Jean-Eric Vergne – Syndication Server

Vergne leads first London practice

Championship outsider Jean-Eric Vergne set the pace as Formula E’s finale weekend got underway in London. The DS Penske driver’s best lap round the 20-turn, 1.29-mile indoor/outdoor circuit was a 1m11.290s, which he set on his 18th of 20 laps …

Championship outsider Jean-Eric Vergne set the pace as Formula E’s finale weekend got underway in London.

The DS Penske driver’s best lap round the 20-turn, 1.29-mile indoor/outdoor circuit was a 1m11.290s, which he set on his 18th of 20 laps completed in the half-hour session.

Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi was second quickest, lapping just 0.028s off Vergne’s pace, while Jake Hughes put his NEOM McLaren third on the timesheets, a further 0.030s back. Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans was the highest of the main championship protagonists in fourth, but only 0.065s off the fastest time.

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Robin Frijns was the first driver outside of a tenth of the quickest time in the second Envision, finishing the session fifth with a 1m11.436s, ahead of Maserati MSG’s Maximilian Guenther and TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa, who comes into this weekend not only as the winner of the last three races, but with a shout at the championship.

Stoffel Vandoorne (DS Penske), Oliver Rowland (Nissan) and Sam Bird (McLaren) completed the top 10, with championship leader Nick Cassidy less than a tenth outside in 11th. He was, however, the fastest driver to not make use of the full complement of 350 kW of power. Pascal Wehrlein, Jake Dennis, Nico Mueller, Dan Ticktum and Jehan Daruvala were the other drivers to run below full power. Wehrlein was 13th for Porsche, Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara splitting the two.

Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan) was 14th, ahead of reigning champion Dennis (Andretti), Sergio Sette Camara (ERT), Lucas di Grassi (Abt Cupra), and Nyck de Vries (Mahindra). Norman Nato (Andretti), Mueller — competing for Abt Cupra for the final time this weekend — Ticktum (ERT), and Daruvala (Maserati) completed the field.

RESULTS

Vergne shoots to pole for second race at Portland E-Prix

Jean-Eric Vergne claimed his third pole of the season in the second half of the Portland E-Prix, narrowly defeating Saturday race winner Antonio Felix da Costa in the qualifying Duels final. DS Penske driver Vergne’s time in the final of 1m08.77 was …

Jean-Eric Vergne claimed his third pole of the season in the second half of the Portland E-Prix, narrowly defeating Saturday race winner Antonio Felix da Costa in the qualifying Duels final.

DS Penske driver Vergne’s time in the final of 1m08.77 was a mere 0.025s quicker than TAG Heuer Porsche’s da Costa, who will start on the front row of the grid for the first time this season.

Vergne survived a slide at the final turn in his first Duel to see off championship leader Nick Cassidy of Jaguar TCS Racing – who ran wide at Turn 7 – and Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns en route to the final, while da Costa beat teammate Pascal Wehrlein in his opening duel before defeating NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird in the semifinals.

Da Costa topped his group session ahead of Bird, Mahindra’s Nyck de Vries, and Wehrlein, with the Andretti pairing of Jake Dennis and Norman Nato among the high profile casualties in that session. Dennis ran wide at the final turn as the clock ran down, but ended up so far off course that the yellow flags didn’t fly and he wasn’t saved from a flurry of late times that relegated him from a transfer spot.

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Vergne was second quickest in the opening group, advancing with a late lap to slot in second behind Frijns. Jake Hughes was another latecomer, going fourth quickest to be the last driver to advance, behind Cassidy.

The late times from Vergne and Hughes ensured that Saturday polesitter Mitch Evans wouldn’t advance, dropping out late on along with Maserati MSG’s Jehan Daruvala

Vergne’s pole, his 17th of his career, means he’s now the undisputed holder of Formula E’s all-time poles record, moving ahead of Sebastien Buemi whom he had shared it with since the first race at the Shanghai E-Prix last month.

Bird will line up third, behind da Costa and ahead of Frijns, with his McLaren teammate Hughes fifth, Cassidy sixth, Wehrlein seventh, and de Vries, Daruvala, and DS Penske driver Stoffel Vandoorne completing the top-10.

Evans will start Sunday’s race 10 spots beck from where he began Saturday’s encounter, lining up 11th, alongside Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra), with Nico Mueller (Abt Cupra) 13th, Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan) 14th, the ERTs of Dan Ticktum and Sergio Sette Camara 15th and 16th, and Buemi, Dennis, Lucas di Grassi (Abt Cupra), Nato, Maximilian Guenther (Maserati), and Caio Collet (Nissan) completing the grid.

RESULTS

Vergne equals pole record in close Shanghai E-Prix qualifying

Jean-Eric Vergne equalled Sebastien Buemi’s record of 16 Formula E pole positions after defeating Oliver Rowland in the final of the Head-to-Head qualifying Duels in Shanghai. The DS Penske driver’s time of 1m13. 323 in the Final was the quickest …

Jean-Eric Vergne equalled Sebastien Buemi’s record of 16 Formula E pole positions after defeating Oliver Rowland in the final of the Head-to-Head qualifying Duels in Shanghai.

The DS Penske driver’s time of 1m13. 323 in the Final was the quickest lap of all of qualifying, and bested Nissan man Rowland by 0.038s. Rowland had been quicker in the second and third sectors, but lost too much time in the first to overhaul Vergne.

Ahead of the final, Vergne defeated TAG Heuer Porsche pair Atonio Felix da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein, while Rowland defeated FP2 pacesetter Norman Nato and Mitch Evans, the latter by just 0.001s.

Both drivers finished second of their respective duels, however, with Verge’s teammate Stoffel Vandoorne in Group A, Andretti driver Nato and Evans also advancing — Evans edging his Jaguar TCS Racing teammate Nick Cassidy by just 0.009s.

Vergne meanwhile finished second to NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes in Group B, by just 0.004s. Hughes was cruelly knocked out in the first stage of the Duels. His time of 1m13.483 was the second-fastest of all eight in the first part of the head-to-head stage, but was 0.034s off Wehrlein who he was drawn up against. da Costa and Wehrlein were the others to advance from Group B.

Vergne’s pole is also his second of the season, and starting behind him and fellow front-row starter Rowland will be Evans and Wehrlein, with Hughes and da Costa on the third row.

Nato will line up seventh, with Vandoorne eighth, and Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns and Cassidy completing the top 10. Jake Dennis will start 11th in his Andretti Porsche, with Buemi 12th for Envision, Mahindra’s Nyck de Vries 13th and Maximilian Guenther 14th for Maserati MSG Racing.

The eight row of the grid is locked out by Abt Cupra’s Nico Mueller and Lucas di Grassi, with the ERTs of Sergio Sette Camara and Dan Ticktum together the row behind. McLaren’s Sam Bird, Maserati’s Jehan Daruvala, Mahindra’s Edorardo Mortara, and Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz complete the grid.

RESULTS

Vergne decries ‘horrible’ Formula E strategy races after finishing second

Jean-Eric Vergne has “absolutely no regrets” about missing out on victory in the first race of the Berlin E-Prix doubleheader, but was less than happy about how the race itself played out. The DS Penske driver started third on the grid and remained …

Jean-Eric Vergne has “absolutely no regrets” about missing out on victory in the first race of the Berlin E-Prix doubleheader, but was less than happy about how the race itself played out.

The DS Penske driver started third on the grid and remained in victory contention throughout, despite an aggressive 46 laps that had multiple drivers forcing their way to the front. But Nick Cassidy saved energy early on and shot from a low of 21st to win in a drive that surprised everyone — and why Vergne said “I feel as if I won.”

“We had a great qualifying, a great race,” he told RACER. “I’m always angry when I don’t win, but tonight I leave the track very happy with the job we’ve done as a team and I have absolutely no regret not to have won the race today.”

Nevertheless, Vergne is unimpressed by the trend toward “peloton races” where drivers conserve energy early on to ensure they have enough to fight at the end, resulting in tight pack races and multiple passes. And he says he’s not the only driver displeased with the style of races that have proven popular among viewers.

“It’s horrible. Honestly, I really don’t like this kind of racing — I hate it,” he said. “And I think every driver hates it but it’s the way we have to race. We’re here to compete, we’re here to win, so if we have to drive in reverse, we will have to learn to drive in reverse.

“That doesn’t mean that I like this kind of racing — it’s truly horrible from a drivers’ point of view. It’s a mess.”

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Despite the success of Cassidy’s strategy, Vergne doesn’t see himself attempting a similar approach in Sunday’s race, insisting that “it’s going to be key again to have a good qualifying and stay more or less at the front.”

“When you’re leading the race like I was, ‘You cannot take the risk. It’s impossible,’” he said when asked if emulating Cassidy would be an option. “Because then if you imagine you have a safety car, the energy target becomes higher and then you cannot overtake any more.

“It was a calculated bet for him because he was last and had nothing to lose anyway. It was smart, I would have done the same, but all the things played in his favor — the second safety car, the target being lower, and everybody struggling on energy because everybody was fighting. It worked well but if you do 10 races it might not happen again like this.”

Vergne felt like he and the DS Penske team played all their cards correctly but were still sitting ducks for Cassidy and Jaguar the way the race played out. Andrew Ferraro/Motorsport Images

Cassidy’s charge didn’t just catch out Vergne on track, but his team too, although he knew once Cassidy was behind him he wouldn’t be able to hold the Jaguar TCS Racing man off.

“Even my engineer didn’t see him coming and when he told me he had two-and-a-half percent more energy, I knew the race was over,” Vergne admitted. “It made no sense to fight it.

“That’s why I feel this second place is a little bit like a win because if you remove him, we did actually a very good job considering all the guys that were around and all the fighting. At one point I was P7, so to come back, we showed good strength, good strategy as well.”

Vergne puts DS Penske on pole for Diriyah E-Prix 1

Jean-Eric Vergne took a record-equalling 16th career ABB Formula E World Championship pole position for the first race of the Diriyah E-Prix doubleheader in Saudi Arabia, defeating Mitch Evans by a slender 0.072s in the qualifying duels final. It …

It was the DS Penske team’s first pole position since Sao Paulo last year and Vergne’s first since Jakarta 2022, making it his first top qualifier result of the series’ Gen3 era.

Evans went into the final as the clear favorite, being the first driver to break the 1m12s barrier as he defeated Andretti Global’s Jake Dennis in the semifinals. Before that, he beat Jaguar TCS Racing teammate Nick Cassidy, who was the pacesetter in the earlier group stages.

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Vergne’s route to the final, his first time advancing to the duels since Portland last year, included wins against Norman Nato — who was fast enough to win any other quarterfinal but for Vergne setting the best lap of the day to that point — and Sergio Sette Camara, who impressed to reach the semifinals for ERT.

Ahead of the duels, the first part of group qualifying was an incredibly competitive collective, with reigning champion Dennis, both drivers with most wins from last season (Evans and Cassidy), the most recent Saudi Arabia polesitter Jake Hughes, two other previous winners (Nyck de Vries and Lucas di Grassi), and round one winner Pascal Wehrlein all battling it out.

NEOM McLaren driver Hughes was a late casualty, being pushed out of the top-four transfer spots by Evans in the closing moments of the session. Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns, Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, Abt Cupra’s Nico Mueller, di Grassi, Mahindra driver Eduoardo Mortara and de Vries also didn’t advance.

In the second group, a traffic jam formed in the final seconds of the session as everyone attempted to set their last laps as late as possible to capitalize on the best track conditions. The strategy didn’t pay off for many though, the low speeds before they started their final flying laps causing many to lose tire temperature.

As a result, only Vergne (who topped that second group) and Nato improved into the top five. Sam Bird in the second McLaren, DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi — a surprise victim after his podium finish last time out in Mexico — Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz (who brushed the wall as he exited the final corner on his last lap) Antonio Felix da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche), Dan Ticktum (ERT), and Jehan Daruvala (Maserati), the last driver to start his final lap, all failed to advance.

Behind Vergne and Evans on the front row, Dennis will start third, with Sette Camara fourth. Nato will start directly behind his Andretti teammate in fifth, alongside Wehrlein in sixth. Cassidy starts seventh, with Guenther eighth, while Bird and Hughes complete the top-10 with an all-McLaren row five.

Vandoorne lines up 11th, ahead of Frijns and Buemi. It’s then Nissan duo Rowland and Fenestraz in 14th and 15th, with Mueller, di Grassi, Ticktum, Mortara, da Costa (who was penalized three grid places for his collision with Mueller in Mexico City earlier this month) Daruvala and de Vries completing the grid.

RESULTS