© Fayez NureldineWalk this way: Fans stroll in the pit area of the Diriyah E-Prix in the Saudi capital Riyadh
Dutchman Nyck de Vries stormed to a lights-to-flag victory in the season-opening race of the Formula E championship on Friday, piloting his all-electric car under the stars in oil-rich Saudi Arabia.
De Vries, in a Mercedes, finished ahead of Switzerland's Edoardo Mortara of Venturi and New Zealand's Mitch Evans in a Jaguar in the floodlit Diriyah E-Prix.
Mercedes, multiple champions in Formula One, are in their second season in the Formula E series.
They finished the 2020 campaign with a victory helping them to third place in the constructors championship and second in the drivers category with Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne.
De Vries, 26, was Formula Two world champion in 2019 and made the podium in Formula E last season with a second place run in Berlin in June.
He was reluctant, however, to predict an era of Mercedes Formula E dominance to rival the company's stranglehold on F1.
"There is too much going on in Formula E," said De Vries, who led from start to finish after also dominating both free practice sessions.
"Today, everything went well. It's encouraging but we must remain humble. Tomorrow is another day."
A second race will be held at the same circuit on Saturday.
Results:
1. Nyck de Vries (NED/Mercedes) 32 laps, 2. Edoardo Mortara (SUI/Venturi) at 4.119, 3. Mitch Evans (NZL/Jaguar) 4.619, 4. Rene Rast (GER/Audi) 4.852, 5. Pascal Wehrlein (GER/Porsche) 7.962
Drivers championship
1. Nyck de Vries (NED/Mercedes) 29 pts, 2. Edoardo Mortara (SUI/Venturi) 18, 3. Mitch Evans (NZL/Jaguar) 15, 4. Rene Rast (GER/Audi-Abt-Schaeffler) 13, 5. Pascal Wehrlein (GER/Porsche) 10
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