New Delhi: DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne won the extraordinary first ever ABB FIA Formula E World Championship race in India, held in front of a sell-out crowd and a host of dignitaries, Bollywood celebrities and sports stars.
Vergne fought hard in the final third of the race to stay ahead of Envision Racing duo Nick Cassidy and Sébastien Buemi, although Antonio Félix da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team) eventually finished third after the Swiss was penalized after the race. Achieved it.
“I’m very, very pleased. It was a tough race, I had to defend very hard at the end but we somehow managed to win it,” said Vergne.
“It was a clean race, no mistakes. Very happy with today’s win. It’s good for everyone’s heart in our team. It’s good to promote it with such good races for the first few races, so Couldn’t be happier than this.
“I love new tracks – I think it’s cool. Especially this one – it’s a lot of fun. When there are lots of little secrets to find on a track, I probably find them quickly.
This is Vergne’s first trip to the top step of a Formula E podium since Rome in April 2021 (Season 7), and he achieved it in style.
He made his way to the front of the pack on lap 15 of 32 (plus one lap after the safety car), the double champion sweep by Buemi at the hairpin after the Jaguar TCS Racing pair removed each other from the equation two laps earlier.
That incident saw Sam Bird attack fourth-placed Sacha Fenestratz (Nissan Formula E Team) on the dirty part of the track.
The Brit could not slow his I-TYPE 6 in time, colliding with teammate Mitch Evans – who was third at the time – pitching the Kiwi’s car into a spin.
Both Jaguars were eventually forced into retirement, with the unfortunate Fenestraz also dropping down the order in a race where a podium double looked likely for the Jaguar.
Vergne led the way from that moment on, but his mirrors were filled by Cassidy’s Envision Racing machine as the checkered flag approached.
The New Zealander managed to collect an extra 4 percentage points of usable energy on Vergne in the closing stages of the race.
But Vergne is regarded as the consummate Formula E fighter, and used every trick in the book to keep Cassidy at bay and cross the line first, in what many would regard as one of his best wins and One that will live long in the memory. Formula E’s first visit to India in front of a crowd of over 25,000.
Buemi chased home third, but an overtaking violation dropped him to 15th through a 17-second penalty, equivalent to a drive-through.
This promoted da Costa to the podium in his 100th race, with the season 6 champion starting the race 13th.
Teammate Pascal Verlaine crossed the line in fourth after picking his way up from 12th on the grid.
Defending champion Stoffel Vandoorne (DS Penske) finished eighth for his best result of the season, while Andre Lotterer (Avalanche Andretti Formula E) and Edoardo Mortara (Maserati MSG Racing) rounded out the top 10.
The historic race was attended by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the FIA and Shri KT Rama Rao, Minister for IT, Industries and Commerce, Government of Telangana.
Also enjoying the action were Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, current Indian cricketers Shikhar Dhawan, Deepak Chahar and Yuzvendra Chahal, and his actor and choreographer wife Dhanashree Verma.