Concrete Jungle Where Dreams are Made | Formula E | New York Race 2
Another season over, but for Jean-Eric Vergne, there’s the release of knowing that he is back-to-back champion, the first in the five-year history of Formula E. After the carnage of the first race, which Vergne said had “more action than a Michael Bay movie,” today’s thriller was more of a Michael Mann movie — the camera panning to show tension, and drivers pushing each other psychologically, but none of the instant gratification of the previous day’s impatient, bad-tempered tantrum of a race, with Robin Frijns eventually winning.
All Vergne had to do was score a point and he knew he would all but ensure Mitch Evans was unable to win the championship. It was a little more difficult to see off the challenge of Lucas di Grassi, as ever. The Brazilian started just ahead, with him 11th and Vergne 12th on the grid, both drivers suffering badly on the dust of the Brooklyn street circuit in the treacherous qualifying Group One. On pole position, from Group 3, was BMW i.Andretti’s Alexander Sims, for the first time in Formula E.
Sims may be a mild-mannered man in person, but the driver who has likened himself to Harry Potter due to his round glasses and mannered old-school Englishness is a beast in the car. Getting off the line well at the start, he pulled out a five-car lead after the opening laps, holding the Nissan e.dams of Saturday’s winner Sebastien Buemi at bay.
Buemi was having his own trouble, pushed into defensive mode by Robin Frijns, who danced onto the dust on the inside of turn one to squim past the Swiss. Frijns has had the confidence to go for marginal gains all weekend, with his final qualifying lap — containing a clout of the wall on his inside wheels on the penultimate turn — being a particular highlight. Risks are fine if they pay off, and Frijns pulled the same trick a few laps later on Sims, the BMW man so surprised he didn’t cover his line until Frijns was already half through, having to pull back to avoid an accident. For the new leader, it was exactly why he has won so many fans this season.
For Vergne, further back, it was like a slow bicycle race, as he tried to keep pace with the other points-scoring runners without causing, or being involved in, accidents. He had lost his tailgunner, Andre Lotterer being nerfed out of contention by Jose Maria Lopez on the second lap, and with di Grassi backed up by the steadfast Daniel Abt, who later on was to back Evans into di Grassi, it was another disadvantage for Vergne.
It was, therefore, of relief to JEV when di Grassi and Evans collided in bizarre fashion on the final lap, when seventh and eighth. It seemed as though Evans moved across to take his line for the corner, but he turned into di Grassi, who looked understandably furious afterwards. It didn’t stop the Brazilian lining up for the traditional selfie with Buemi, who took second in the championship after an exemplary second half of the season, and Vergne.
Edit on 15/07/2019: There have been reports of radio messages between Vergne and his engineer that suggest he wanted Andre Lotterer, his team-mate, to stop on track in race one, on Saturday, in order to call a Safety Car. Vergne has been given community service by the FIA for these messages, which thankfully were not acted-upon and so did not affect the championship.
