Mexico City Formula E weekend “destroyed” by de Vries

Sam Bird has hit out at fellow Formula E driver Nyck de Vries, claiming the Dutchman “destroyed” his Mexico City weekend and that the FIA needs to take action against his driving.

The McLaren driver was left aggrieved at the end of the qualifying group stages at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit on Saturday as he was baulked on his final run by de Vries through the last corner.

Bird failed to progress to the duel stages after not improving his time on a damp but ever-drying track and the incident was investigated by the stewards, with de Vries slapped with a three-place grid drop.

In the race, the pair found themselves together again on the fringes of the top 10 with de Vries lunging up the inside of Bird into the double-right of Turn 5 in the early running.

Bird then made light contact with the second Mahindra of Edoardo Mortara directly ahead, causing a puncture as Bird was handed a five-second time penalty for the incident.

It prompted the Briton to question the stewards’ decision as well as de Vries’s driving tactics generally, telling Autosport: “I feel like, no offence, but Nyck’s destroyed the weekend whether he meant to or not.

“Our weekend has been very pushed back because of the way that he drives in the race, which is over-defending, it’s too much.

“I would call for the FIA to stamp it out because it’s a win-win for him. They don’t stamp it out and he just stays in front of everybody and that’s why he can continue to get away with it.”

Bird was eventually classified 18th on a difficult weekend for McLaren having entered the event leading the teams’ standings, as Taylor Barnard lost 10th place due to a five-second penalty for “leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage”.

De Vries, meanwhile, was able to record a second points finish on the bounce after taking eighth in Mexico to go with his sixth from the Sao Paulo season-opener.

When asked to comment on Bird’s remarks, de Vries said: “It’s Formula E, everyone always has a lot of emotions after the race but we take our points.”

He also added the qualifying incident had not been intentional and that he had been handed the wrong information from his team.

“You can listen back to the radio,” said de Vries.

“I asked the team what kind of sequence Sam was on and the team was of the belief that he was on the same run sequence so I never thought I would impede him. That’s just unfortunate.”