Formula E news - Mercedes' Nyck De Vries smashes lap record to take pole in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia

ByEurosport

Updated 26/02/2021 at 15:06 GMT

The 2020-2021 Formula E season kicks off this weekend, There is plenty of British interest, with seven drivers from the United Kingdom set to compete in the season opener, the Diriyah ePrix in Saudi Arabia. Nyck de Vries will start on pole in Saudi. You can watch the 2021 Formula E season live on Eurosport, eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app.

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Mercedes’ Nyck de Vries produces a lap record in Friday’s first qualifying round to secure pole position for the Formula E season opener in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

De Vries set the fastest times in both practice sessions and followed up by recording the fastest time in Superpole, beating Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein by six tenths of a second.

The Dutch driver’s qualifying time of 1:08.786 was the fastest of the weekend so far.

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Audi’s Rene Rast qualified in fourth to kickstart his first full Formula E season.

Five-time title winners DS Techeetah had a day to forget. Both their cars qualified near the back of the pack with Antonio Felix da Costa and Jean-Eric Vergne both having a terrible qualifying session.

They were handicapped by being in Group 1 and were caught out in traffic.

“It’s been a great start since yesterday,” De Vries said post-race.

"We carried that momentum into today even though the conditions were very different in FP2. I want to thank the team for all their hard work since season six in Berlin.

“We’ve analysed everything very well and we’ve put a lot of focus and emphasis on our weaker areas. I’m glad to give this to them to start the season but there’s a long way to.

“We’re pleased with today’s performance and can finish it off this afternoon.”