Looking back at the New York ePrix Race 1: Jean-Éric Vergne victorious in his battle against Sam Bird

Buemi on the front row, difficult session for Bird and Vergne

Before discussing the qualifications, the first practice session was marked by several red flags, the first flag being the result of a traffic jam behind Nick Heidfeld stuck against the wall after a slight contact with Daniel Abt. The second long interruption occurred when José Maria Lopez broke a suspension on a curb. The second session was mainly the scene of a major accident for Oliver Turvey, who hit a barrier with his rear right and was immediately taken to the hospital. This revealed a broken hand, jeopardizing his participation in the rest of the weekend.

Thus, it was on a dusty and slippery track that the qualification for the first race of this ePrix began. The first group, composed of the top five drivers in the championship, started with the best time for Jean-Eric Vergne ahead of Sébastien Buemi. Meanwhile, Sam Bird, who remained the main competitor for the Frenchman in the championship, only managed the fourth fastest time. In the second group, composed of only four drivers due to Oliver Turvey’s withdrawal, it was Daniel Abt and Mitch Evans who stood out with provisional third and fourth times. This already eliminated Sam Bird from the super pole.

In the third group, Jérôme d’Ambrosio snatched fifth place from Sébastien Buemi to provisionally qualify for the second phase of qualifying. And finally, in the last group, Stéphane Sarrazin was involved in a minor accident at the entrance of one of the chicanes on the circuit. None of the drivers in this group managed to break into the top five.

But, more importantly, the race direction announced the cancellation of the laps for the two Techeetah drivers, Jean-Éric Vergne and André Lotterer, for exceeding the energy consumption limit during qualifying. Very bad news for the Frenchman, who dropped in the standings just ahead of his teammate and the absent Oliver Turvey from these qualifiers. A small consolation for the championship leader, his runner-up Sam Bird was only fourteenth on the grid. This turn of events, however, allowed Sébastien Buemi and Nicolas Prost to compete for the pole with the top five drivers.

The top five (Daniel Abt, Mitch Evans, Jérôme d’Ambrosio, Sébastien Buemi, and Nicolas Prost) set off on their second fast lap to determine the starting order of these five competitors. In this little game, it was Sébastien Buemi who was the big winner ahead of Mitch Evans, his teammate Nicolas Prost, Jérôme d’Ambrosio, and Daniel Abt. This gave Renault a final pole position in the discipline, possibly setting up one last front row in the final qualifying session of the season tomorrow.

Here is the complete starting grid for the first race in New York:

And this is how the field will line up for Saturday’s 2018 @qatarairways #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/EJW5j3dvd4

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 14 juillet 2018

Di Grassi leads an Audi one-two, Vergne hits the jackpot

Before the start of the race, the track was still as dusty and slippery as ever, with an air temperature of 32 degrees. As soon as the race began, Mitch Evans stalled on the grid and narrowly avoided being hit by Jérôme d’Ambrosio. Up front, Sébastien Buemi remained in the lead ahead of his teammate Nicolas Prost. The incident between d’Ambrosio and Evans allowed Daniel Abt to take third place.

We go green in New York City for the 2018 Qatar Airways #NYCEPrix! pic.twitter.com/YSGRAd43Nd

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 14 juillet 2018

A few meters later, at the first turn, there was a big contact between Jérôme d’Ambrosio and the rear of his teammate José Maria Lopez’s car. As a result, the Argentine ended up with rear damage while his teammate lost his front wing. After a few hectometers, Nelson Piquet overtook José Maria Lopez, who was in fourth place. At the same time, Daniel Abt gained the advantage over Nicolas Prost for the second position, while Tom Dillmann also overtook José Maria Lopez.

After one lap, Sam Bird had already moved up to eleventh position by overtaking his teammate Alex Lynn, while Jean-Éric Vergne was still last in the race. Later, Tom Dillmann attacked and easily gained the advantage over Nicolas Prost to move up to fourth place. At the same time, José Maria Lopez took the opportunity to pit to repair damage to the rear of his car, while his teammate did the same a few laps later. This allowed Sam Bird to enter the points in ninth place.

The view from the DHL Flycam sees the two @DSVirginRacing cars swap places, elevating @sambirdracing into the points #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/zhT48NG8SA

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 14 juillet 2018

It was also noted that the race cars were kicking up a lot of smoke, which created small patches of fog in several areas of the circuit. Mitch Evans had already retired after his problems at the start. After six laps, Daniel Abt took the lead of the race from Sébastien Buemi without much difficulty. A few seconds behind, Tom Dillmann continued his impressive race on the offensive by climbing onto the podium at the expense of Nelson Piquet.

.@Daniel_Abt overtakes @Sebastien_buemi to take the lead of the race #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/gDRNCaTlCQ

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 14 juillet 2018

After 10 laps of the New York circuit, André Lotterer had already climbed to tenth place while Jean-Éric Vergne managed to move up to fourteenth. The championship leader was also the most energy-efficient in the race, which might suggest a conservative strategy to make his first stint last as long as possible. As Vergne continued to gain positions, his teammate at Techeetah, Lotterer, gained a significant advantage in the championship over the Frenchman’s rival, Sam Bird, by overtaking him to claim ninth position in the race. This allowed Vergne to catch up more easily with the Briton.

Jean-Éric Vergne managed, three laps later, to overtake his rival Sam Bird’s teammate, Alex Lynn, to find himself in eleventh place just behind his main opponent. Further ahead in the race, Di Grassi seized the last spot on the podium at the expense of Dillmann. After overtaking Alex Lynn and following several attempts at intimidation, Vergne gained the upper hand over Bird with a hard braking move. This certainly revived the Frenchman’s title chances.

Lap 17 and @JeanEricVergne overtakes @sambirdracing to move up into tenth #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/DEunKPmQ6Z

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 14 juillet 2018

After 20 laps, Sébastien Buemi lost the advantage of his second position to Lucas Di Grassi, who found himself right behind his teammate. Meanwhile, André Lotterer was now sixth ahead of Heidfeld, who was closely followed by Jean-Éric Vergne, who overtook him immediately. Sam Bird, on his side, was now in tenth place. This twenty-second lap was the moment chosen by all the drivers to stop for their car changes.

During these stops, Rosenqvist broke down in the middle of the pit lane without obstructing his opponents. Meanwhile, Nelson Piquet in the second Jaguar also came to a stop on the track. Upon resuming, Daniel Abt remained in the lead ahead of his teammate Di Grassi and Sébastien Buemi. Tom Dillmann continued to follow, but behind him, due to Nelson Piquet’s breakdown, André Lotterer and Jean-Éric Vergne moved up to fifth and sixth place. Behind them were Nick Heidfeld ahead of Nicholas Prost, Sam Bird, and Maro Engel completing the top 10.

At that moment in the event, Jean-Éric Vergne was in a position to be crowned champion. Two laps later, Di Grassi took the lead from his teammate Daniel Abt in an authoritative manner. The German tried to retaliate afterwards without success and under the anxious watch of Audi team boss Allan McNish. Just before the thirtieth lap, Lotterer logically let Jean-Éric Vergne pass for the sake of the championship, allowing the Frenchman to take fifth place and a 10-second lead over Sam Bird, who remained ninth in the race.

Audi vs Audi for the lead of the race on lap 25 #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/co9M83AfaT

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 14 juillet 2018

With 10 laps to go, Jean-Éric Vergne took a 31-point lead in the championship, ensuring he would be crowned at the end of the race even before tomorrow’s final race. Meanwhile, Alex Lynn suffered a major crash to the rear of his car against a TechPro barrier while his teammate Sam Bird lost ninth position to Maro Engel. This logically triggered the Full Course Yellow procedure, neutralizing the track under a speed limiter. A lap later, the safety car came out to slow down the pack.

A massive crash for @alexlynnracing, heading onto the main straight. Qualcomm Safety Car deployed #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/jawQYlx9ei

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 14 juillet 2018

After a long intervention to clear the debris left on the track by Lynn’s DS Virgin, the race was resumed with three minutes plus one lap on the clock. Sam Bird was obliged to overtake at least two cars to delay Jean-Éric Vergne’s championship win. The two drivers in front of him, Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Prost, were in a battle. While this long neutralization allowed the drivers to use the available surplus of energy without limits, Sam Bird gained the advantage over Nicolas Prost, which was still insufficient to prevent Jean-Éric Vergne from clinching the championship title.

Emotional moment as @JeanEricVergne dedicates his championship win to his old friend, @Jules_Bianchi #JB17 pic.twitter.com/zQg00cHgzW

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 14 juillet 2018

This race ended with the second Audi double of the season, with Lucas Di Grassi as the winner ahead of Daniel Abt. Buemi, for his part, maintained third position. With this fifth place, while his rival Sam Bird was only ninth, Jean-Éric Vergne was officially declared the champion of the 2017-2018 Formula E season. It had started badly with a start from the last position for the two black and gold cars. The Frenchman expressed his joy on the radio while cheering on the French football team before their World Cup final on Sunday. He also dedicated his title to Jules Bianchi, who passed away following a severe accident in Suzuka in 2014.

As Lotterer lost a position towards the end of the race to Nick Heidfeld, here is the full classification of this penultimate race of the season:

#ABBFormulaE Results Race 1 with a @audiformulae 1-2. Victory for @Msportextra follower @LucasdiGrassi:P, P2 for @Daniel_Abt and P3 for @Sebastien_buemi . @JeanEricVergne 2017/2018 WORLDCHAMPION !! #NYCEprix @FIAFormulaE @eracing_net #MsportXtra pic.twitter.com/bpd08JsgGQ

— #MsportXtra (@MsportExtra) 14 juillet 2018

To discover the final standings of this fourth season, stay tuned for a second race this Sunday that Jean-Éric Vergne will be able to fully enjoy. Who knows, maybe France will have a second title to celebrate by then.