Another points finish for the new DS E-TENSE FE21 in Rome

The second E-Prix of the Rome double-header yielded similar conditions and another intense race but with different results from yesterday, leaving tighter gaps in the overall standings of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

António Félix Da Costa scored his first points with the new DS E-TENSE FE21, after crossing the line in seventh, while yesterday’s winner, Jean-Éric Vergne, finished 11th, narrowly missing the points.

It was a more challenging day for the DS TECHEETAH squad, confronted with full wet conditions as heavy rain soaked Free Practice 3 and the Qualifying session. Da Costa and Vergne took P15 and P20 respectively on the grid.

Whilst the streets of the EUR district were almost dry for the race, the race start was held behind the safety car. The two DS TECHEETAH drivers had a quiet initial part of the race, climbing up to P10 and P17. In the second part of the race, DAC and JEV gained further positions to stabilize in P10 and P16 up to the second safety-car period, which left a single full racing lap before the chequered flag. The two DS E-TENSE FE21 avoided the various incidents leading up to the final lap to secure their final results, P7 for the reigning champion and P11 for yesterday’s winner.

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will be back in two weeks with another double-header in Spain, where the series will compete at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.

António Félix da Costa, P7:

“Another fun race and today I took home some points. Starting from 15th, loads of overtakes, super cool race and finished 7th so pretty good recovery and good points. It was lots going on today, not only on track but also over the radio with the engineers on various strategies and there are a few things we could have done better but that is the cool things with this team, we never stop learning and we are gonna be better come Valencia. We need to get on top of qualifying to get a better starting positioning, it is the same as last year really but we managed to take home the title anyway so I am not too worried. Big thanks to all the fans for giving me another FANBOOST, I have used them both this weekend for overtakes so they are definitely helping.”

Jean-Éric Vergne, P11:

“I wasn’t entirely happy with the car today, don’t get me wrong, it is still a very quick car but we still have some work to do if we want to be at the top and fighting for wins and pole positions. We’ve got a good week and a half to work now before Valencia and we will be back fighting for more.”

 

Mark Preston, DS TECHEETAH Team Principal:

“Impressive efforts from both JEV and Antonio today despite tricky conditions on the track. Antonio managed to score valuable points and JEV finished just outside of the points. This means that we are now in third position in the team standings but we have a long way to go still and we have some real positives to take away with us from Rome.

“This was the last race for the DS Performance Director, Xavier Mestelan Pinon, and we would like to take this opportunity to give him a heartfelt thank you from all of us at the team. He has been instrumental in setting up this partnership and our success today. We wish him all the best as he moves to Geneva to take up the role of Chief Technical Officer at the FIA.”

Xavier Mestelan Pinon, DS Performance Director:

 

“One day is definitely different from the other! In FP3 and qualifying, our drivers couldn’t be effective enough on the wet and cold track because of a setup that was not ideal. In the race, the performance was closer to our expectations, but starting from the back, it was difficult to target the podium. I would like to congratulate Jean–Éric and António for their nice recoveries and overtakes, which allowed them to finish 11th and 7th. The whole team is confident ahead of the forthcoming rounds. It is going to be tough, but we are currently 3rd in the standings and have all that we need to be fighting for new titles!”