Formula E drivers are not expected to be professionally compromised by the ongoing conflict in the Gulf area after three of them were initially uncertain if they could travel out of the area earlier this week.
Formula E Notebook has learned that Nyck de Vries and Oliver Rowland have been able to travel from the area in recent days to attend the Australian Grand Prix.
Mahindra’s de Vries is at Albert Park working for McLaren as an official reserve driver, while Rowland is supporting longtime protégé Arvid Lindblad, who he manages, as the British driver gets set for his Grand Prix debut at the Racing Bull team alongside Liam Lawson.
Initially there were concerns that 2021 Formula E champion de Vries may be stuck in Bahrain where he was due to conduct a wet weather test in a McLaren at a Pirelli organised test last week. That test had to be cancelled after Iranian missiles hit areas of Bahrain in retaliatory attacks aimed at U.S bases on the island.
But Pirelli and other staff were able to get on a chartered flight to Melbourne on Wednesday after being held in Bahrain for a number of days since the conflict began last Saturday.
Reigning champion Rowland is known to have left Dubai on Thursday to be with Lindblad in Melbourne. Earlier in the week Rowland posted on social media that he and his family headed out of Dubai to the desert for a mini-break ahead of them all leaving for Australia. FEN has learned that Rowland will head straight to Paris for simulator work ahead of Madrid
Also, a resident of Dubai, Jean-Eric Vergne is understood to have not been compromised by the initial travel restrictions in the area and is expected in Paris next week to undergo simulator testing ahead of the Madrid EPrix later this month.
Vergne moved to Dubai in 2023, splitting time between a new family home there and previous bases in Paris and London.
If regular race drivers from Nissan, Mahindra and Citroen were to be compromised on travel, stand-ins are easily available. Sam Bird is an official reserve for Viry-Chatilon based Nissan, while Mahindra has options of both Kush Maini and Jake Hughes. Citroen would be able to call upon Theo Pourchaire, who is part of the Stellantis squad and who will drive in his third consecutive Rookie Test on Sunday, March 22.
