The ABB FIA Formula E Championship completed round 8 of the season in Paris, France today (April 28, 2018). An impressive crowded turned out to witness the 2018 Paris E-Prix and they definitely were not disappointed. They witnessed the hometown hero Jean-Eric Vergne of Techeetah take the race win, in impressive fashion.
Jean-Eric Vergne Takes Win in 2018 Paris E-Prix
Jean-Eric Vergne led the 2018 Paris E-Prix from start to finish taking Super-Pole over Sam Bird of DS Virgin Racing, who also finished second. Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Lucas di Grassi took third which rounded out the podium. Maro Engel of Venturi Formula E came in fourth, his best finish in his Formula E career. Sebastien Buemi of Renault E.Dams rounded out the top five, he hoped for a “three-peat.”
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
Starting Grid
Pos Driver Car/Engine Time Delay
1. Jean-Eric Vergne- Renault- 1’01.144 –
2. Sam Bird- DS Virgin- 1’01.421- 0.277
3. Andre Lotterer- Renault- 1’01.487- 0.343
4. Maro Engel- Venturi- 1’01.541- 0.397
5. Antonio Felix da Costa- Andretti- 1’02.805- 1.661
6. Lucas di Grassi- Audi- 1’01.823- 0.679
7. Jerome d’Ambrosio- Penske- 1’01.836- 0.692
8. Sebastien Buemi- Renault- 1’01.837- 0.693
9. Oliver Turvey- NextEV NIO- 1’01.888- 0.744
10. Jose Maria Lopez- Penske- 1’01.902- 0.758
11. Felix Rosenqvist- Mahindra- 1’02.012- 0.868
12. Nick Heidfeld- Mahindra- 1’02.058- 0.914
13. Nicolas Prost- Renault- 1’02.092- 0.948
14. Daniel Abt- Audi- 1’02.125- 0.981
15. Alex Lynn- DS Virgin- 1’02.139- 0.995
16. Tom Blomqvist- Andretti- 1’02.823- 1.679
17. Ma Qing Hua- NextEV NIO- 1’02.998- 1.854
18. Nelson Piquet Jr.- Jaguar – –
19. Edoardo Mortara- Venturi -1’02.834- 1.690
20. Mitch Evans- Jaguar- 1’02.122- 0.978
Formula E: 2018 Paris E-Prix Review
Race Conditions
The Formula E 2018 Paris E-Prix started in cooler temperatures compared to previous years. Cars seemed to struggle for grip in the cold conditions. They went around the 1.9 km track a total of 49 times, which brought the total distance covered to 93.1 km
Race Start Chaos
At lights out, Vergne took off without any problem. Bird started on the dirty side of the track, which allowed Andre Lotterer to make a move on him. The Techeetah driver made slight contact with Bird in an attempt to take second, but Bird prevailed and kept his position. Engel and di Grassi followed but Antonio Felix da Costa of MS&AD Andretti Formula E dropped to seventh after starting fifth.
An accordion effect occurred which caused major contact between Nico Prost of Renault E.Dams, Tom Blomqvist of MS&AD Andretti and Mitch Evans of Panasonic Jaguar. Evans nudged Blomqvist which caused the Swedish driver to mount the rear end of Prost’s car. That collision caused front wing damage to both Evans’ and Blomqvist’s car and they had to pit to fix their problems. Prost’s rear wing was taken off from the collision, but stayed out and hoped he wouldn’t be forced to pit.
NIO Formula E’s driver Ma Qing Hua had the worst start out of the field, his car didn’t get off the line. Hua’s car was stranded at lights out and was a lap down from the very beginning. A full-course yellow quickly followed and Hua’s car finally got off the line after he rebooted.
Race Restart
By lap three, the green flag was waved and the action continued. The three race leaders heated up the battle and were spread out by less than second. On lap five, da Costa ran off track and dropped from P7 to P19 after the mishap.
His car was having energy regeneration issues and eventually retired by lap five. Prost was eventually given the black flag with the orange disk and was forced to pit to change his rear wing. Thus, ending his hopes for a great result at his home race.
Daniel Abt of Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler was on a mission today in Paris. Although he started from P15, pacey after he gained seven positions before it was time to pit around the halfway point.
Pit Stops
The majority of the field pitted on lap 26, including the race leaders. Bird was on Vergne’s rear end going into the pits but Vergne had a better pit-stop. The French driver had a great pit-stop and gained two seconds over Bird while they exited the pits.
The rest of the field pitted around lap 27, this gave them more usable energy for the second half of the race. Both Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler drivers pitted then and benefited after all the pit stops were finished.
Vergne led over Bird. Lotterer, di Grassi, Engel and Buemi were right behind them. Abt, Oliver Turvey, Felix Rosenqvist of Mahindra Racing and Jose Maria Lopez of Dragon rounded out the top ten after the pit stops.
Second Half Battle
On lap 35, Lotterer sent his car in a aggressive move to overtake Bird for P2. He came in very hot and locked up into the corner. Bird, who attempted to undercut the German’s overtake, made contact with Lotterer at the apex of the corner. Lotterer came away with a successful overtake, but he had to work hard for it.
Their battling allowed di Grassi to catch up to them and overtook Bird two corners later. Edoardo Mortara of Venturi Formula E and Jerome D’Ambrosio of Dragon got into a battle as well. Mortara attempted to overtake D’Ambrosio on the outside but made contact. Mortara ended up in the wall and that dropped him way down the order.
Last Lap Carnage
As the race progressed towards the finish, Vergne maintained his lead in front of his teammate. Lotterer was under constant pressure from di Grassi, who was looking for any way past the German to take P2. He just couldn’t find a way past Lotterer, who was in full defensive mode now.
The Techeetah team were hoping for another 1-2 finish but that wasn’t in the cards today. In the final corners of the final lap, Lotterer ran out of usable energy and was a sitting duck. Di Grassi barely avoided Lotterer and Bird rear-ended the German and took off his left front-wheel.
The provisional 2017/2018 ABB FIA #FormulaE Championship pacesetter Jean-Éric Vergne (TECHEETAH Formula E Team/Michelin) produced a lights-out to chequered flag performance to win his home race. The Parisian was joined on the Paris E-Prix… https://t.co/2J30pbdf8t #employee pic.twitter.com/o7Oz3sMbDb
— Thierry Coureau (@tcoureau) April 28, 2018
Driver’s in the Points
Vergne took the race win,di Grassi finished P2 and Bird slid across the line with three wheels for P3. Amongst all the final lap carnage, Engel finished fourth, while two-time Paris E-Prix winner Buemi finished fifth.
Lotterer finished P6 despite being P2 until the last moments of the race. Abt finished P7 after a disappointing qualifying session. Rosenqvist finished P8 and he hoped for a better result. He hoped for a better result after retiring in the Rome E-Prix. Oliver Turvey of NIO Formula E and Lopez rounded out the top ten coming P9 and P10 respectively.
Driver Not in the Points
Nick Heidfeld of Mahindra Racing came in P11. D’Ambrosio of Dragon came in P12. Mortara came in P13, and Alex Lynn of DS Virgin Racing finished in P14. Mitch Evans of Panasonic Jaguar failed to get a good result in Paris and finished in P15. Prost ended his home race a lap down and finished in P16. Hua ended his race three lbps down and finished P17.
Nelson Piquet Jr of Panasonic Jaguar, Blomqvist and da Costa retired from the 2018 Paris E-Prix.
Vergne Maintains Dominance
Another race win in the 2018 Paris E-Prix, Vergne maintains his lead in the Formula E driver’s championship. The Techeetah driver increased his lead over Bird to 31 points and holds a commanding lead now in the Drivers’ Championship. While Rosenqvist still maintains third position and is now 61 points behind.
Race Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Laps | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Techeetah | Renault | 49 | 54m49.102s |
| 2 | Lucas di Grassi | Audi | Audi | 49 | 4.882s |
| 3 | Sam Bird | Virgin | DS Virgin | 49 | 8.897s |
| 4 | Maro Engel | Venturi | Venturi | 49 | 9.287s |
| 5 | Sebastien Buemi | e.dams | Renault | 49 | 10.194s |
| 6 | Andre Lotterer | Techeetah | Renault | 49 | 10.855s |
| 7 | Daniel Abt | Audi | Audi | 49 | 13.918s |
| 8 | Felix Rosenqvist | Mahindra | Mahindra | 49 | 15.271s |
| 9 | Oliver Turvey | NIO | NextEV NIO | 49 | 19.557s |
| 10 | Jose Maria Lopez | Dragon | Penske | 49 | 20.989s |
| 11 | Nick Heidfeld | Mahindra | Mahindra | 49 | 21.698s |
| 12 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Dragon | Penske | 49 | 26.723s |
| 13 | Edoardo Mortara | Venturi | Venturi | 49 | 29.937s |
| 14 | Alex Lynn | Virgin | DS Virgin | 49 | 43.112s |
| 15 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar | Jaguar | 49 | 43.989s |
| 16 | Nicolas Prost | e.dams | Renault | 48 | 1 Lap |
| 17 | Ma Qing Hua | NIO | NextEV NIO | 46 | 3 Laps |
| – | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Jaguar | Jaguar | 32 | Retirement |
| – | Tom Blomqvist | Andretti | Andretti | 32 | Retirement |
| – | Antonio Felix da Costa | Andretti | Andretti | 2 | Retirement |
Drivers’ standings:
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jean-Eric Vergne | 147 |
| 2 | Sam Bird | 116 |
| 3 | Felix Rosenqvist | 86 |
| 4 | Sebastien Buemi | 70 |
| 5 | Lucas di Grassi | 58 |
| 6 | Daniel Abt | 56 |
| 7 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | 45 |
| 8 | Mitch Evans | 43 |
| 9 | Andre Lotterer | 41 |
| 10 | Oliver Turvey | 34 |
| 11 | Edoardo Mortara | 29 |
| 12 | Maro Engel | 23 |
| 13 | Nick Heidfeld | 21 |
| 14 | Alex Lynn | 17 |
| 15 | Antonio Felix da Costa | 16 |
| 16 | Jose Maria Lopez | 14 |
| 17 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | 12 |
| 18 | Nicolas Prost | 7 |
| 19 | Tom Blomqvist | 4 |
| 20 | Luca Filippi | 1 |
| 21 | Kamui Kobayashi | 0 |
| 22 | Ma Qing Hua | 0 |
| 23 | Neel Jani | 0 |
Team Standings:
| Pos | Team | Points |
| 1 | Techeetah | 188 |
| 2 | DS Virgin Racing | 133 |
| 3 | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | 114 |
| 4 | Mahindra Racing | 107 |
| 5 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | 88 |
| 6 | Renault e.Dams | 77 |
| 7 | Venturi Formula E Team | 52 |
| 8 | NIO Formula E team | 35 |
| 9 | Dragon Racing | 26 |
| 10 | MS&AD Andretti Formula E | 20 |
MAIN PHOTO:
Embed from Getty Images
