ePrix de Rome: Vandoorne triumphs in Race 2, Nato downgraded
Mercedes driver Stoffel Vandoorne won the second race of the Rome ePrix. Another eventful race, marked by the downgrading of Frenchman Norman Nato, initially 3rd, on the green carpet.
The race started behind the Safety Car (a rare occurrence in Formula E) due to the wet track. After a few laps, the pack was released.
Author of a magnificent pole position, rookie Nick Cassidy (Virgin Racing) did not benefit for long from this advantage, spinning out in the first lap, relegating him to the middle of the pack.
Inheriting the lead, the Frenchman Norman Nato (Venturi), also a rookie, is overtaken one after the other by Vandoorne (Mercedes) and Wehrlein (Porsche) despite a good defense. Behind, things are not going well for pole man Cassidy, who is hit by Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.Dams) and forced to retire.
Further down the track, a collision between two well-known names in the discipline: champions Lucas Di Grassi (Audi Sport ABT) and Sébastien Buemi (Nissan e.Dams) will spice up the race a bit.
The Safety car sows discord on the final lap.
A very short Full Course Yellow allows Alexander Sims (Mahindra) to overtake Pascal Wehrlein for the gain of 2nd place.
Just behind Norman Nato and the defending champion Antonio Felix da Costa (DS Techeetah) are animating the race with their overtakings. The Frenchman is climbing up to 3rd place while the Portuguese is moving up to 7th place after starting further back on the grid.
But it is the accident of René Rast’s Audi that will be the turning point of the race. The Safety car enters the track, ruining the 6-second lead that Vandoorne had taken throughout the race.
A few seconds before the end, the drivers are relaunched but Vandoorne, as a good manager, crosses the line to only complete one lap. The Mercedes driver resists Sims and secures his first victory of the season.
Behind them, it’s total anarchy! Edoardo Mortara (Venturi) and Max Günther (BMW i Andretti) narrowly avoided losing their single-seater cars when a major collision involving Rowland, Sam Bird (Jaguar), and Nyck de Vries (Mercedes) occurred in their rearview mirrors.
Norman Nato’s disillusionment
Nato finishes in third place… but is disqualified by the race stewards for not having enough energy to return the car to the pits. In only his fourth ePrix, the Venturi driver does not score any points but will have still made an impression.
This setback benefits Pascal Wehrlein who steps onto his first podium with Porsche. Winner the day before, Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah) finishes just outside the points in 11th place after starting from a distant 21st position on the grid.
In the drivers’ standings, Bird (43 points) maintains the lead ahead of his teammate Evans (39 points) and Robin Frijns (34 points). The winner of the day, Stoffel Vandoorne (33 points), climbs to 4th place.
