NEW CHAMP VERGNE IN HOT WATER OVER RADIO MESSAGE
Frenchman lifts Formula E title but comes under fire for communication
Jean-eric Vergne has been handed one day of community service for unsportsmanlike behaviour in the first Formula E race in New York due to comments made over his team radio.
The punishment does not impact on his 2018/19 FIA FE championship win or his results in New York last weekend.
Motorsport News has heard Vergne’s team radio following his involvement in the first pileup in the opening New York race, which also involved his DS Techeetah team-mate
Andre Lotterer.
With both Techeetah cars damaged, Vergne twice asked his team to tell Lotterer to stop on track in order to cause a safety car.
He then asked if the team had heard him and Techeetah told him that it had.
It is unclear when in the race the messages were made by Vergne, who pitted due to a puncture on the lap of the crash while Lotterer continued.
On the next lap, Lotterer crashed at the second corner with his front wing trapped under his car, although he continued and returned to the pits for repairs.
Regarding the penalty, Vergne told Motorsport News: “Yeah, if I asked every other driver in F1 or in Formula E, they would have asked the same.
“You crawl by, you see your team-mate one lap down, car is broken, front wing like this in the wall, it’s something normal
[to ask].
“Everyone would ask the same. It’s not like he was running for position with the car fine.
“I asked to put it [the car] in the wall like something in the past that has happened.”
The decision to give Vergne community service is related to Article 12.3.1c of the FIA’S sporting code.
The governing body can hand out this sanction at its discretion. It is why Max Verstappen attended the Marrakech FE race in January after shoving Esteban Ocon following Formula 1’s 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix.
It is not yet clear how Vergne will serve his community service, but he must serve it within the next six months.