Third victory in the season for Vergne with DS Techeetah in the Formula E Swiss E-Prix

Formula E Swiss E-Prix

After close fighting against Mitch Evans and with last laps under the rain, Jean-Eric Vergne clings on to victory with valiant drive in the Formula E Swiss E-Prix.

Formula E Swiss E-PrixWith this victory, reigning champion races away at the top of the standings and extends lead to 32-points over Lucas di Grassi.

At the same time, DS Techeetah driver delivers in Bern to become first winner of the voestalpine European races

The DS Techeetah driver led from lights-to-flag, picking-up three points for Julius Baer pole position in the process and pulling away from his nearest rivals in the championship chase – building a buffer before heading to the season finale in New York.

Formula E Swiss E-PrixHowever, it wasn’t a walk in the park for Vergne, who was hurried and hassled by Evans all the way to the chequered flag. The Panasonic Jaguar Racing driver put pressure on Vergne, looming large in his mirrors, but was unable to pass with the Frenchman making his car as wide as possible.

Despite trying to take the initiative and activating ATTACK MODE earlier than expected, Vergne mirrored every move Evans made and hung on to victory with an Formula E Swiss E-Prixassured and astute drive. Not even a light sprinkling of rain in the latter stages could dampen Vergne’s mood.

Sebastien Buemi brought his Nissan e.dams car home in third to round-out the podium places and receive the adulation of the adoring Swiss fans. Buemi beat Andre Lotterer at the line, but Lotterer later dropped down the order after being handed a post-race time penalty for ignoring the pit exit light.

Formula E Swiss E-PrixWith Lotterer’s penalty applied, Sam Bird was promoted to fourth – making the most of his good fortune after suffering a puncture in the skirmishes at the start, that eventually led to the race coming to a stop.

The race was temporarily suspended following a coming together at the first corner, with Pascal Wehrlein and Maximilian Gunther blocking the path for the rest of the pack – allowing Bird to return to the pits and change tyre.

Although he got caught-up in the first-corner collision, Gunther gathered his composure and carried his car to a career-best fifth position. Daniel Abt was a place further back in sixth, ahead of Alex Lynn in seventh and Felipe Massa in eighth.

Lucas di Grassi leapt up the field to ninth after a lacklustre qualifying left him in a lowly grid slot. The final points-paying position was filled by Formula E Swiss E-PrixStoffel Vandoorne, who also vaulted up the order from 15th to 10th.

With the title up for grabs and eight drivers still mathematically in contention, the ABB FIA Formula E Championship crosses the pond for the season finale showdown – set against the backdrop of the stunning New York City skyline on July 13 & 14. Can anyone catch Vergne?

Jean Eric Vergne, DS Techeetah

I arrived here like a zombie after Le Mans but nevertheless, I think the team helped me massively to do a good job. They gave me a fantastic car, especially in qualifying. At the end of the race I was definitely slower than Mitch – he was really on it! I wasn’t that fast, but I wasn’t taking any massive risks either, particularly in the last laps when the rain came. I couldn’t believe it… my engineers were telling me rain was coming and I could see the drops on my visor. Nothing is comfortable in Formula E and everything can change so quickly. It’s a good lead – it’s a bigger lead than the one I had last year – but I’m not thinking about it too much. I’ll arrive in New York with the same wish to win the race and do the job. Simple as that.

Mitch Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing         

It was actually harder than I expected. I was hoping it was going to be a bit of a slam dunk when I was on ATTACK MODE, but it didn’t really materialise. I was so close and I got a good overlap but it would’ve been quite risky to hang around the outside at Turn 3, or other places and he was defending well. JEV is a truly good defender and it would’ve meant taking a big risk to try and get by. I felt extremely fast today and I want to thank everyone in the team for handing me a great car and it feels great to be on the podium. But ultimately, I felt like I had the pace to win.

Sébastien Buemi, Nissan e.dams       

I think it was an amazing day for me, even if it’s only third place. It feels like a win – it was amazing to have my family here. I was told we had three per cent more energy but there isn’t much you can do here, it’s very difficult to overtake so you can’t take lots of risks and cause a crash. I decided to secure third place today and qualifying was the determining factor. In Berlin it was really easy to overtake. There it would have been a completely different outcome. However, here it is what it is, and we need to live with it. In New York it’s usually simpler to overtake… so it should make for a good final couple of races.

RACE RESULTS

1

Jean-Eric Vergne

DS TECHEETAH

1:25:26.873s

(28)

2

Mitch Evans

Panasonic Jaguar Racing

+0.160s

(18)

3

Sebastien Buemi

Nissan e.dams

+0.720s

(15)

4

Sam Bird

Envision Virgin Racing

+2.996s

(13)

5

Maximilian Gunther

GEOX DRAGON

+4.625s

(10)

6

Daniel Abt

Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler

+6.930s

(8)

7

Alex Lynn

Panasonic Jaguar Racing

+9.972s

(6)

8

Felipe Massa

VENTURI Formula E Team

+12.310s

(4)

9

Lucas di Grassi

Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler

+13.073s

(2)

10

Stoffel Vandoorne

HWA RACELAB

+13.386s

(1)

11

Alexander Sims

BMW i Andretti Motorsport

+14.714s

 

12

Antonio Felix da Costa

BMW i Andretti Motorsport

+18.917s

 

13

Jerome D’Ambrosio

MAHINDRA RACING

+21.872s

 

14

Andre Lotterer

DS TECHEETAH

+23.106s

 

15

Tom Dillmann

NIO Formula E Team

+40.084s

 

16

Oliver Turvey

NIO Formula E Team

+46.622s

 

17

Gary Paffett

HWA RACELAB

+1:22.512s

 

 

 

 

 

 

DNF

Oliver Rowland

Nissan e.dams

21 Laps

 

DNF

Pascal Wehrlein

MAHINDRA RACING

11 Laps

 

DNF

Edoardo Mortara

VENTURI Formula E Team

5 Laps

 

DNF

Robin Frijns

Envision Virgin Racing

 

 

DSQ

Jose Maria Lopez

GEOX DRAGON

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018/19 ABB FIA FORMULA E CHAMPIONSHIP

DRIVER STANDINGS

Jean-Eric Vergne

DS TECHEETAH

130

Lucas di Grassi

Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler

98

Mitch Evans

Panasonic Jaguar Racing

87

Andre Lotterer

DS TECHEETAH

86

Antonio Felix da Costa

BMW i Andretti Motorsport

82

Robin Frijns

Envision Virgin Racing

81

Sebastien Buemi

Nissan e.dams

76

Daniel Abt

Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler

75

Sam Bird

Envision Virgin Racing

69

Jerome D’Ambrosio

MAHINDRA RACING

65

Oliver Rowland

Nissan e.dams

63

Edoardo Mortara

VENTURI Formula E Team

52

Pascal Wehrlein

MAHINDRA RACING

52

Felipe Massa

VENTURI Formula E Team

36

Stoffel Vandoorne

HWA RACELAB

31

Alexander Sims

BMW i Andretti Motorsport

24

Maximilian Gunther

GEOX DRAGON

20

Alex Lynn

Panasonic Jaguar Racing

10

Gary Paffett

HWA RACELAB

8

Oliver Turvey

NIO Formula E Team

6

Jose Maria Lopez

GEOX DRAGON

3

Nelson Piquet Jr.

Panasonic Jaguar Racing

1

Tom Dillmann

NIO Formula E Team

0

Felipe Nasr

GEOX DRAGON

0

Felix Rosenqvist

MAHINDRA RACING

0

 

 

 

 

2018/19 ABB FIA FORMULA E CHAMPIONSHIP

TEAM STANDINGS

DS TECHEETAH

216

Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler

173

Envision Virgin Racing

150

Nissan e.dams

139

MAHINDRA RACING

117

BMW i Andretti Motorsport

106

Panasonic Jaguar Racing

98

VENTURI Formula E Team

88

HWA RACELAB

39

GEOX DRAGON

23

NIO Formula E Team

6

 

Source: Formula E

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.