HYDERABAD, India — Jean-Éric Vergne of DS PENSKE held on to win the first ABB FIA Formula E World Championship race in India in front of a sellout 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 pair Nick Cassidy and Sébastien Buemi, though António Félix da Costa ultimately took third after the Swiss was penalized post-race.
“I’m very, very happy. It was a tough race — I had to defend quite hard at the end but we somehow managed to win it. It was a clean race, no mistakes. Very happy with the win today. It’s good for everyone’s heart in our team. For the first few races it’s good to boost it with a good race like that so couldn’t be happier,” Vergne said.
It was Vergne’s first trip to the top step of the Formula E podium since Rome in April 2021 — Season 7 — and he achieved it in style. Vergne made his way to the front of the pack on lap 15 of 32, with the double champion sweeping by Buemi at the hairpin after the Jaguar TCS Racing pair removed one another from the equation two laps prior.
That incident saw Sam Bird make a lunge on the dirty side of the track on fourth-placed Sacha Fenestraz.
The Brit could not slow his I-TYPE 6 in time, colliding with teammate Mitch Evans, who was in third at the time, pitching the Kiwi’s car into a spin. Both Jaguars were ultimately forced into retirement with the unlucky Fenestraz left tumbling down the order in a race where a podium double 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 checkered 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.
However, 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 will regard as 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 TAG Heuer Porsche’s António Félix da Costa onto the podium in his 100th race, the Season 6 champion having started the race in 13th. Teammate Pascal Wehrlein crossed the line fourth after picking his way through the order from 12th on the grid.
Sérgio Sette Câmara avoided trouble and climbed through the pack from 15th on the starting grid to produce NIO 333 Racing’s best result since Berlin in Season 4 with a fifth-place finish.
Jake Dennis was the victim of an over-enthusiastic René Rast move on lap 26 at the hairpin, which proved costly for the Brit, who was running comfortably in fourth and on for a strong points haul.
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.