Alexander Sims took the first Formula E victory of his career after leading a BMW Andretti one-two in the second of two races in Saudi Arabia. The victory also made it a British double in Diriyah, with Envision Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird winning Friday’s season opener.
Bird was unable to continue the momentum, crashing out with 27 minutes remaining after a tangle with Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, and slipped to third in the overall standings and a point behind the Mercedes driver Stoffel Vandoorne. Sims has 35 points to Vandoorne’s 27.
Sims’s German teammate, Max Günther, finished second in Saturday’s race, with the Brazilian Lucas di Grassi third for the Audi Sport ABT team according to provisional results. Günther was under investigation for overtaking during a safety car period, however, and could be stripped of the podium placing. If so, Vandoorne would take third to make it two podium finishes in two races for debutants Mercedes.
DS Techeetah’s reigning champion, Jean-Éric Vergne, failed to score for the second consecutive race, ending up 11th after dropping to the back of the grid with a 20-place penalty for a battery change. He had retired on Friday.
“That was pretty much a dream race,” said Sims, who started the race from pole position – his third in a row. “We seemed to execute everything really well, made the right decisions at the right times. It just all went smoothly today. Crossing that line was an amazing feeling.”
Bird was squeezed into the wall by Evans, with a nudge from Mahindra’s Pascal Wehrlein, while fifth. Evans was given a drive-through penalty for causing a collision.
The safety car was also deployed when Virgin’s Robin Frijns hit a wall, with the race restarting while marshals were still removing the car and leading to full course yellow flags being waved. Porsche’s André Lotterer, second on Friday, was demoted from sixth to 16th for overtaking during the second safety car period.