Mercedes EQ and Rokit Venturi Racing have been barred from taking part in Saturday’s qualifying session for the second Diriyah EPrix following a high-speed crash for Edoardo Mortara.
Mortara suffered a heavy impact during third practice on Saturday morning. The Venturi racer carried out a practice start but failed to slow down for Turn 1 before impacting the barriers at high speed (see video below).
The incident appeared similar to a sticky throttle, though Mercedes, which provides the powertrain for Venturi, confirmed it was a braking issue.
The FIA and Formula E therefore took the decision to bar all Mercedes-powered cars from taking part any further until a thorough investigation has been completed.
There was insufficient time between practice and qualifying to complete that investigation and therefore the four cars are barred from taking part.
Mercedes EQ team boss Ian James believed it was the right decision by the FIA and is hopeful they can take part in the race.
“We had an unfortunate incident with Edoardo,” he said. “After anything like that you have to check everything as the cars are effectively identical.
“Clearly it’s the right decision from the FIA. The engineers are working hard to get all the relevant info together to ensure we can get back out on track.”
Mortara was conscious and talking after the crash but was taken to hospital for a check up.
