Saudia Diriyah E-Prix 2019 – Race #1

• Sam Bird battles up the order from fifth on the grid for Envision Virgin Racing to seal victory in season opening SAUDIA Diriyah E-Prix
• TAG Heuer Porsche picks up podium finish on first-ever outing in ABB FIA Formula E Championship with second place for Andre Lotterer
• Stoffel Vandoorne rounds out podium positions in third with strong performance for Mercedes-Benz EQ in debut race for German manufacturer

ENVISION VIRGIN RACING: SAM BIRD

“I felt confident going into the race. Envision Virgin Racing gave me an amazing car. I think some of it is down to the new beard! Last year was difficult and I went through a sort of transformation involving plenty of thinking and mental stuff. It’s very special to win today. There are 23 other amazing drivers out there, so to come out on top means a lot. It’s a great start to the year, but the hard work doesn’t stop. We have another race tomorrow. There’s potential in the car so we need to maximise what we can.”

TAG HEUER PORSCHE: ANDRE LOTTERER

“Tomorrow we have another race and it’ll be much harder. Either way we take today as it was, which is an amazing debut for the Porsche team. We all worked very hard, we came here, and we did our best. Second place is a great way to start and boost the confidence of the team… it was awesome. I thought about having a crack at Sam to give him payback for Hong Kong last season! We weren’t sure on how much energy we had left, so I decided to bring it home safely. I’m sure our time will come soon with a win!”

MERCEDES-BENZ EQ: STOFFEL VANDOORNE

“A great start for everyone at Mercedes-Benz EQ today. It’s not easy for a new manufacturer to come into this championship and do so well in the first race. We had to put a lot of work into making sure our package was ready for this race and I wouldn’t say everything ran perfectly, but it was a very pleasing result and I think that everyone can be extremely proud. We have some more work to do. But I’m happy with the podium.”