Andre Lotterer has slammed Sam Bird for the ‘disgusting’ move that led to the DS Techeetah driver having to retire from the race.
Lotterer and Bird had been locked in a race long battle, with the German having the upper hand after Bird out-braked himself going into turn two early on.
But going into the penultimate lap Bird tried to put his Envision Virgin Racing car up the inside of Lotterer, only to run into the back of him and puncture his right rear tyre.
It led to Lotterer immediately having to drop back, and he retired from the race half a lap later after the tyre delaminated and destroyed a sizeable chunk of his car.
Speaking afterwards Lotterer said that there was nothing he could have done, “I don’t know what I could have done differently. I protected my position in a fair way.
“The race was fair up to that point but it is what you would call a disgusting move because it is not really the way we should race. So I lost it thanks to him. Even if they disqualify him my race is done so honestly it is just sad.”
He continued later, “It wasn’t really a fair move and we now go home empty handed. It’s pretty sad because even if Sam got a five second penalty, it doesn’t change the race for me, I can’t get those points back.”
The result means that after nearly a season and a half in Formula E Lotterer is still looking for his first win in the series, with Techeetah still without a win this season despite having what is seen by some as the best package on the grid.
Jean-Eric Vergne too had a race to forget in Hong Kong as he went a third race in a row without scoring points.
Having started at the back after causing a red flag in qualifying, the reigning champion struggled to make his way through the packed midfield battle, and having received a penalty for contact ended up in thirteenth.
