Marrakech E-Prix 2021-22: Mortara Establishes a Lead
Copyright FIA Formula E
Following the cancellation of the Jakarta E-Prix, Formula E had to act in order to prevent yet another long gap between races after the Berlin E-Prix, in the end settling on a return to Morocco for the Marrakech E-Prix. This news was well received by the majority, given that Marrakech was a popular event in a city that teams and media enjoyed visiting. The only sticking point was the July timeslot for the race, given that it would usually take place in January, when the climate in north Africa is more temperate.
More Mercedes disappointment
Qualifying was disappointing for both Mercedes EQ runners, with Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries, as well as Jaguar’s out-of-form Sam Bird, missing out on the duels. While Mercedes struggled with balance on the circuit, Edoardo Mortara in the Mercedes-powered Venturi was demonstrating that the power unit was capable of far more, the Swiss taking second on the grid, with the DS Techeetah of Antonio Felix da Costa on pole position after the duels.
The start of the race was clean, with Mitch Evans challenging Pascal Wehrlein for fifth but the Jaguar title-contender being held off by the Porsche driver. Evans tried to pull off the same move on lap two, but was again foiled. The two DS Techeetahs of da Costa and Jean-Eric Vergne were the first to trigger Attack Mode, seven minutes into the race. Mortara look the power boost on the following lap, meaning it was as-you-were, with da Costa again taking the lead.
Early-stage gallopers
The driver on the move in the early stages was Oliver Rowland, demonstrating Mahindra had made some steps forward in their race pace, with the English driver getting up to second in the middle stages of the race having been 11th, running an aggressive strategy when it came to battery usage early-on. Further back, Vandoorne was trying to make up for lost time, moving up to 13th past Robin Frijns’ Envision with half an hour to go in the race.
While da Costa was out in front, Vergne seemed to be on a more conservative strategy, falling down the field and being passed by the Andretti of Jake Dennis for 5th with 28 minutes to go. Someone who was moving up the right way mid-race was Evans, with Jaguar having again found a perfect race setup for this most traditional of Formula E street circuits. With Mortara leading after the Attack Mode shakeups, Evans passed da Costa with 26 minutes to go, in spite of a heavy defence from the Portuguese. Evans then set about chasing down Mortara.
With more than half of the race gone, the order was Mortara, Evans, da Costa, and the recovering Vergne, though Evans was shortly to fall behind da Costa again with slightly less energy.
In the closing stages there was a diverting battle between Dennis, Lucas di Grassi in the Venturi, and de Vries, with di Grassi demonstrating that, for all his struggles relative to his teammate in qualifying, he remains an excellent - and sharp-elbowed - race driver.
Masterful energy management
With Mortara leading by a significant margin coming into the closing stages but with marginally less battery, Vergne passed da Costa under team orders - as the driver in title contention - and set about pursuing him. This push - plus Vergne engaging his Fanboost late-on and therefore having to lift and coast - balanced out the energy disparity and put da Costa and the charging Evans back in the podium positions, with Mortara taking a confident win, demonstrating Venturi are now on top of their issues last season with energy management. Mortara now leads the championship.
Behind them, Vergne led di Grassi, de Vries, Dennis, Vandoorne. Bird, and Rowland.