Formula E Diriyah ePrix I
Evans questions lack of investigation after Vergne Diriyah E-Prix contact
Mitch Evans believes his contact with Jean-Eric Vergne in the Diriyah E-Prix should have been investigated by the stewards, claiming “how that wasn’t a penalty I don’t understand”.
Stefan Mackley
Edited: Jan 26, 2024, 9:07 PM
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The Jaguar driver was in contention for the win in Saudi Arabia as he battled Vergne and eventual race winner Jake Dennis in the early stages as the trio broke away from the pack.
Evans was leading when he took his first Attack Mode activation on lap four, one tour after polesitter Vergne had also gone through the activation zone.
But on rejoining the racing line the pair made contact and the loss of momentum meant Evans dropped behind Vergne.
“There’s a couple of things which annoyed me in the race. Obviously, the rejoin with the Attack Mode, Vergne pushed me into the wall,” Evans told Motorsport.com.
“The next corner was essentially mine but with that contact, it gave him the momentum, how that wasn’t a penalty I don’t understand.
“If I back out of that and he’s got the intention to put me in the wall I’m hitting his right-rear [tyre] and he’s in the wall straight away. If he doesn’t make contact with me it’s my corner.
“There’s contact so it needs to be looked at and I think the approach from him was to put me in the wall.”
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23, Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6, Sergio Sette Camara, ERT Formula E Team, ERT X24, Norman Nato, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, Jake Dennis, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, the rest of the field at the start
Vergne, when asked by Motorsport.com about the incident, said: “It was on the limit, I was on the limit. It was hard, it was very close.
“I didn’t mean to touch him, but this is Formula E, we rub the shoulders quite a lot sometimes.”
Evans eventually repassed Vergne in the mid-part of the race and briefly took the lead from Dennis before running fractionally wide at Turn 18, a move which if successful Evans believes would have won him the race.
The Kiwi, who also suffered radio problems during the 37-lap contest, dropped behind Vergne again after running wide at Turn 18 before challenging for the runner-up spot over the final laps as the DS Penske driver was forced to massively conserve energy.
Having got a run on the Frenchman along the starting straight into Turn 18, Evans moved to the inside but locked up and ran wide again, dropping behind team-mate Cassidy and McLaren’s Sam Bird as he finished fifth.
“The double move [from Vergne] on the last lap, it was a high-risk move, I’d been doing it all race, so I was kind of knowing what I needed to do to get it done and the double move made me have to steer again,” added Evans.
“I had to brake a lot and then brake a lot again when the car was sideways and that forced me way further into the run-off than I should have and that’s what lost me the positions.”
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