Nyck de Vries earns a Sunday podium for the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team in London 31.07.2022: Podiums in both ABB FIA Formula E races hosted in London: After Stoffel Vandoorne took the runner-up spot on Saturday, Nyck de Vries finished third in Race 2 on Sunday. Vandoorne meanwhile staged a strong recovery from 13th on the grid to cross the line i

 
Podiums in both ABB FIA Formula E races hosted in London: After Stoffel Vandoorne took the runner-up spot on Saturday, Nyck de Vries finished third in Race 2 on Sunday. Vandoorne meanwhile staged a strong recovery from 13th on the grid to cross the line in fourth.




•    After clocking the third-fastest time in qualifying group A, Nyck progressed to the Duels, where he was eliminated by Antonio Giovinazzi in the quarter-finals and consequently started the race from fifth on the grid.


•    Stoffel set the seventh-fastest time in his qualifying group, which meant he missed out on the knockout stage. He started the London E-Prix from 13th on the grid.


•    Having successfully defended his position at the start, Nyck made clever use of his two Attack Modes to move up into the leading group. He spent the closing laps chasing down second-placed Jake Dennis and eventually crossed the finish line just 1.3 seconds behind him in third.


•    This was Nyck's eighth podium in the all-electric race series and his third of the season. It was the team's 21st podium in Formula E.


•    Stoffel gained one place in the early phase of the race and then steadily fought his way up to P7. In the course of the E-Prix, Stoffel improved by nine positions and finished the race in fourth place behind his team-mate.


•    The race, which was extended by three minutes due to a safety car deployment, was won by Lucas di Grassi (Venturi Racing). It was the seventh win for a Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 this season.


•    Stoffel (185 points) extended his lead in the Drivers' World Championship over Mitch Evans (149) to 36 points. Nyck (106) is in eighth place.


•    The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team (291 points) holds a 35-point lead over Venturi Racing (256) in the Team Championship, with 14 of the 16 races in the current campaign now complete.


•    The final two rounds of the 2021/22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season will take place on 13 and 14 August when the all-electric racing series is contested on the streets of Seoul for the first time.





Driver    FP3    Qualifying    Race    Standings


#17 N. de Vries     P12 1:13.202
16 Laps     P5 (Quarter-Final)
1:13.043     P3 Grid: P5 FL: 1:14.525     P8
106 Points



#5 S. Vandoorne     P7 1:13.126
16 Laps     P13 (Group A: P7)
1:13.624     P4 Grid: P13 FL: 1:14.579     P1
185 Points

 
Nyck de Vries:


"I am delighted. I think the team executed a great race, getting all the Attack Modes and major decisions just right, so I am very satisfied with what we accomplished today. Seven or eight laps before the end, something broke on the left front suspension, so I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to finish the race.


If it hadn't been for that, we might have attempted a bit of an attack on Jake later on in the race, but ultimately I think we are happy about having consolidated a good team result and coming away from here with a decent haul of points towards the Team Championship."
 


Stoffel Vandoorne:


"The race today was very good when you consider where I was starting from on the grid. I had to be very aggressive when it mattered but also stay out of trouble as far as possible. We had good pace and, on a track like this, it was an excellent comeback. We can definitely be happy with the weekend in general and the points we scored.


 Now there's just one weekend to go, and we've got to keep working every bit as hard as we have been so far, because we know that there can be big swings in Formula E. We've had a great package this year, but we have to give a lot of credit to the team who, every weekend, have been putting the car in a window that we are able to use. That's real teamwork."
 



Ian James, Team Principal:



"We wrap up the weekend in London with a very healthy haul of points. Today's race was always going to be challenging, with Nyck and Stoffel starting P5 and P13 respectively.
 


Nyck was in a position to capitalise and go for a podium finish - and he did just that. He put in an amazing drive and ended up on the podium, really well deserved. Stoffel fought every turn, every pass of that race. He used all of his race craft to finish 4th. To come from 13th to 4th is awesome, especially here in London. Others had some misfortune and, as racers, we can feel the pain but it worked in our favour today.
 


We are now almost at the end of the season, with just one race weekend and two races to go. We have a small advantage to our competitors - in both teams' and drivers' standings, but this is Formula E and anything can happen. There is no excuse and no margin for mistakes; it is going to be full focus, delivering another weekend in which we are on the case every single session, every single lap."
 



 
 
Sjoerd van Wijk - photos Mercedes