Unsighted, ex-Formula 1 driver Sebastien Buemi clipped the rear of Bird's car and several more piled in, including Antonio Felix Da Costa.<\/p>\n
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The red flag was brought out almost immediately but not before Edoardo Mortara slammed into the side of Bird.<\/p>\n
Other cars took evasive action and narrowly made it through the mess but some weren't so lucky.<\/p>\n
AS IT HAPPENED:<\/strong> Pumas stun Wallabies in thriller, All Blacks outclass Springboks<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Origin feud erupts between Fittler, ex-Blues teammate\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Frustrated' Roosters coach's grim Walker admission<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Lucas di Grassi and Robin Frijns were also caught up in the melee.<\/p>\n "For f— sake! When is this luck going to f——? For f— sake! What the f— is that?" said Buemi on his radio to his team.<\/p>\n "Guys, I'm so sorry but I couldn't do anything."<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/FIAFormulaE\/status\/1680276289977204737<\/a><\/p>\n Buemi was among those to criticise the circuit, calling for changes.<\/p>\n "It was just a matter of time in my opinion, and I raised the point already last year," said Buemi, who added there was no radio message or yellow flags warning him of the crash.<\/p>\n "A small driver error on the top there like Sam did, if you're at the wrong place at the wrong time you have no chance.<\/p>\n "Those cars are really powerful now and not much grip and when something like that happens it's difficult to avoid."<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/FIAFormulaE\/status\/1680211932572266497<\/a><\/p>\n Di Grassi, another ex-Formula 1 driver, was similarly critical in his assessment.<\/p>\n "Thanks to the FIA and Formula E safety requirements, also, not only for the car but also for the track – although that corner is probably the most dangerous on this track," said di Grassi.<\/p>\n "It's a very fast, blind corner and we are racing and there is no space to run off. In a straight you can see more, in a corner like this, it is very hard to evaluate if the track is fully blocked or not."<\/p>\n Bird, who started the chain reaction crash, explained, "There's a lot of bumps to this corner and too many drains that are raised up.<\/p>\n "I hit a drain that was raised up at the wrong angle and it sent me into the wall. Scary crash. I'm glad everyone involved was OK.<\/p>\n "They need to adjust the drains and address the smoothness of that section, it's too quick to have drains and bumps like that, which can send you into a wall at a moment's notice. For me it's too much.<\/p>\n "You can get round there, and most people get round there, but it just takes one tiny little error \u2013 it's not even really an error.<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/FIAFormulaE\/status\/1680260942406332416<\/a><\/p>\n "I don't think they can change it ahead of tomorrow, but certainly for next year they need to think hard about completely redoing that area, really laying a nice smooth surface up the hill because it's too hit and miss right now."<\/p>\n Racing eventually resumed with the win going the way of New Zealand's Mitch Evans who lead countryman Nick Cassidy.<\/p>\n With second place, Cassidy moved into the lead of the series points ahead of Jake Dennis from the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n The FIA Formula E World Championship continues with the second Rome E-Prix on Stan Sport from 10:30pm on Sunday.<\/p>\n \ufeff<\/em>For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"The](\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0cad6c3f-6dc2-48ae-8355-f0509e461414-scaled.jpg\")
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