Review of the New York ePrix Race 2: Vergne and Renault Conclude in Style

Buemi devours New York with gusto for the second time this weekend

The only free practice session scheduled for this Sunday before qualifying took place in rainy weather. This could have indicated the first Formula E race in history to be held in the rain. During this preparation, Sam Bird damaged his rear suspension after contact with the wall. Meanwhile, his teammate Alex Lynn received a 10-place penalty for changing the gearbox, due to his accident the day before during the first race.

The NIO team announced the withdrawal of Oliver Turvey (due to his broken hand in free practice the day before) for the rest of this round, and his replacement by Ma Qing Hua for the day. This session was also marred by various incidents and loss of control by several drivers in precarious grip conditions.

The qualifying session started under damp conditions, as the rain had stopped falling. With changing conditions improving, it seems it will be difficult for the first groups to achieve the best times. Indeed, in the first group, it was Stéphane Sarrazin in his Andretti who set the fastest time ahead of Tom Dillmann.

Next up, the second group composed of the top five drivers in the standings. As expected, on a drying track, all the drivers in the group were faster than the previous one. Lucas Di Grassi was the fastest, ahead of Sébastien Buemi, Daniel Abt, Jean-Éric Vergne, and Sam Bird.

The third group then set off, in this one, only André Lotterer managed to enter the top five, simultaneously eliminating Sam Bird. Finally, the ultimate group completed this first phase of qualifying with sixth and seventh fastest times from Mitch Evans and Nelson Piquet, which were not enough to reach the super pole.

The five drivers from group two, except for Sam Bird, were therefore going to compete for the pole position, deciding among themselves with an additional fast lap. Once each had completed their laps, Sébastien Buemi secured Renault’s last pole position in Formula E ahead of the two Techeetah drivers Vergne and Lotterer, and the two Audi drivers Abt and Di Grassi.

Here is the starting grid for this last race of the season, as well as the last race for this first generation of Formula E:

#ABBFormulaE Results SuperPole (+ provisional grid) and it is Buemi who is fastest and on pole for the final @FIAFormulaE race for the 2017/2018 season at the #NYCEPrix ! DiGrassi touched the wall and couldn’t set a time. @eracing_net #MsportXtra pic.twitter.com/iHyIgQEj68

— #MsportXtra (@MsportExtra) 15 juillet 2018

Last Triumph for Vergne, Audi at the Zenith

Finally, we would not be witnessing a first race since the beginning of the championship under the rain. Indeed, the weather was still cloudy, but the track had dried, and the rain had stopped falling. At the lights out, Jean-Éric Vergne got the better of his teammate André Lotterer before attempting to take the inside on Sébastien Buemi and deciding for the outside. Successfully, as in the first corner, the 2017-2018 champion took the lead of the race ahead of the Swiss driver.

For the final time in season four, we go green in New York City! #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/cQveQwfdL1

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 15 juillet 2018

Behind, Nelson Piquet managed to pass Daniel Abt in the first few meters of the race. The other Jaguar single-seater driven by Mitch Evans fell back behind Felix Rosenqvist. Just before the end of the first lap, Lotterer attempted to take second place from Buemi without success due to a major wheel lock-up.

On the third lap, the race management opened an investigation into André Lotterer’s start, suspected of a false start. Shortly after, a second investigation concerning Jean-Éric Vergne for the same reason was simultaneously opened. Three laps later, Lotterer, still under investigation, overtook Buemi to temporarily secure a Techeetah one-two. A few hundred meters further, the coverage focused on José Maria Lopez’s crashed car. The Dragon driver suffered a rear suspension failure after passing over a curb.

This immobilization on the track led to a neutralization of the event. Clearly, the weekend was not smiling on Dragon as this time D’Ambrosio’s car came to a halt on the track. The Belgian was the collateral victim of a collision between the cars of Antonio Félix Da Costa and Luca Filippi.

.@afelixdacosta and @LucaFilippiLF tangle and Luca collects @thereal_JDA, bringing an end to the race for @DragonRacing #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/EKjOQPgdp6

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 15 juillet 2018

Almost ten laps from the start, Lotterer was penalized with a 10-second mandatory stop for taking off before the lights went out. Vergne, on the other hand, was not penalized as he was deemed innocent of jumping the start. The race finally resumed its course on the eleventh lap, which gave Sébastien Buemi the second position as Lotterer went to the pits to serve his penalty. His joy was short-lived as Lucas Di Grassi overtook the Season 2 champion a lap later. His teammate Abt did the same to Piquet.

On the eighteenth lap, Da Costa received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty and three points on his license for the incident with Filippi. By mid-race, Audi was now leading Techeetah for the constructors’ title. Daniel Abt claimed the last spot on the podium from Renault driver Buemi. One lap later, Mitch Evans overtook his teammate Piquet for fifth place in this last race of the season. The Brazilian lost another position to Felix Rosenqvist a few hundred meters further on.

The first drivers stopped on the twenty-third lap to make the last car change in the history of the discipline. The drivers involved were Daniel Abt, Mitch Evans, Felix Rosenqvist, Nick Heidfeld, and Sam Bird. After an additional lap, the leaders Vergne and Di Grassi also appeared at the pits accompanied by Buemi, Piquet, Sarrazin, Prost, Lotterer, and Ma.

Once all the stops were made, the top 10 still consisted of Jean-Éric Vergne, Lucas Di Grassi, Daniel Abt, Sébastien Buemi, Felix Rosenqvist, Mitch Evans, Nick Heidfeld, Nelson Piquet, Sam Bird, Stéphane Sarrazin. Buemi gained an advantage over Abt two laps later by using his extra power provided by his Fan Boost to pass the German.

.@Sebastien_buemi uses his #FANBOOST on @Daniel_Abt for third and makes it stick! #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/4nmnxH9Fsc

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 15 juillet 2018

Once the final 15 laps had passed, Daniel Abt reclaimed his spot on the third step of the podium after a small mistake by Sébastien Buemi. With only 10 laps remaining, Di Grassi put significant pressure on Vergne. Behind them, Heidfeld overtook Piquet. Four laps before the end of the season, Lucas Di Grassi was very close to Jean-Éric Vergne, even slightly touching him at the rear. Lotterer, on his part, regained the last point-scoring position from Sarrazin and then moved up to ninth at the expense of Sam Bird.

Despite a small problem at the end of the race, Luca Di Grassi maintained his second position behind Jean-Éric Vergne. But more importantly, the second and third place of the Audi drivers allowed the brand with the rings to seize the first place in the constructor’s standings, ahead of Techeetah by two points. Jean-Éric Vergne also claimed his fourth victory of the season to best crown his title.

Here is the final ranking of this last race of season four:

#ABBFormulaE WOW, WOW, WOW. What a race. The final race of the season is won by @JeanEricVergne but @MsportExtra followers @audiformulae become the 2017/2018 WCC !! Congratz from #MsportXtra HQ. ( @FIAFormulaE @eracing_net ) #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/UVTjwSq7jd

— #MsportXtra (@MsportExtra) 15 juillet 2018

Here is the final driver standings for this season:

It is on this Audi constructor’s title that the team rankings conclude:

This concludes the 2017-2018 Formula E season as well as the activity cycle of its first-generation single-seaters. Stay connected to MotorsInside for more information on the off-season of the discipline, before the racing debut of these new Formula E cars on December 15th in Riyadh.