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The opening weekend of a new season of competition is an exciting affair. It’s a time of intrigue, a period of uncertainty and the moment where the pecking order for the campaign is defined.
The 2022 Diriyah E-Prix acted as the backdrop for such a scenario last weekend, and when Formula E returned, it was our time to shine here at ROKiT Venturi Racing.
In a clinical and strategic drive at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Edoardo Mortara stormed to his third victory in Formula E while Lucas di Grassi powered to a third-placed finish.
But how did our star-studded duo tame the deserts of Diriyah?
We’ve examined and digested our data to answer that question, creating an insight-fuelled, lap-by-lap guide as to how we secured our very first double-podium finish.
Group A Qualifying: After taking fifth place in Race One, Lucas appears in Group A for qualifying ahead of Race Two. The Brazilian posts a 1:08.083 lap during the 12-minute session and progresses to the duel stages by setting the second-fastest time.
Group B Qualifying: Holding sixth in the World Drivers’ Championship, Edo participates in Group B. Using 220kW of power, he posts a 1:07.724 lap time to place first overall and progress to the quarter-finals for the first time in Season 8, holding the chance to fight for pole position.
Qualifying Quarter-Final Two: Antonio Felíx Da Costa faces Lucas in quarter-final two. Although the DS Techeetah driver’s lap time is deleted, Lucas posts a 1:07.580 run to progress to the semi-finals.
Qualifying Quarter-Final Four: As Group B’s fastest driver, Edo faces André Lotterer in the fourth quarter-final of the day. Lotterer completes a benchmark 1:07.285 run but by edging ahead by 0.271 seconds, Edo advances to the semi-final stage.
Qualifying Semi-Final One: Lucas faces quarter-final one winner Nyck de Vries in the first of the semi-finals. Lucas loses out to the Mercedes-EQ driver by 0.381 seconds to qualify in fourth position.
Qualifying Semi-Final Two: In the second semi-final, Edo faces Robin Frijns. With a 1:06.987 run, Edo outpaces the Envision Racing driver to progress to the final stage in the fight for pole position.
Qualifying Final: Edo faces reigning Formula E champion de Vries in the pole position shootout. In a closely contested duel, Edo falls only 0.005 seconds shy of the Dutchman to qualify second on the grid.
Lap One: Despite both drivers starting on the dirty side of the grid, Edo and Lucas secure a clean getaway to maintain second and fourth into the first corner. Chasing de Vries and Frijns, both drivers settle into a consistent rhythm and follow closely to conserve energy.
Lap Six: Lucas moves into the podium positions by overtaking Frijns who activates his first of two Attack Modes in Turn 19.
Lap Seven: With a 30kW power advantage, Frijns re-overtakes Lucas who falls back down to fourth position.
Lap Eight: Edo and Lucas activate Attack Mode for the first time in the race. With the benefit of an additional 30kW of power, Edo maintains second place while Lucas holds fourth, with the duo continuing to pursue de Vries and Frijns.
Lap 12: Utilising an aggressive strategy, Lucas arms and activates his second use of Attack Mode in an attempt to undercut Frijns and regain a place on the podium.
Lap 13: Lucas successfully overtakes Frijns to snatch away third. Edo, meanwhile, completes a 1:10.363 lap to reduce the gap to de Vries further, now only 0.621s behind the race leader.
Lap 14: Edo activates Attack Mode for a second time at the end of lap 14 and slips to fourth on the road as a result of a 1.606 second time loss upon activation. This promotes Lucas to second place.
Lap 15: Lucas takes the lead by diving past de Vries into Turn 18. Watching the battle from behind, Edo also opts to attack Frijns and moves back onto the podium by overtaking, with ROKiT Venturi Racing now first and third.
Lap 16: Edo closes in on and overtakes de Vries to reclaim second place.
Lap 17: With Edo on Attack Mode, Lucas lets his team-mate through on the run to Turn 18. Edo now leads the Diriyah E-Prix for the first time and posts his fastest lap of the race – a 1:09.203 run.
Lap 29: After the team adopted a conservative approach to energy management, both driver’s advantage over the chasing pack starts to close. Facing mounting pressure, Lucas slips to third after being overtaken by Frijns who becomes Edo’s nearest challenger.
Lap 30: Alexander Sims crashes which leads to the deployment of the Safety Car as the stricken Mahindra is removed from the track.
Lap 35: Following this long stoppage, the race is resumed on the final lap, leaving a three-corner sprint to the chequered flag. Edo holds Frijns off to take his third victory in Formula E to date and by scoring 25 points, rises to the top of the World Drivers’ Championship.
Lucas, meanwhile, takes home third place to score his first podium for Monaco’s only racing team and by adding a further 15 points, ROKiT Venturi Racing also takes the lead in the Teams’ Standings on the day of its first double podium performance in Formula E.
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