Jean-Eric Vergne says he was only thinking about his title position during the closing laps of the Bern ePrix.
The DS Techeetah driver had led since the first lap and seemed to have the measure of Mitch Evans behind him, only for it to start raining in the closing minutes.
With Vergne’s rivals Lucas di Grassi and team-mate Andre Lotterer further down the order, there was a chance for the reigning champion to open up a significant lead in the championship regardless of whether he won the race or not.
As such Vergne said that with the track getting more treacherous he was just concentrating on keeping his car out of the wall rather than getting the win.
“The team worked so well, and it couldn’t have been a better day today,” Vergne said. “At the end with the rain it was really stressful.
“I had to be careful because I’d rather finish second than in the wall for the championship, I was of course trying to win the race, but also being extra cautious.
“All in all a fantastic weekend for the team, pole position, victory and extending the lead in both championships. It went perfectly well and I’m very pleased with the work that we have done.”
It was a contrasting day on the other side of the Techeetah garage however. Having fought his way from eighth to fourth place at the chequered flag, Lotterer was given a post-race time penalty for exiting the pit lane while the red light was on early in the race.
The penalty effectively ruled Lotterer out of the title hunt, as he now sits forty-four points off his team-mate.
Lotterer commented afterwards, “It was a shame to receive such a harsh penalty in the end after having fought so hard together with my engineers to climb up the pack, it has for sure put a downer on things as the points for fourth would have been invaluable for my title hunt.
“Nevertheless, now we keep our heads down and prepare New York for a comeback and to end the season on a high.”
