A day to savour for Mercedes!
The season began under the lights, with the expected title contenders battling up at the front, although some did find the going tough today. There also was the usual heavy battling, and the odd collision to go along with it, as the drivers tried to find places to overtake on a track with few opportunities to do so.
Despite all the issues they had in the practice yesterday, Mercedes bounced back overnight and were clearly the fastest car today, both in qualifying and the race. For those worried about the rest of the season, remember they were dominant here too last year, and other teams didn’t optimise their days as much either. Vandoorne had the smoother qualifying, and beat De Vries in their qualifying duel, to line up a row ahead of him on pole, but relinquished the lead when he messed up his second attack mode activation. It could be a costly error to give a 14 point swing to his teammate, and will need to win tomorrow to restore balance in the title fight. They will be the favourites for Race 2, but they haven’t got a massive gap over the rest.
The best of everyone else was Dennis, who has continued the momentum from the end of Season 7, by barely missing out on pole position, and being the biggest challenger to Mercedes. Starting on the dirty side of the track cost him a position to Nyck, and the undercut by Lotterer stopped him from mounting any further challenge on the Silver Arrows. Not all of his attempts to pass the German were smooth, yet he learnt from it and got it done eventually. Bearing that in mind, he could very easily spoil Mercedes party tomorrow, if Andretti can get everything right.
Bird and Di Grassi fought right to the end for 4th place, with the Briton holding on to it in the end. Those two cars are once again looking good this season, but still have some work to do if they want to fight for wins. Both used their experience to get around the fearless Lotterer, and will be hungry for even more tomorrow. Mortara backed up his teammate in 6th, after climbing through the field well. He saved his attack modes for later in the race, and along with better efficiency than others, was able to make great progress in the closing stages. Expect many podiums and possibly wins from this team soon.
Cassidy had an excellent day, reaching the knockout rounds of qualifying, and staying well inside the top 10 all day, which for a car that on paper isn’t one of the fastest, is very good going. He beat Frijns comprehensively too, which is no easy feat at all, he might be one of the most underrated drivers in the series. Vergne managed to save Techeetah’s day, after a terrible qualifying for both drivers, but 8th is not what they would have hoped for from the race. They need to find big gains overnight in terms of one lap pace, if they want to fight for the title. Da Costa had an even worse day, retiring on the first lap with damage, which is the risk you take starting well back on the grid.
Askew was another star today, showing the talent he has to take 9th position in his first race ever in Formula E. What is even more impressive though, is that he had better battery usage than many of the experienced drivers ahead of him as the race ended. That allowed him to pass Evans, and nearly get Vergne, watch out for the American as the season goes on. Evans will be disappointed with only a point from today, but he lost good points with the crash for Mortara in qualifying, which shows the importance of not leaving it all to the last lap. His fight back was strong though, and will aim to do better tomorrow.
It looked so good for Porsche at one point, and I was rather impressed, however, when we saw the energy readings, it all became clear, and sure enough Andre dropped way back, to score no points. It is a shame for the team, but at least they have one lap pace in the car, they just need to find ways to conserve energy better. Wehrlein will not have enjoyed being beaten by Lotterer in qualifying, and will want to get some points on the board tomorrow. Mahindra had a terrible day, it was looking good for Rowland at one point, until Frijns didn’t enjoy the move he made, and dumped him at the next corner. At least Oliver had the pace for points.
If Mahindra had a bad day, I think Nissan’s was worse, given that they don’t have the same raw pace, but continue to struggle with efficiency. They have to hope for huge change for Gen3. Frijns didn’t cover himself in glory today, as Rowland was at least going for a move when he made contact, whereas Robin just drove through the Mahindra, out of frustration, warranting a drive through penalty. Dragon Penske and NIO did not have the pace to fight for points really, as was feared, they will have to hope that it is a circuit specific problem, and not everywhere.
I do have to give credit for Formula E, as the qualifying session was actually pretty good, so I was wrong on that front. Part of that was because I didn’t realise how the duels would work, and the way they are doing it is rather exciting, and gives almost nonstop action. I would actually be happy for it to stay all year, despite the fact that it is a bit confusing.
Season 8 began with a good day of racing, the race may not have been the best ever, yet it gave us enough action to keep us entertained, and wanting to come back for more tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, lets hope someone can give Mercedes more of a run for their money, and there are plenty of teams who could do it!
-M
Meaning of Motorsport 