Vergne and Audi take Formula E spoils
Rejected by F1, the new Formula E champion capped his regeneration with a sparky display in New York
This was a long time coming for Jean-eric Vergne. His most recent title – the
British Formula 3 crown – came back in 2010. Since then, he’d made it all the way to Formula 1, missed out on promotion to one of that championship’s best teams with Red Bull and then been unceremoniously dumped, to be replaced by two more of the energydrinks giant’s junior superstars.
Vergne arrived in Formula E at the end of that 2014 season with a burning fire – raging at his lost F1 racing career (he clung on with a Ferrari test and reserve role in 2015-16) and not in a good place in his personal life. Pole in Punta del Este on his debut ended with rapidly spent batteries and ultimately broken suspension. A switch to Virgin Racing for season two led to more acrimony before he wound up at the Techeetah team. Even though he was already much happier at the black-and-gold-liveried squad, it took Vergne almost the whole of season three to claim his first race win, which came at the Montreal season finale.
In season four, he stole the show. As Audi imploded in painful reliability woes and the Sebastien Buemi/renault e.dams juggernaut floundered, Vergne got over a slow start to grab the points lead in Santiago, and never let it go. He could even have clinched the title over closest rival Sam Bird during the penultimate meeting in Zurich, but was made to wait for the New York doubleheader finale last weekend.
A long time coming, then, but when it did, it came very fast indeed – all the way from the back of the grid.
Vergne had looked set to top the group qualifying segment for race one, but both he and Techeetah team-mate Andre Lotterer were thrown out of the session after they exceeded the maximum power allowance on their flying laps. The issue was caused by “a very small update on the power-unit software for reliability reasons,” according to team boss Mark Preston.
The title favourite was furious. Vergne left the pits with headphones on and walked towards the FE catering unit in the Red Hook area’s ferry and cruise terminal at the Brooklyn Circuit track. But instead of boarding a ferry to Manhattan, Vergne met a friend in the supply area.
“I was very angry at first because my lap was the best I’ve done this year, but a friend told me something so stupid that I started laughing,” he later explained. “Everything went down and then I got the better me coming back. I went back to see the team. We had a meeting where I told them, ‘Look, I don’t care about the mistake, I don’t care who did it: what’s done is done.’”
The Techeetah pair lined up 18th and 19th with Vergne in front, while Buemi started on pole ahead of Mitch Evans and Nico Prost, with Daniel Abt the highest Audi driver in fifth and Lucas di Grassi in 11th. Bird started 14th after failing to make it out of group one and into superpole.
Three plots unfolded within the opener. Abt and di Grassi rose to the front in a way that was almost inevitable given Audi’s recent form. The long race distance and overtaking opportunities at the Brooklyn track played perfectly to its efficient power unit’s strengths. As others had to coast to save energy the Audis could stay on the power for longer, making overtakes look simple – and by lap 20 of a scheduled 45 they ran one-two, with Abt in front.
Bird rose into the points but he could not follow di Grassi, his pre-race predictions of DS Virgin Racing struggling with its inefficient and heavy car coming all too true.
Behind him, for the early part of the race, Vergne allowed Lotterer to move ahead off the line, as he used the tried-and-tested FE trick of rolling away from the lights to avoid using more energy with a full launch. The pair picked up places methodically, rising up the order until they ran fifth and sixth by the end of lap 28.
Here, Lotterer dutifully obeyed a team order and let Vergne through. Bird had to make it to eighth to keep the title alive but he wound up one place short. The FE crown, like the World Cup one day later, was heading to France.
“I was staying calm because I had no idea where I was standing in the championship ranking,” said Vergne. “Even after the chequered flag I had no idea. I saw Andre passing next to me [waving] – so I guess he had seen it on TV. But I didn’t want to look at the TV and then Dario Franchitti [FE commentator] came on the radio asking me how it feels to be champion.”
Up front, Audi clinched another one-two, but it wasn’t the reasonably simple affair the team had enjoyed in Berlin. Here, di Grassi took the spoils after passing Abt
with what team boss Allan Mcnish would later call a “pretty robust” move just after the pitstops. Abt was not happy because he had been under the impression that he would not be attacked before or after the car swaps, as a result of radio calls urging him not to take any risks. But Mcnish later clarified that this was a “miscommunication or a misunderstanding”.
“I heard that from Daniel and he said that to me,” said the Scot. “But that’s a misunderstanding on that side because clearly we didn’t want them to risk each other – but there was no team order.”
One was made, but not until much later, when Audi felt it had to call off Abt’s attempts to come back at di Grassi as it felt vulnerable to the threat posed by the resurgent Techeetah pair in case of a safety car. One did come when Alex Lynn lost the rear of his car going through the rapid long right of Turn 5 on lap 35 – the delay causing the race to be capped at one hour plus one lap, 43 tours in total – but Audi was never realistically in much danger.
Di Grassi won by 0.965s, with Buemi completing the podium for the first time since Mexico City in March. Tom Dillmann, deputising once again for Dtm-dutied Edoardo Mortara at Venturi, was a superb fourth ahead of Vergne and Lotterer.
While the Audi pair faced a multitude of questions about team orders, Vergne celebrated finally taking the title.
“I see it as another step in the journey I’m on,” he said. “A lot of things will come for me in the future and I needed to get back my confidence; and with all the work I produced, I can see the result of it through the wins and podiums. But winning the title was something I needed for my own confidence and also just for my mentality of working hard, and giving me even more motivation to keep working hard. Because I know now it really pays off. I’m going to keep on doing that next year even more.”
Vergne says he has turned his life around and is no longer the same person he was when he first arrived in FE. Helping to build the Techeetah squad and the focus that required is something he points to as a reason for his new outlook and the benefits that brings. A more settled personal life has helped him too and he has obviously learned how to lead and motivate. Instead of hindering or ignoring Lotterer’s arrival at Techeetah, he actively helped his teammate, an FE ‘rookie’ despite his years of experience and three Le Mans wins.
The old JEV is clearly still there – as evidenced by that initial reaction to the earlier disqualification – but he has learnt how to lift the fog of fury quickly and make sure it does not return over the same issue.
The newly crowned champion claimed he knew it was finally his day even as he sat at the back of the grid. “Things happen for a reason,” he said. “I believe starting nearly last in Zurich helped me understand a few more things about Formula E, things that I put in action in the race.”
Bird was gracious in defeat: “It’s disappointing because last year here I dominated. But we knew that it was going to be extremely difficult. I’m really proud of what I’ve been able to achieve, what the team has been able to achieve. We’ve put it up there when nobody really gave us a chance of putting it up there.”
Race two was all about the teams’ title. For a few minutes, it looked as if Techeetah would clinch the championship without having to take to the track for a final time. The race took place in hot and sunny conditions, but this was in stark contrast to the wet weather that had blighted the running earlier on Sunday, with Buemi taking a second successive pole on a wet track. At one point, FE temporarily suspended the event due to the threat of lightning in the area, although that subsequently cleared and the race took place as scheduled.
Having not exceeded their energy allowance in qualifying the second time around, Lotterer and Vergne lined up second and third – ahead of Abt and di Grassi, the Brazilian crashing at the right-hander of Turn 2 on his superpole lap.
There was drama right from the off. Vergne leapt from third with a perfectly delivered start and outmuscled Buemi to seize the lead at Turn 1, with more brilliant judgement from both drivers preventing contact at the left-hander. Lotterer also rocketed off the line, but he had jumped the start and was given a 10-second stop/go penalty as a result.
That mistake had big ramifications.
Once again the Audis rose up the order in the race, with Abt briefly losing places on the first lap before regaining ground. Di Grassi stalked Vergne for lap after lap after dispatching Buemi early on. But the champion held firm, even when the outgoing title-holder barged the rear of his car with his nose at the final corner in a tense exchange that concluded with a thrilling four-car chase to the line.
Vergne capped his season with a win by 0.508s over di Grassi, with Abt third and Buemi fourth, while Lotterer recovered from being 15th after his penalty to finish ninth. But it wasn’t enough. Having led the teams’ championship since Santiago, Techeetah lost the title by two points to Audi.
“I just couldn’t hold myself anymore and messed it up,” Lotterer said of the start. “It’s hard to accept now losing the championship like this, although it’s a season’s result – but I was the one that messed it up. I’m gutted for the team. We win together, we lose together. They tried to cheer me up – they’re a nice team – and I’m really thankful to race with these guys.
“It’s a shame because we put in so much hard work, but we lost it like this and they really deserved it. I feel sorry but it’s how it is in racing. Sometimes when you want it too much, maybe, this happens.”
And so the season ended on a bittersweet note for Techeetah, unable to properly celebrate Vergne’s walk-off win, his fourth of this title-winning campaign. But the teams’ defeat should not take the shine off his season. It has been a remarkable turnaround, both from the traumatised ex-f1 driver he was back in 2014 to now. And considering how Techeetah took the fight to FE’S many manufacturers, proving that a customer squad can succeed.
Vergne wants even more in season five. “I feel even hungrier now for more wins,” he made a point of telling the post-race press conference. “Winning this year is one thing, but now I think everything is reset to zero and I proved it today with my will and hunger to win more races.
“That’s the attitude I’m going to have next year, so I’m looking forward to next season already.”