Anger after 'terrifying' crash: 'Some software people don't do their job'

Robin Frijns told GPblog earlier this season: "It's really dramatic and it won't get any better this year either," he said of the car supplied by Mahindra to the Dutchman's ABT Cupra team. At the Portland ePrix, there may have been further confirmation of that: Nico Müller was unable to use his brakes after crashing into the wall at tremendous speed. Miraculously, the Swiss got out unscathed.

Already several times this season, drivers driving Mahindra machinery had major problems. It already led to crashes by the likes of Lucas di Grassi, who also had to experience his brakes suddenly failing. In South Africa recently, Mahindra and ABT were unable to compete in the ePrix at the very last minute because the rear suspension was unsafe.

New chapter in the malaise

A new chapter in the ongoing malaise followed in Portland. During free practice, Di Grassi and teammate Roberto Merhi were each unable to brake after the straight, but there was no wall then. However, there was one during the race for Nico Müller. The Swiss crashed, measuring in the cockpit an impact of no less than 27G, i.e. 27 times Müller's weight.

Any but a well-trained racing driver would suffer serious injuries (or possibly worse) in such an impact, but Müller got out of his badly damaged car unscathed. The chassis is expected to have to be replaced before the next ePrixes in Rome, although the damage may not have appeared to be too bad to the eye.

Reportedly, in Portland too - as earlier this season - it was a software problem that prevented the car from coming to a halt. Apparently, Mahindra failed to find a solution to this. Former Formula E driver Daniel Abt (the son of the ABT team's team owner) reacted furiously to this with German broadcaster ProSieben: "Surely it cannot be that you put the health and well-being of drivers in the hands of a few software people who are not doing their job, preventing the drivers from safely turning a corner? That's just a no-go."

Müller went 'skateboarding'

Through his team, Müller responded to the hit with a wink. The hit was initiated by his front wing suddenly coming off. "Unfortunately, went skateboarding on my own front wing. Big off unfortunately." The Swiss later added at The Race: "It was pretty terrifying to be honest. I just headed straight on because the front wheels were lifted up in the air. But then after I hit the wall, I couldn’t stop the car because apparently it went into a sort of safety mode after the impact and there I had no brakes anymore. That’s why I kind of crawled back onto the track and stopped in a pretty dangerous position. That’s what scared me a little bit."