Jean-Eric Vergne wins first E-Prix held in India
Ten years after the unceremonious exit of Formula 1 from India, a global motorsport World Championship finally made a return to the country with the Formula E Hyderabad E-Prix. And the 33-lap race here on Sunday was nothing short of sensational.
Wheel-to-wheel racing, crashes, penalties, overtaking, the unpredictability, the 46-minute race had all the drama and action for which a capacity crowd of 25,000 had turned out. They eventually got to see DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne win the inaugural all-electric race at the 2.83km Hyderabad street circuit here on Saturday.
Last minute rush to complete the facilities, a lack of toilets in the paddock, issues with kerbs and run-off areas on the circuit, cars kicking up dust on the track – despite all the pre-event issues, everything came together to produce one of the most exciting Formula E races in recent times, which the only two-time champion won with zero energy left in his car at the finish line.
“I am in a better position than when I last came to India, so I am in a happier place,” said the jovial Vergne, the only driver on the Formula E grid who raced in the final Indian Grand Prix in 2013. He finished 13th 10 years go for Toro Rosso at the Buddh circuit in Greater Noida. “It is nice to come back to India. It has been many years and India has treated me quite well. I hope we can come back. The track, they probably need to make some amendments in the first chicane. The rest of the track is very good.
"I hope they have better cleaning machines for the track because it was very dusty.”
It was Vergne’s first trip to the top step of the podium since Rome in April 2021. The Frenchman made his way to the front on Lap 15 after sweeping past Envision's Sebastian Buemi at the Turn 3 hairpin after Jaguar’s Sam Bird crashed into teammate and pole man Mitch Evans, taking both of them out of the race.
Vergne, who started second, held on for an extraordinary win, fighting hard, especially in the final third of the race to stay ahead of Envision pair of Nick Cassidy and Swiss Buemi, though Antonio Felix da Costa of Porsche ultimately took third in his 100th Formula E race after the Swiss was penalised for exceeding the maximum power allowance. That saw him demoted to 15th and out of points.
"It’s been a cool experience. The track was one of the most fun circuits we've driven on. It’s very fast. We have room to improve but it was a super experience," said da Costa.
Vergne, though leading, had his mirrors full of Cassidy. The Frenchman used every trick in the book to keep Cassidy at bay and cross the line first in one of his best wins, one that will live long in one's memory on Formula E's first visit to India.
Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein retained his lead in the championship despite crossing the line fourth, having picked his way from 12th on the grid.
Mahindra's Oliver Rowland made a move for the podium on Buemi with a lap to go. It didn't work and saw him pushed to sixth. Rowland still collected his first points of the season for the home team. Norman Nato steered to seventh and bagged an extra point for fastest lap. Mahindra's other driver Lucas di Grassi finished 14th.
Reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne of DS Penske finished eighth for his best result of the season while Andre Lotterer of Andretti and Edoardo Mortara of Maserati rounded off the top 10.
The race was attended by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Telangana politicians, cricketers including Sachin Tendulkar and film stars. Round 5 of the 16-race calendar will take place in Cape Town on February 25.
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