Nyck de Vries insists he was not to blame for a multi-car collision in Sunday’s Berlin E-Prix after Nick Cassidy labelled him an “idiot” over team radio.
In an intense pack-style Formula E race at Berlin, Cassidy and de Vries were fighting for third place when they came to blows at Turn 6, forcing both of them immediately outside the top 10. The incident also involved Sebastien Buemi and Edoardo Mortara, with all four cars converging at the tight hairpin.
Citroen driver Cassidy was fuming in the immediate aftermath, telling his team on the radio: “This De Vries is such an idiot, man. Why does he drive like this? We’re four-wide under braking and he moves. It’s funny he gives me shit about Imola [where Cassidy made a mistake on cold tyres] and says he never makes a mistake in WEC.”
De Vries, however, disputed that version of the events, pointing to how Buemi triggered a chain reaction that ended with him pushing Cassidy wide.
Showing an onboard video of the clash to Motorsport.com, the Mahindra driver said: “The incident wasn’t really between us, it was on the inside. Seb Buemi came in hot, and he hit Edo, and Edo hit me, and I hit Cassidy.
“I’m here on the outside, Seb is here, and Seb just… So, I don’t really understand why…
“The contact is between Seb and Edo, and then myself and Cassidy. We were just four wide, we were just… It’s wide enough, but I guess I was just in this sandwich.”
Replays showed Cassidy and de Vries banging wheels while braking, before a separate clash between Buemi and Mortara at the apex sent Mortara into the path of his team-mate de Vries, who then pushed Cassidy wide.
The incident forced de Vries to retire with suspension damage, dealing another blow to him in what has been a challenging season so far.
De Vries has also come under fire for his driving standards this year, most notably after running team-mate Mortara wide at the start of the Sao Paulo season opener. However, he hasn’t always been at fault, and was unlucky to pick up a 60-place grid penalty in Jeddah after Mahindra replaced several parts on his car.
Buemi suggested he was hit from behind before he made contact with Mortara, which ultimately triggered the sequence of events.
“I had the feeling I was on the inside but I feel like I got touched and then I touched the other guys. I need to see better,” he told Motorsport.com.
Pressed further if another driver hit him first, he said: “I have the feeling, yeah. But I don’t know who hit what first. When you drive four wide at some point, it’s bad.”
Cassidy initially emerged unscathed from the four-way incident, albeit with his race severely compromised, before another clash with Buemi later in the race left him with a damaged front wing.
The Kiwi could not appear for his post-race media commitments after being selected for routine anti-doping tests.
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