‘I thought that was the end’ - Mortara reacts to Formula E crash, misses race

Venturi Formula E driver Edoardo Mortara described his heavy crash in practice for the second night race at the Diriyah E-Prix as the “scariest moment ever”.

The Swiss driver suffered a huge accident after completing a practice start at the end of free practice on Saturday, with his Venturi spearing straight on into the Turn 18 TecPro barriers at high speed after failing to stop.

Following an FIA investigation into the cause of the accident - which resulted in all four Mercedes-powered cars withdrawn from qualifying - it was determined that a rear-braking failsafe system failure had caused Mortara to crash.

Mortara was taken to hospital for precautionary tests but was declared fit to race, however, his Venturi team has been unable to fix his car in time to contest the race.

In a tweet from Venturi’s account, Mortara said: “Just a quick message to tell everyone that I’m safe and fine. I had the scariest moment ever, I’m grateful and thankful for all the support I received.”

Speaking on the grid after returning to the Formula E paddock in Saudi Arabia, Mortara described the scary-looking accident and revealed he has some “big pain” but is otherwise fine.

"I feel quite OK,” he added. “But I would lie if I tell you I am perfectly fine. I have some big pain from the crash this morning. It was not a great feeling.

“I feel like a passenger there. There was nothing I could do - just went into the wall.

“I thought pretty much that was the end. It was a feeling I would like to forget.”