De Vries leads Mercedes 1-2 in first Diriyah E-Prix

Nyck de Vries picked up where he left off last season, the reigning Formula E champion leading a Mercedes 1-2 in the opening round in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

De Vries took advantage of a mid-race mistake by teammate Stoffel Vandoorne to leapfrog the Belgian and hold the lead until the chequered flag, with Andretti's Jake Dennis finishing third.

Starting from pole, Vandoorne held his own at the front of the pack thanks to a clean start while de Vries gained the upper hand over Dennis to slot into second.

Behind the leading trio, drivers jockeyed for position with Porsche's André Lotterer running fourth ahead of Jaguar's Sam Bird and Venturi's Lucas di Grassi.

Six laps into the race, de Vries and Dennis went for their first Attack Mode, the pair followed by Vandoorne one lap later.

But on lap 9, a contact between Oliver Rowland and Robin Frijns at the final corner resulted in the Briton smashing backwards into the barriers. The Briton emerged unscathed, but the clash triggered a multi-lap safety car period as track crews cleaned up the area.

Shortly after the SC had peeled off, Vandoorne inadvertently opened the door to de Vries after the Mercedes charger missed the Attack Mode activation point, while the Dutchman had successfully charged up.

But the Mercedes drivers were given an extra boost as they entered the second half of the race, courtesy of Formula E's fans.

Gradually, de Vries extended and then stabilized his lead from Vandoorne while Lotterer lost ground with Dennis snapping at his heels.

The duo diced and locked wheels but Dennis had the last word and isolated himself in third place despite reporting a puncture.

In accordance with FE's new sporting rules, a little over five minutes were added to the race's total time to compensate for the safety car neutralization.

The extra running only compounded Lotterer's issues as the Porsche driver fell further down the order while Bird battled a train of cars to hold on to fourth.

Up ahead, de Vries and Vandoorne concluded Mercedes' clean sweep, while Dennis kept a firm grip on third to seize the final spot on the podium.

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