2021 Valencia ePrix

2021 Valencia ePrix
Race 5 of 15 of the 2020–21 Formula E season ←  Previous race Next race  →
Race details
Date	24 April 2021 (2021-04-24)
Official name	2021 DHL Valencia E-Prix
Location	Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Cheste, Valencia
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	3.376 km (2.098 mi)
Distance	24 laps, 81.024 km (50.346 mi)
Weather	Wet, 15 °C (59 °F). Humidity: 84%.
Pole position
Driver	António Félix da Costa	Techeetah-DS
Time	1:26.522
Fastest lap
Driver	Robin Frijns	Virgin-Audi
Time	1:39.611 on lap 14
Podium
First	Nyck de Vries	Mercedes
Second	Nico Müller	Dragon-Penske
Third	Stoffel Vandoorne	Mercedes
Lap leaders

2021 Valencia ePrix
Race 6 of 15 of the 2020–21 Formula E season ←  Previous race Next race  →
Race details
Date	25 April 2021 (2021-04-25)
Official name	2021 DHL Valencia E-Prix
Location	Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Cheste, Valencia
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	3.376 km (2.098 mi)
Distance	30 laps, 101.280 km (62.932 mi)
Pole position
Driver	Jake Dennis	Andretti-BMW
Time	1:28.548
Fastest lap
Driver	Alexander Sims Alex Lynn [a]	Mahindra Mahindra
Time	1:30.081 (1:30.263) on lap 26 (22)
Podium
First	Jake Dennis	Andretti-BMW
Second	André Lotterer	Porsche
Third	Alex Lynn	Mahindra
Lap leaders

The 2021 Valencia ePrix (formally the 2021 DHL Valencia E-Prix) was a pair of Formula E electric car races held at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in the town of Cheste near Valencia, Spain on 24 and 25 April 2021. Having previously hosted numerous pre-season tests, this was the inaugural running of a competitive Formula E event at the track, as well as the first time an ePrix was held in Spain. It marked the fifth and sixth rounds of the 2020–21 Formula E season. The first race was won by Nyck de Vries, ^[1] with Nico Müller and Stoffel Vandoorne rounding out the podium. Jake Dennis took his first Formula E victory in the second race, ^[2] finishing ahead of André Lotterer and Alex Lynn.

The first race on 24 April was notable for the significant number of disqualifications and non-finishers. Of the field of twenty-four, only nine drivers would end up being awarded points.

ePrix

Race one

Conditions on the track were wet, requiring a safety car start instead of the traditional standing start. ^[3] This would lead to the race's first of five energy reductions, with this being a reduction of 2 KWH.

Following the restart with 10 minutes left, Da Costa would use his Fan Boost to gain enough distance over De Vries to then activate his second attack mode while retaining the lead. ^[4] With six minutes to go before the extra lap, Lotterer would end up beached in Turn 1 after a collision with Edoardo Mortara while Mortara was in attack mode. De Vries still in second had just been asked by his team to push to keep up with Da Costa in first, but was unable to do so before the safety car came out with five minutes left. The green flag would waive again with 22 seconds left in the session and Da Costa would cross the line with 9 seconds left before the extra lap. The fifth energy reduction would be announced, this time for another 5 KWH for a total reduction of 19 KWH. De Vries would easily drive past Da Costa as Da Costa was struggling with the remaining energy. De Vries would finish in first with Rowland and Sims behind him, though both of the latter would be disqualified for exceed the energy limits. Müller and Vandoorne would be elevated to second and third respectively. Da Costa, Lynn, and Bird would all join Rowland and Sims in exceeding the energy limits and be subsequently disqualified. This left only nine drivers total to be classified and received points for the finish. ^{[3] [5] [6] [4]}

Classification

Race one

Qualifying

Group draw [7]
Group 1	BIR (1)	EVA (2)	FRI (3)	VAN (4)	DEV (5)	WEH (6)
Group 2	MOR (7)	JEV (8)	SIM (9)	DAC (10)	RAS (11)	ROW (12)
Group 3	SET (13)	MUL (14)	GUE (15)	BUE (16)	TUR (17)	DIG (18)
Group 4	BLO (19)	LYN (20)	CAS (21)	NAT (22)	DEN (23)	LOT (24)

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	GS	SP	Grid
1	13	António Félix da Costa	Techeetah-DS	1:26.870	1:26.522	1
2	17	Nyck de Vries	Mercedes	1:26.914	1:26.730	7 1
3	28	Maximilian Günther	Andretti-BMW	1:26.868	1:26.943	2
4	94	Alex Lynn	Mahindra	1:26.799	1:27.022	3
5	23	Sébastien Buemi	e.dams-Nissan	1:26.876	1:27.053	4
6	36	André Lotterer	Porsche	1:26.933	—	5
7	71	Norman Nato	Venturi-Mercedes	1:26.979	—	6
8	22	Oliver Rowland	e.dams-Nissan	1:27.002	—	8
9	99	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche	1:27.008	—	9
10	37	Nick Cassidy	Virgin-Audi	1:27.072	—	10
11	29	Alexander Sims	Mahindra	1:27.109	—	11
12	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah-DS	1:27.157	—	12
13	27	Jake Dennis	Andretti-BMW	1:27.177	—	13
14	33	René Rast	Audi	1:27.290	—	14
15	4	Robin Frijns	Virgin-Audi	1:27.317	—	15
16	48	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi-Mercedes	1:27.338	—	16
17	20	Mitch Evans	Jaguar	1:27.442	—	17
18	7	Sérgio Sette Câmara	Dragon-Penske	1:27.456	—	18
19	88	Tom Blomqvist	NIO	1:27.481	—	19
20	10	Sam Bird	Jaguar	1:27.619	—	20
21	11	Lucas di Grassi	Audi	1:27.634	—	21
22	6	Nico Müller	Dragon-Penske	1:27.644	—	22
23	8	Oliver Turvey	NIO	1:28.524	—	23
24	5	Stoffel Vandoorne	Mercedes	no time 2	no time 2	24
Source: [8] [9]

Notes:

• ^1  – Nyck de Vries received a 5-place grid penalty for causing a collision in the previous race in Rome. ^[10]
• ^2  – Stoffel Vandoorne originally qualified first with a 1:26.839 in the group stage and a 1:26.494 in the superpole, but later had all his lap times cancelled due to a tyre infringement. ^{[11] [12]}

Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	17	Nyck de Vries	Mercedes	24	48:20.547	7	25
2	6	Nico Müller	Dragon-Penske	24	+13.128	22	18
3	5	Stoffel Vandoorne	Mercedes	24	+34.886 4	24	15
4	37	Nick Cassidy	Virgin-Audi	24	+36.903	10	12
5	33	René Rast	Audi	24	+51.650	14	10
6	4	Robin Frijns	Virgin-Audi	24	+52.985	15	8+1 1
7	11	Lucas di Grassi	Audi	24	+2:41.946 5	21	6
8	27	Jake Dennis	Andretti-BMW	24	+3:07.061	13	4
9	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah-DS	24	+4:19.582	12	2
NC	8	Oliver Turvey	NIO	24	Retired in pits 6	23
NC	88	Tom Blomqvist	NIO	24	Retired in pits 6	19
NC	71	Norman Nato	Venturi-Mercedes	23	+1 lap	6
Ret	48	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi-Mercedes	20	Collision damage	16
Ret	99	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche	19	Brakes	9
Ret	36	André Lotterer	Porsche	19	Collision/Brakes	5
Ret	20	Mitch Evans	Jaguar	15	Collision damage	17
Ret	7	Sérgio Sette Câmara	Dragon-Penske	14	Collision	18
Ret	28	Maximilian Günther	Andretti-BMW	10	Spun off	2
Ret	23	Sébastien Buemi	e.dams-Nissan	1	Collision	4
DSQ 7	22	Oliver Rowland	e.dams-Nissan	24	Energy usage	8
DSQ 7	29	Alexander Sims	Mahindra	24	Energy usage	11
DSQ 7	13	António Félix da Costa	Techeetah-DS	24	Energy usage	1	3 2
DSQ 7	94	Alex Lynn	Mahindra	24	Energy usage	3	1 3
DSQ 7	10	Sam Bird	Jaguar	24	Energy usage	20
Source: [13]

Notes:

• ^1  – Fastest lap.
• ^2  – Pole position.
• ^3  – Fastest in group stage.
• ^4  – Stoffel Vandoorne received a 5-second time penalty for forcing another car off the track, and a further post-race 10-second time penalty for failing to fulfil the total amount of time of his second attack mode. ^{[14] [15]}
• ^5  – Lucas di Grassi received a post-race drive-through penalty converted into a 30-second time penalty for failing to activate the second of the two mandatory attack modes. ^[16]
• ^6  – Both NIO drivers pulled into the pit lane at the end of the final lap after exceeding the maximum energy usage. As they did not cross the chequered flag, they were not classified. ^[17]
• ^7  – Rowland, Sims, da Costa, Lynn and Bird originally finished 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 10th and 11th respectively, but were disqualified from the race due to their energy used being over the regulatory limit. ^[18]

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings +/– Pos Driver Points 4 1 Nyck de Vries 57 2 2 Stoffel Vandoorne 48 2 3 Sam Bird 43 1 4 Robin Frijns 43 3 5 Mitch Evans 39

Teams' Championship standings +/– Pos Constructor Points 1 1 Mercedes 105 1 2 Jaguar 82 1 3 Virgin-Audi 58 1 4 Techeetah-DS 51 3 5 Audi 43

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Race two

Qualifying

Group draw [19]
Group 1	DEV (1)	VAN (2)	BIR (3)	FRI (4)	EVA (5)	WEH (6)
Group 2	RAS (7)	MUL (8)	MOR (9)	JEV (10)	SIM (11)	DAC (12)
Group 3	CAS (13)	ROW (14)	SET (15)	GUE (16)	DIG (17)	BUE (18)
Group 4	TUR (19)	BLO (20)	LYN (21)	DEN (22)	NAT (23)	LOT (24)

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	GS	SP	Grid
1	27	Jake Dennis	Andretti-BMW	1:31.855	1:28.548	1
2	36	André Lotterer	Porsche	1:31.958	1:29.411	5 1
3	94	Alex Lynn	Mahindra	1:32.585	1:29.737	2
4	88	Tom Blomqvist	NIO	1:32.727	1:30.202	3
5	8	Oliver Turvey	NIO	1:32.950	1:30.403	4
6	71	Norman Nato	Venturi-Mercedes	1:33.155	1:30.489	6
7	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah-DS	1:33.198	—	7
8	22	Oliver Rowland	e.dams-Nissan	1:33.336	—	8
9	23	Sébastien Buemi	e.dams-Nissan	1:33.390	—	9
10	7	Sérgio Sette Câmara	Dragon-Penske	1:33.452	—	10
11	29	Alexander Sims	Mahindra	1:33.479	—	11
12	13	António Félix da Costa	Techeetah-DS	1:33.604	—	12
13	99	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche	1:33.745	—	13
14	33	René Rast	Audi	1:33.879	—	14
15	48	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi-Mercedes	1:33.898	—	15
16	20	Mitch Evans	Jaguar	1:34.115	—	19 1
17	4	Robin Frijns	Virgin-Audi	1:34.166	—	16
18	5	Stoffel Vandoorne	Mercedes	1:34.416	—	17
19	17	Nyck de Vries	Mercedes	1:34.419	—	18
20	10	Sam Bird	Jaguar	1:34.480	—	20
21	6	Nico Müller	Dragon-Penske	1:34.588	—	21
22	11	Lucas di Grassi	Audi	1:34.610	—	22
23	37	Nick Cassidy	Virgin-Audi	1:37.838	—	23
24	28	Maximilian Günther	Andretti-BMW	1:41.980	—	24
Source: [20] [21]

Notes:

• ^1  – André Lotterer and Mitch Evans received a 3-place grid penalty each for causing a collision in race one. ^{[22] [23]}

Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	27	Jake Dennis	Andretti-BMW	30	46:32.002	1	25+3+1 1
2	36	André Lotterer	Porsche	30	+1.483	5	18
3	94	Alex Lynn	Mahindra	30	+2.428	2	15+1 2
4	22	Oliver Rowland	e.dams-Nissan	30	+2.870	8	12
5	71	Norman Nato	Venturi-Mercedes	30	+5.811 3	6	10
6	33	René Rast	Audi	30	+8.122	14	8
7	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah-DS	30	+8.782	7	6
8	8	Oliver Turvey	NIO	30	+11.292	4	4
9	48	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi-Mercedes	30	+12.014	15	2
10	11	Lucas di Grassi	Audi	30	+12.405	22	1
11	23	Sébastien Buemi	e.dams-Nissan	30	+13.295	9
12	28	Maximilian Günther	Andretti-BMW	30	+13.594	24
13	37	Nick Cassidy	Virgin-Audi	30	+14.329	23
14	10	Sam Bird	Jaguar	30	+15.151	20
15	20	Mitch Evans	Jaguar	30	+17.213	19
16	17	Nyck de Vries	Mercedes	30	+18.444	18
17	88	Tom Blomqvist	NIO	30	+18.885	3
18	99	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche	30	+19.274	13
19	4	Robin Frijns	Virgin-Audi	30	+19.756	16
20	6	Nico Müller	Dragon-Penske	30	+21.069	21
21	7	Sérgio Sette Câmara	Dragon-Penske	30	+32.079	10
22	13	António Félix da Costa	Techeetah-DS	30	+59.698	12
23	29	Alexander Sims	Mahindra	30	+1:04.277	11
Ret	5	Stoffel Vandoorne	Mercedes	20	Collision damage	17
Source: [24]

Notes:

• ^1  – Pole position; fastest in group stage.
• ^2  – Fastest lap.
• ^3  – Norman Nato received a 5-second time penalty for causing a collision. ^[25]

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings +/– Pos Driver Points 1 Nyck de Vries 57 2 Stoffel Vandoorne 48 3 Sam Bird 43 4 Robin Frijns 43 5 Mitch Evans 39

Teams' Championship standings +/– Pos Constructor Points 1 Mercedes 105 2 Jaguar 82 3 Virgin-Audi 58 4 Techeetah-DS 57 5 Audi 52

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Controversy

The ending of the first race caused controversy after roughly half of the field ran out of power at the end of the 50-mile distance, with five cars being disqualified and two retiring for this reason. ^{[26] [27]} Frédéric Bertrand, circuit championships director of the FIA, said after the race that the finish of the race "demonstrated how difficult it was to win in Formula E", yet conceded that it should "never happen again". ^[28] His comments were blasted by da Costa, one of the drivers disqualified for energy use, who stated that Formula E would become the "joke of the week" following that finish. ^[29] Despite this the FIA stood by its energy management rules and race winner Nyck de Vries said that Formula E is "not necessarily" at fault. ^{[30] [31]}

Notes

1. Lynn received the point for fastest lap as Sims failed to finish in the top 10.

References

1. "De Vries wins amid farcical Valencia Formula E finish". The Race. 24 April 2021.
2. "Dennis pulls off shock Valencia Formula E victory for BMW". The Race. 25 April 2021.
3. Kew, Matt (24 April 2021). "Valencia E-Prix: De Vries wins bonkers race as rivals run out of energy". Autosport . Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
4. "Mercedes-EQ's Nyck de Vries wins crazy DHL Valencia E-Prix Round 5". The Official Home of Formula E (in French). 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
5. "Further disqualifications leave nine classified finishers in Valencia; Vandoorne penalised but keeps podium". Downforce Radio. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
6. Liao, Andrew (9 May 2021). "Race Recap: Valencia ePrix brings first win in 2021 for BMW". BMW BLOG. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
7. "Doc 33 - Qualifying Groups" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
8. "Doc 59 - Final Classification Qualifying-Superpole" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
9. "Doc 60 - Final Starting Grid" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
10. "Doc 105 - Decision No. 35" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
11. "Doc 51 - Provisional Classification Qualifying-Superpole" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
12. "Doc 57 - Decision No. 17" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
13. "Doc 97 - Final Classification Race" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
14. "Doc 70 - Decision No. 22" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
15. "Doc 72 - Decision No. 24" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
16. "Doc 71 - Decision No. 23" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
17. "Doc 94 - Decision No. 32" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
18. "Further disqualifications leave nine classified finishers in Valencia; Vandoorne penalised but keeps podium". Downforce Radio. 24 April 2021.
19. "Doc 100 - Qualifying Groups" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
20. "Doc 107 - Final Classification Qualifying-Superpole" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
21. "Doc 108 - Final Starting Grid" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
22. "Doc 91 - Decision No. 29" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
23. "Doc 87 - Decision No. 27" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
24. "Doc 122 - Final Classification Race" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
25. "Doc 115 - Decision No. 38" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
26. "First Formula E Race On A Traditional Circuit Ends With Half The Grid Entirely Out Of Power". Jalopnik. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
27. "How Valencia E-Prix farce gave Formula E an image problem". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
28. "FIA: Valencia race shows 'how difficult' it is to win in FE". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
29. "Da Costa blasts FIA claims after controversial Valencia FE race". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
30. "De Vries defends Formula E after chaotic Valencia finish". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
31. "Formula E stands by energy management rules after Valencia farce · RaceFans". RaceFans. 25 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.

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