
Ret	13	António Félix da Costa	Techeetah-DS	0	Collision damage	16
Source:[17]

Notes:

• ^1  – Pole position.
• ^2  – Fastest lap.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Nyck de Vries 25 2 Stoffel Vandoorne 21 3 Jake Dennis 15 4 Sam Bird 12 5 Lucas di Grassi 10

Teams' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Mercedes 46 2 Venturi-Mercedes 18 3 Andretti-BMW 17 4 Jaguar 13 5 Envision-Audi 7

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Race two

Qualifying

Group draw[18]
Group A	DEV (1)	DEN (3)	DIG (5)	CAS (7)	ASK (9)	WEH (11)	LOT (13)	SET (15)	BUE (17)	TUR (19)	ROW (21)
Group B	VAN (2)	BIR (4)	MOR (6)	JEV (8)	EVA (10)	GUE (12)	SIM (14)	FRI (16)	TIC (18)	GIO (20)	DAC (22)

Qualifying duels

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

B4

Jean-Éric Vergne

A1

Nyck de Vries

Nyck de Vries

Lucas di Grassi

B3

António Félix da Costa

A2

Lucas di Grassi

Nyck de Vries

Edoardo Mortara

A3

Oliver Rowland

B2

Robin Frijns

Robin Frijns

Edoardo Mortara

A4

André Lotterer

B1

Edoardo Mortara

Overall classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	A	B	QF	SF	F	Grid
1	17	Nyck de Vries	Mercedes	1:07.939	—	1:06.871	1:06.835	1:07.154	1
2	48	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi-Mercedes	—	1:07.724	1:07.014	1:06.987	1:07.159	2
3	4	Robin Frijns	Envision-Audi	—	1:07.757	1:07.207	1:07.184	—	3
4	11	Lucas di Grassi	Venturi-Mercedes	1:08.083	—	1:07.580	1:07.216	—	4
5	36	André Lotterer	Porsche	1:08.224	—	1:07.285	—	—	5
6	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah-DS	—	1:07.968	1:07.539	—	—	6
7	30	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra	1:08.101	—	1:07.780	—	—	101
8	13	António Félix da Costa	Techeetah-DS	—	1:07.806	No time2	—	—	7
9	27	Jake Dennis	Andretti-BMW	1:08.419	—	—	—	—	8
10	29	Alexander Sims	Mahindra	—	1:08.011	—	—	—	9
11	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche	1:08.454	—	—	—	—	11
12	5	Stoffel Vandoorne	Mercedes	—	1:08.257	—	—	—	12
13	28	Oliver Askew	Andretti-BMW	1:08.626	—	—	—	—	13
14	22	Maximilian Günther	e.dams-Nissan	—	1:08.339	—	—	—	14
15	23	Sébastien Buemi	e.dams-Nissan	1:08.829	—	—	—	—	15
16	9	Mitch Evans	Jaguar	—	1:08.368	—	—	—	16
17	3	Oliver Turvey	NIO	1:08.943	—	—	—	—	17
18	33	Dan Ticktum	NIO	—	1:08.753	—	—	—	18
19	7	Sérgio Sette Câmara	Dragon-Penske	No time3	—	—	—	—	19
20	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Dragon-Penske	—	1:08.811	—	—	—	20
21	37	Nick Cassidy	Envision-Audi	No time	—	—	—	—	224
22	10	Sam Bird	Jaguar	—	1:13.910	—	—	—	21
Source:[19][20]

Notes:

• ^1  – Oliver Rowland received a 3-place grid penalty for causing a collision in race one.^[21]
• ^2  – António Félix da Costa had his quarter-final duel lap time deleted for missing his slot.^[22]
• ^3  – Sérgio Sette Câmara had all his qualifying lap times cancelled for impeding another driver.^[23]
• ^4  – Nick Cassidy did not take part in qualifying as his team could not repair his car in time following an accident in free practice. He was allowed to start the race from the back of the grid.^[24]

Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	48	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi-Mercedes	35	47:02.131	2	25
2	4	Robin Frijns	Envision-Audi	35	+0.451	3	18
3	11	Lucas di Grassi	Venturi-Mercedes	35	+0.912	4	15
4	36	André Lotterer	Porsche	35	+1.125	5	12
5	27	Jake Dennis	Andretti-BMW	35	+1.646	8	10
6	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah-DS	35	+3.166	6	8
7	5	Stoffel Vandoorne	Mercedes	35	+3.568	12	6+11
8	30	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra	35	+4.235	10	4
9	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche	35	+4.962	11	2
10	17	Nyck de Vries	Mercedes	35	+5.294	1	1+32
11	28	Oliver Askew	Andretti-BMW	35	+6.732	13
12	13	António Félix da Costa	Techeetah-DS	35	+8.693	7
13	23	Sébastien Buemi	e.dams-Nissan	35	+9.015	15
14	22	Maximilian Günther	e.dams-Nissan	35	+9.464	14
15	10	Sam Bird	Jaguar	35	+11.690	21
16	37	Nick Cassidy	Envision-Audi	35	+13.973	22
17	7	Sérgio Sette Câmara	Dragon-Penske	35	+14.521	19
18	3	Oliver Turvey	NIO	35	+15.005	17
19	33	Dan Ticktum	NIO	35	+16.744	18
20	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Dragon-Penske	35	+17.681	20
21	9	Mitch Evans	Jaguar	35	+29.8723	16
Ret	29	Alexander Sims	Mahindra	29	Accident	9
Source:[25]

Notes:

• ^1  – Fastest lap.
• ^2  – Pole position.
• ^3  – Mitch Evans received a post-race drive-through penalty converted into a 24-second time penalty for failing to activate the second of the two mandatory attack modes.^[26]

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 5 1 Edoardo Mortara 33 1 2 Nyck de Vries 29 1 3 Stoffel Vandoorne 28 1 4 Lucas di Grassi 25 2 5 Jake Dennis 25

Teams' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 1 Venturi-Mercedes 58 1 2 Mercedes 57 3 Andretti-BMW 27 1 4 Envision-Audi 25 2 5 Porsche 14

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Notes

1. Vandoorne received the point for fastest lap as Bird failed to finish in the top 10.