The start of the incident was initiated by the Jaguar of Sam Bird, who lost control of the rear of his car out of the rapid Turn 6. In doing so, he placed himself in a vulnerable position and in the middle of the track. From there, Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi made contact with the back of Bird’s car, which launched Buemi up and into the wall at an angle before he landed back down.
In the chaos, several cars were able to pass, however there was no room for escape for the Mahindra Racing of Lucas di Grassi, TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa and ABT CUPRA’s Robin Frijns who all clipped their cars on that of Buemi or Bird. Seconds later, the Maserati MSG Racing of Edoardo Mortara hit into the side of Bird and understandably the race was immediately red flagged.
During the 45 minute red flag period, individuals like the excellent motorsport marshals, medical teams and more got the circuit and cars in a condition that would allow the race to resume. Meanwhile the 13 drivers that were able to continue, kept their cool in the scorching Italian heat before taking to the restart and finishing the full race distance.
“I am very happy all the drivers are safe,” Season 3 champion Lucas di Grassi stated about the accident that ended his race. “I had zero problem physically and the car had minor damage compared to what could have been, so in one way we have been lucky today that nothing more serious happened.
“Thanks to the FIA and Formula E Safety requirements, also, not only for the car but also for the track - although that corner is probably the most dangerous on this track. It's a very fast, blind corner and we are racing and there is no space to run off. In a straight you can see more, in a corner like this, it is very hard to evaluate if the track is fully blocked or not. In the end, the safety of the drivers was due to the car being very strong and the track being well built.”
