Sanya (China), Jun 20 (PTI) Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries secured a podium finish in a chaotic Sanya E-Prix after being promoted to third place following a post-race penalty for Felipe Drugovich, while teammate Edoardo Mortara retired due to a technical issue.
Off the start, de Vries dropped a position and picked up front wing damage on Lap 1 after contact with Sébastien Buemi, while Mortara made up a spot to run in 10th.
On Lap 12, both drivers activated Attack Mode and began to make progress through the field. Mortara got as high as the race lead before his extra power ran out, and de Vries was up to sixth.
Mortara spent the next handful of laps battling for the lead with Nick Cassidy, Dan Ticktum and Pascal Wehrlein, before eventually slipping back down to sixth as others used their Attack Mode allocation.
On Lap 20, de Vries got wrapped up in a multi-car traffic jam at the hairpin, dropping him to 16th and bringing out the red flags.
During the brief hiatus, Mortara had his damaged front wing repaired and subsequently dropped to 17th at the restart, while de Vries leapfrogged him and several other drivers who had undergone repairs and restarted 11th.
Both drivers initially lost ground at the restart, and the day got even worse for Mortara, who was forced to retire with a technical problem involving the fire extinguisher and the car kill switch.
De Vries activated his final Attack Mode on Lap 34 and began to scythe his way through the field, using the extra energy to set the fastest lap of the race in the process.
By Lap 37, he was up to fourth, and with a penalty for António Félix da Costa ahead, looked set for a podium finish. But, on the penultimate tour, Pepe Martí snatched the position away from de Vries, and the Dutch driver crossed the line fourth.
Then, in a final twist, podium finisher Felipe Drugovich was penalised post-race, elevating de Vries to third in the final order.
With the 15 points for third place and the additional point earned for the fastest lap, de Vries kept himself in 10th place in the Drivers’ Standings and Mahindra in third in the Teams’ Championship.
While Mortara didn’t score any points in Sanya, neither did the others in the top four of the Drivers’, so he retains third position.
Rounds 12 & 13 of the FIA Formula E World Championship season will take place in Shanghai on July 4-5. PTI ATK KHS
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