Four rounds and five races, that’s all that’s left in the 2017–18 FIA Formula E Championship season before a radical shift in how the races are run and which car is raced. The 2018–19 season will feature an all-new car that will be faster and complete a full e-Prix race distance on a single charge.
But until that happens later this year, there are championships up for grabs. And despite the terrific start to the season by Mahindra Racing and Felix Rosenqvist, the Indian team has been leapfrogged by China’s Techeetah and their driver Jean-Eric Vergne in both teams’ and drivers’ championship.
Vergne has not finished outside the top five in the seven races held so far and has claimed two wins and a second-place finish as well. It’s been a consistent run that continued with a fifth-place finish in the Rome ePrix that sees him top the points standings with 119 points.
In second place is DS Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird, who won in Rome, capitalising on yet another retirement of Rosenqvist. It is the Swede’s second retirement in three races, which has put a wet blanket on his two wins and two top five finishes from earlier in the season. He trails Vergne by 37 points now, and Bird is now second with 101 points.
Barring one race, Bird has finished in the top five so far, which includes two wins and two third places. The DS Virgin Racing driver pumped his fist in the air as he crossed the finish-line to complete an assured drive under mounting pressure from not one but two drivers as the laps counted down in the inaugural race in Rome.
Bird defended his position at the head of the field with Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans and Audi Sport’s Lucas di Grassi looming large in his mirrors. Di Grassi reeled Bird back in to heighten the tension in the final laps, but it wasn’t enough to deter Bird, who picked-up his first win since the season-opener in Hong Kong.
Mahindra Racing and Rosenqvist now need to hustle to find the reliability needed to capitalise on the remaining races.
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