Diriyah: Frijns on pole, Mercedes banned from qualifying

Robin Frijns took pole in the second race of the weekend at Diriyah with Virgin Racing, while Mercedes and Venturi were banned from qualifying for safety reasons following the Mortara crash.

Published on 27/02/2021 à 14:54

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Diriyah: Frijns on pole, Mercedes banned from qualifying

The last will be first. With this qualification system where those disappointed from the day before find themselves in the last group, the superpole welcomed some unusual guests. Among them, Robin Frijns did the best. The Dutchman from Virgin Racing, who was unable to race yesterday after leaving practice, took pole position for the second race of the weekend. It's his first pole in 46 starts, the record so far.

Invisible yesterday, Sergio Sette Camara (Dragon Penske) placed second ahead of Sam Bird (Jaguar) who had experienced a collision during race 1, and Oliver Turvey and Tom Blomqvist, the two members of Nio 333, a catastrophic team last year. Finally, Nico Müller completed the superpole with Dragon Penske.

But where is Nyck de Vries ? Well nowhere. The main information of the qualifications was given before the session. Indeed, just after the end of Free Practice 3 at noon, Edoardo Mortara went into the wall during a start test. The car accelerated on its own and simply didn't brake and it crashed into the vehicle at full speed. The Venturi pilot is apparently not injured.

But the problem led the FIA to ban qualifying Mercedes (De Vries and Vandoorne) and its client team Venturi (Nato and Mortara) for security reasons. Indeed, the German manufacturer must prove that its cars do not have the same problem as Mortara, to be able to compete in the race this afternoon. As a result, Nyck De Vries, winner yesterday, and Stoffel Vandoorne, author of a superb comeback, will at best start at the back of the grid, if they are allowed to race.

Among those who were able to qualify, Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah) seems to be better than yesterday, since the French driver ranks 7th, just ahead Sébastien Buemi (Nissan DAMS), while defending champion Antonio Felix Da Costa (DS Techeetah) is 10th.

The biggest loser is Mitch Evans. Third yesterday with his Jaguar, he inherited the first qualifying group which was responsible for sweeping the track and therefore failed in 18th position.