It was the Indian national anthem playing at the Formula E podium once again as Mahindra Racing’s Alex Lynn grabbed his maiden victory at his home soil in London. There were wild celebrations down in the Mahindra Racing garage after Lymm steered to an emotional maiden Formula E victory in the Heineken London E-Prix Round 13, with Mercedes-EQ’s Nyck de Vries and Mitch Evans (Jaguar Racing) rounding out the podium.
The decisive moment of the race took place on Lap 13. Down at the double hairpin, Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.dams) made a move for the lead with a surprise lunge on Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ) – who had led away from Julius Baer Pole Position.
The final 60 seconds of *THAT* race ????⚡️@alexlynnracing crossing the line to win at his home race, and pick up his first-ever Formula E victory ????
???????? 2021 @Heineken #LondonEPrix | @MahindraRacing pic.twitter.com/58OpNJFVwi
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) July 25, 2021
A bump in the braking zone left the Nissan driver a passenger as he speared into the side of the Belgian’s Mercedes. The pair were left all tangled up, allowing de Vries to pick up the pieces and pinch second – and then first when Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler) leaped for ATTACK MODE.
Heading into the final quarter-hour, di Grassi had made the most of that 35kW boost to slice by de Vries into Turn 1. On the next tour, Lynn followed with what would ultimately be the race-winning move – the Mahindra driver also in ATTACK MODE. De Vries’ early dart for his second activation had not paid dividends, and he’d have to settle for the second spot, while Evans picked his way through from fifth on the grid to an eventual third at the chequered flag.
Di Grassi had led on track for more than half of the race and crossed the line first. The Brazilian was ultimately shown the black flag for failing to serve a drive-through penalty – deemed to have illegally taken the race lead by audaciously driving through the pit lane, and crucially failing to come to a stop in his pit-box, under Safety Car conditions on Lap 12.
That result leaves de Vries atop the Drivers’ World Championship heading into the final race weekend of Season 7 in Berlin in three weeks’ time, while Robin Frijns’ points haul with fourth – up from eighth on the grid – proved vital and sees him second in the table, just six points shy of the Dutchman. Sam Bird (Jaguar Racing) holds third in the standings.
Envision Virgin Racing still heads the way in the Teams’ running by seven points from Mercedes-EQ, with Jaguar Racing third.
