Jean-Eric Vergne held off Nick Cassidy’s charge despite low energy to win Formula E Hyderabad EPrix with Antonio Felix da Costa in third.
Jean-Eric Vergne (DS PENSKE) held fast for an astonishing win the inaugural Greenko Hyderabad E-Prix Round 4, with the DS PENSKE driver fending off the Envision Racing pair of Nick Cassidy and Sebastien Buemi over the line, though TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa ultimately took third after the Swiss was penalised post-race.
The Frenchman returned to winning ways with his first trip to the top step of the Formula E podium since Rome, Season 7, and he did it in some style. Vergne made his way to the front of the pack on Lap 15 – the double champion sweeping by Buemi at the hairpin after the Jaguars had removed one another from the equation two laps prior.
That moment saw Sam Bird make a lunge on the dirty side of the track on fourth-placed Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan). The Brit couldn’t get his I-TYPE 6 stopped in time and collected teammate Mitch Evans, running third at the time – pitching the Kiwi’s car into a spin and sending both into retirement and the unlucky Fenestraz tumbling down the order with them, in a race where a podium double – at the least – looked a possibility for Jaguar.
Vergne led the way from that moment but had his mirrors full of Cassidy’s Envision Racing machine as the chequered flag drew closer. The New Zealander had managed to gather up an extra four percentage points of usable energy on Vergne come the closing stages of the race but the latter is the consummate Formula E fighter and used every trick in the book to keep him at bay and cross the line first – surely one of his best wins and one that will live long in the memory on Formula E’s first visit to India in front of a sold-out crowd of over 25,000 people.
Buemi followed home in third but an overpower infringement saw him demoted to 15th spot via 17-second penalty, equivalent to a drive-through. That promoted Porsche’s da Costa onto the podium in his 100th race – the Season 6 champion having started the race 13th. Teammate Pascal Wehrlein crossed the line fourth after picking his way through the order from 12th on the grid.
Sergio Sette Camara kept his nose clean and climbed through the pack to produce NIO 333’s best result since Berlin, Season 4 – and all the way from 15th on the starting grid. Oliver Rowland, meanwhile, made a move for the podium on Buemi – not aware of the Swiss’ impending penalty of the time – with just a lap to go. It didn’t work out and saw him shuffled to sixth. Nevertheless, his first points of the season at Mahindra’s home race. Norman Nato steered to seventh and the TAG Heuer Fastest Lap.
Reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne (DS PENSKE) rounded in eighth for his best result of the season so far, while Andre Lotterer (Avalanche Andretti) and Edo Mortara (Maserati MSG Racing) rounded out the top 10. That left Wehrlein with an extended 18-point advantage on Dennis, with Vergne leaping to third in the Drivers’ standings. TAG Heuer Porsche has taken a 23-point lead over Avalanche Andretti in the Teams’ World Championship.
#ABBFormulaE #HyderabadEPrix Buemi dropping off the podium. The penalty drops him to 15th. Da Costa gets 3rd now. #MsportXtra @DarshanChokhani @FormulaEZone @HiHyderabad pic.twitter.com/JBmgejyMJR
— #MsportXtra © (@MsportXtra) February 11, 2023
[Note: The story is as per press release]