Sam Bird says that the full course yellow that was brought out in the closing stages of the Berlin ePrix cost him the chance to score more points.
After a disappointing qualifying Bird started down in thirteenth, but he was able to concentrate on his energy management early on and started making progress through the field.
This was halted however when Alex Lynn’s Panasonic Jaguar Racing car stopped on track after his rear axle locked, and a full course yellow was brought out as a result.
Not only did this prevent Bird from passing any other drivers, but it also reduced the need for energy saving, something that Bird had managed well up until that point.
Speaking afterwards Bird said, “Starting 13th obviously meant we’d have to come through the field, which we were able to do, and after a little bit of contact early on, I was able to settle down and focus on conserving energy and picking up places where we could.
“We probably could have made up a few more places – if it wasn’t for the full course yellow period – as the race pace was there, but overall we did the best we could, and we’ll now focus on getting a good result in Bern.”
Envision Virgin Racing team-mate Robin Frijns suffered from a similar problem, as having started in twenty-second place he too made his way through the field, but was too far back when the full course yellow period started to make it into the points.
He finished in thirteenth, and he was in no doubt afterwards as to where improvements needed to be made.
“We knew today was always going to be difficult starting where we did but we had good pace and was able to move through the pack towards the latter stages of the race.
“We know we need to work on our qualifying as that’s so important in Formula E, so we’ll go away and use the small break before the next race to see where we can improve and ensure we come out fighting again.”
