What You Missed: Puebla E-Prix Round 9

Bienvenidos a México for the Puebla E-Prix double header! Catch the details and drama of Formula E’s Round 9.

Written by Emily Cary

June 22, 2021

Round 9 of the FIA Formula E championship continued in Puebla, Mexico, for the weekend’s second race. The last race saw Lucas di Grassi, Rene Rast, and Edoardo Mortara on the podium, with Pascal Wehrlein being disqualified after looking set to win the race.

 

Because the drivers had been on track the day before, practice 3 had more minor mistakes. Dennis was coming out of the pits but could not turn enough, so he had to be wheeled back to retry the exit. Other than that incident, practice was calm, and the final classification had De Vries, Vergne, and Rowland topping the timesheet. 

Photo via @VenturiFE on Twitter

Qualifying also didn’t see any issues. Vandoorne came out on top in group one, and Rast got his time deleted for going off track, so he classified slowest. All the drivers in group two were quicker than group one, but Jake Dennis came out on top. In groups 3 and 4, Rowland and Buemi were able to move onto the superpole shootout after going the fastest in their respective sessions. Superpole was an excellent battle for the Julius Baer trophy. Overall, Rowland was quickest, and Wehrlein lined up next to him in second. Mortara and Vergne made up row two after Lynn got a technical infringement that dropped him from third to sixth; lining up with Dennis. 

 

The race started relatively clean with no first-lap incidents. Later on, Sette Camara lost some of his bodywork when he was trying to overtake Turvey. This attack was under investigation and Sette Camara got a 5-second penalty to his name, which he served at the end of the race. Drivers started activating attack mode to see if it would give them an advantage, but they were still fighting relatively in the same place because of the traffic. A yellow flag came out at turn nine after Di Grassi went into the back of De Vries, which caused a lot of debris to come out on track and a left rear puncture for the Mercedes driver. Di Grassi was investigated for this incident and eventually received a drive-through penalty. When Sims and Guenther were battling, they pushed each other into the wall and tore the banner off, but neither received a penalty. Mortara took the lead with half the race to go, and some chaos started. Nato had damage after making contact with another driver and had to retire from the race. Then there was a yellow flag at turn 8 when Turvey couldn’t get his car into gear and was eventually out of the race. 

 

The top three were having a close battle for that race win, and then another yellow flag came out when Sims started slowing, and he had to get off onto an escape road. Quickly after that, once more, the yellow flag came out when Vergne overshot the final corner, but he was able to recover. Da Costa lost it at turn 7 but was able to get off track quickly so racing could resume. As in all Formula E races, the drivers were having problems with energy towards the end of the race, but unlike the disastrous round in Valencia, all the drivers were able to finish the race. A final yellow flag came out when Blomqvist went into the wall. At the end of the race, the top 2 were Mortara, Wehrlein, and Cassidy. However, Wehrlein lost his podium and got demoted to 4th because he overused power. This bumped Cassidy up to second and Rowland into 3rd. 

Photo via @VenturiFE on Twitter

While Mortara had the standout race, securing not only his second victory in Formula E but also first in the championship, there are a lot of other teams and drivers who could be considered winners from this race. There were many different winners and losers from that race. Cassidy drove a great race and was able to capitalize on other people’s mistakes. Venturi as a team was also an overall winner using a great strategy to secure the win for Mortara. Rast was able to get from the last place on the grid to 10th, showing that a bad qualifying session isn’t the end of the world in Formula E. Some teams need to reevaluate before New York, like Mercedes and DS Techeetah. Mercedes didn’t capitalize on other people’s mistakes as much as they could’ve, and DS Techeetah just had an all-around bad day. Wehrlein had back luck all weekend, and hopefully, he can get some good results in New York after two races in a row marred by penalties. 

Photo via @VenturiFE on Twitter

The title fight starts now, and there are still so many drivers who could win the championship. Mortara is currently in the lead by 10 points, followed by Frijns and Da Costa. Mercedes still lead the constructor’s championship, but only by 3 points to DS Techeetah. 

 

Bring on New York on the 10th and 11th of July. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I am Emily Cary, I am 18 years old, and I am from the United Kingdom. I have a strong passion for Formula 1. My favorite drivers are George Russell, Alex Albon, Charles Leclerc, and Max Verstappen. I am in my final year of Six Form before going to university to study PE with teacher training. I like to spend time with my friends, family and playing sports like dance and cricket. My passion for Formula 1 comes from the thrill and the excitement of watching the drivers drive and fight for their position on the track, also seeing the competitiveness and the drive that the drives have. Also, seeing the drivers doing the best they can to succeed and prove themself within the sport. This is the first article that I am writing about Formula 1, and hopefully, it will not be the last. 

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