Looking back at the Paris ePrix: Jean-Éric Vergne triumphs at home!

The free practice sessions of this Paris ePrix were marked by three major events. The first involved Nelson Piquet who violently hit the wall during the first session. The second involved Felix Rosenqvist, who suffered a severe slap of oversteer, sending him straight into the opposite wall. And finally, the third incident again involved Nelson Piquet, who this time damaged the front-left of his car, promising a lot of repair work for the Jaguar mechanics.

Jean-Éric Vergne the fastest in Paris traffic from the qualifications

It was under a rather grey sky that this qualifying session began around Les Invalides, with a draw granting the championship leaders the honor of starting first. A real disadvantage on a track with precarious grip, due to differences in the surface.

The top five drivers in the standings, namely Jean-Éric Vergne, Sam Bird, Felix Rosenqvist, Sébastien Buemi, and Daniel Abt, took the stage to kick off the event. In this “group of death,” Jean-Éric Vergne grabbed the provisional best time, ahead of Sam Bird by two-tenths, and Sébastien Buemi by three-tenths.

The second group included Nelson Piquet, Mitch Evans, Lucas Di Grassi, André Lotterer, and Oliver Turvey. Nelson Piquet ultimately could not participate in this session due to damage to his two cars. André Lotterer was in a provisional third place, with a minimal lead over Lucas Di Grassi, who was right behind in fourth position.

The time had come for the third group with Edoardo Mortara, Nick Heidfeld, Alex Lynn, António Félix da Costa, and José María López to hit the track to set the best possible time. Only António Félix da Costa managed a convincing lap with a provisional second time, 5 milliseconds behind Jean-Éric Vergne.

Finally, the last group composed of the lowest-ranked drivers in the championship, namely Jérôme d’Ambrosio, Maro Engel, Nicolas Prost, Tom Blomqvist, and Ma Qing Hua (who replaces Luca Filippi at NIO), started on a potentially faster track than for the other competitors. The surprise came from Maro Engel, who took a magnificent provisional third place, automatically qualifying him for the super pole.

As a result, the five drivers who qualified to compete for pole position in the super pole were Jean-Éric Vergne, Antonio Félix Da Costa, Maro Engel, Sam Bird, and André Lotterer. In front of his home crowd, Jean-Éric Vergne finally claimed pole position thanks to a legendary lap. He was ahead of Sam Bird by just over two-tenths, André Lotterer and Maro Engel by three-tenths. After a mistake, Antonio Félix Da Costa finished at one second and six-tenths.

Here is the starting grid for this third Paris ePrix:

🏁 SESSION RESULTS QUALIFYING #ParisEPrix #FormulaE pic.twitter.com/qC76oklAmu

— e-racing.net (@eracing_net) 28 avril 2018

The day of glory has arrived for Vergne

At the start, Jean-Éric Vergne maintained his pole position while André Lotterer made contact with Sam Bird for second place. The Brit stayed ahead. Sébastien Buemi gained two positions. Mitch Evans and Tom Blomqvist quickly pitted to change their wings, following a stack-up in the first corners. Stopped on the track just before the pit entrance, Ma Qing Hua triggered the full course yellow procedure (neutralizing the race), forcing the drivers to engage their speed limiter.

Crush hour but in Paris this time, @tom_blomqvist @nico_prost and @mitchevans_ come together… #ParisEPrix pic.twitter.com/SGL4UoCq99

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 28 avril 2018

The race was quickly restarted with Jean-Éric Vergne still leading ahead of Sam Bird. The pack resumed fairly calmly, but Antonio Félix Da Costa locked his wheels and went straight into a runoff area a few moments later, forcing him to retire. Behind, Daniel Abt overtook Nick Heidfeld and Jérôme d’Ambrosio to make his way into the top 10.

In this rather calm race, Daniel Abt continued to climb up the pack, this time overtaking Felix Rosenqvist for ninth place on the eighth lap. He did the same to Lopez for an additional position. At this point in the race, the top three pulled away slightly from Maro Engel in fourth position, who was creating a bottleneck behind him.

On the fourteenth lap, Nicolas Prost (sixteenth at that moment) was shown the black and orange flag, signaling him to return to the pit for repairs as his car was missing its rear wing. The wing had been damaged by Tom Blomqvist at the beginning of the race. Very active indeed, Daniel Abt took seventh position at the expense of Oliver Turvey.

After 20 laps, Sam Bird appeared more threatening towards Jean-Éric Vergne, without managing to overtake him. Lucas Di Grassi and Sébastien Buemi decided to save energy to stay on the track one lap longer during the pit stops. Indeed, both champions of the discipline were still stuck behind Maro Engel.

It was on the twenty-fourth lap that the leading drivers decided to stop to change their cars. They were quickly joined by Maro Engel, followed by Oliver Turvey and Felix Rosenqvist.

In the top ten, Lucas Di Grassi, Sébastien Buemi, Daniel Abt, and José Maria Lopez decided to do an additional lap. Abt and Lopez pitted the next lap while the top four of the race remained unchanged after the pit stops. Lucas Di Grassi managed to come out ahead of Engel but not Buemi. The only change for the rest of the points concerned Rosenqvist, who managed to pass Lopez.

Six laps later, Felix Rosenqvist managed to get the better of Oliver Turvey to take eighth place. Ahead, things were stabilizing. Di Grassi was closing in on André Lotterer’s fourth position by being the fastest on the track.

It was during the thirty-sixth lap that things shifted a bit in the leading trio. Lotterer attempted a late braking at the end of the central straight on Bird. This resulted in a significant contact between the Brit and the German at the next corner. The difficulties continued for Sam Bird, who this time lost another position to Di Grassi, putting him off the podium.

What a lunge from @Andre_Lotterer on @sambirdracing but it paid off! #ParisEPrix pic.twitter.com/KhArzq6Tev

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 28 avril 2018

Nine laps from the finish, the other Audi driven by Daniel Abt was putting a lot of pressure on Sébastien Buemi. Behind them, there was a collision between Lopez and Mortara, sending the Italo-Swiss into the wall.

.@Daniel_Abt uses his #FANBOOST to get past @Sebastien_buemi and up into sixth! #ParisEPrix pic.twitter.com/EyUpSkbLxx

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 28, 2018

Later, Daniel Abt took the sixth position of the race to the detriment of Sébastien Buemi. The last lap finally reserved some major surprises for us. Lucas Di Grassi managed to take second place from André Lotterer, who almost ran out of energy on the track. Jean-Éric Vergne’s teammate was then hit from behind by Sam Bird! Miraculously, the Englishman managed to seize the third position and kept it at the finish line. Behind in the final standings, we found Maro Engel and Sébastien Buemi (who managed to reclaim his position over Daniel Abt). After his collision, Lotterer still finished ahead of his compatriot in the final standings. To complete the top 10, Felix Rosenqvist, Olivier Turvey, and José Maria Lopez.

It was therefore with a victory for Jean-Éric Vergne on this ground that this third Parisian race in history ended. The number three also corresponds to “JEV”‘s victories in the discipline this season, after his wins in Santiago (Chile) and Punta del Este (Uruguay).

Winning my home race in Paris is simply the best win of my career, can’t describe it in other words…
Merci a tous les Parisiens pour votre support!!! #ParisEPrix #ABBFormulaE #JEV25 pic.twitter.com/dSlYpu6G6b

— Jean-Eric Vergne (@JeanEricVergne) April 28, 2018

Here is the complete ranking of the event:

Final Results:

Vergne
Di Grassi
Bird
Engel
Buemi
Lotterer
Abt
Rosenqvist
Turvey
Lopez#ParisEPrix 🇫🇷 #ABBFormulaE pic.twitter.com/RaVBmS3Exp

— Michelin Motorsport (@Michelin_Sport) 28 avril 2018

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The update on the overall drivers’ standings (after eight races):

The overall constructors’ standings:

This concludes the summary of the 2018 Paris ePrix. Stay tuned for the Berlin ePrix, which will take place on May 17.