F1 News

Frijns and Vergne critical after 'dangerous situation' during Formula E race

30 January 2022 at 11:02
Last update 30 January 2022 at 17:06
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  • GPblog.com

Jean-Eric Vergne and Robin Frijns have both criticised the way stranded cars were taken off the track during the Diriyah double E-Prix, the season opener of Formula E in 2022.

In both the qualifying session on Friday and the race on Saturday, the stranded cars of Edoardo Mortara and Alexander Sims respectively were not recovered in the safest way possible. There was insufficient communication between the race control and the drivers, who were therefore not warned of the dangerous situation that had arisen on the track.

Formula E drivers express criticism of race control

Several drivers are therefore not particularly pleased with the unsafe state of affairs, pointing to serious incidents from the past. "I'm still shocked to see how the end of the race was handled," Vergne said on Twitter.

"A crane on the track, a safety car stopping right before it in a blind corner resulting in cars piling up, no information given to us... It seems like people don't learn from past mistakes."

Envision Racing driver Frijns was also critical of the course of events. He experienced the situation up close and describes it as "quite dangerous". "The safety car suddenly stopped," explained the Dutchman, who then crashed into the back of Edoardo Mortara's car. All this happened while the crane was still on the track a few metres away.