Vergne wins the first round of the Rome ePrix
France's Jean-Eric Vergne won the first race of the Rome ePrix double-header. At the end of a spectacular race, he beat the two Jaguars of Bird and Evans to the podium.
Starting from pole position on a wet track, Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes) retains his advantage over André Lotterer (Porsche)… before the two men collide and drop back into the middle of the pack.
Inheriting the lead of the race, Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.Dams) was comfortably in the lead when just before the halfway point, the race officials imposed a drive-through penalty on him for energy overconsumption, thus ruining his hopes of a good result.
Lucas Di Grassi (Audi Sport ABT) has taken the lead ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah) and Nyck de Vries (Mercedes). While the top two are engaged in a fierce battle, the Attack Mode, very penalizing on this new Roman track, will shake up the race.
On a quirky and aggressive strategy, JEV manages to “undercut” Di Grassi and takes the lead as the latter loses many positions. Back on track with a vengeance, Di Grassi executes a splendid maneuver on Robin Frijns and gradually climbs back up.
Di Grassi and Mercedes in trouble, Vergne and Jaguar having a blast.
During his comeback, the Brazilian rubbed shoulders with de Vries, having a collision at the back of the Mercedes, but was not penalized. Meanwhile, pole man Vandoorne, on the same strategy as Vergne, is steadily moving up to 6th position after his early troubles.
With 7 minutes left, Di Grassi attacks Vergne and passes the DS Techeetah. But two minutes later, the race will definitively change!
Lucas Di Grassi is a victim of a mechanical failure and is slowing down on the side. Competitors avoid him, but Vandoorne is caught off guard and collides with his teammate de Vries, which will result in the retirement of both Silver Arrows!
These events, requiring the intervention of the Safety Car, thus hand victory to the Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne on a plate. He prevails over the two Jaguar drivers who had a magnificent race, especially Sam Bird.
His teammate Mitch Evans also set the fastest lap in the race, almost completing a clean sweep for James Barclay’s men. It is also worth noting the non-start of Oliver Turvey (NIO) due to an accident in the morning practice session.
In the drivers’ standings, Bird (43 points) still leads in front of Frijns (34 points) and de Vries (32 points). Vergne (25 points) climbs to 5th place.
See you tomorrow for the second round of this Rome ePrix, the fourth event of this Formula E World Championship!
