Stoffel Vandoorne said that he was glad to get to the finish in Santiago after he made contact with several other drivers during the race.
The Mercedes-Benz EQ driver said his car was “clattered” into, and that the steering was bent out of alignment as a result.
He managed to fight on and finished in sixth place, which along with the retirement of Alexander Sims, meant that Vandoorne took the lead of the driver’s championship.
“That was a tough and highly eventful race for me,” he said afterwards. “My car was clattered into from all sides and afterwards didn’t drive one hundred percent straight.
“Consequently, it was very difficult to keep it going all the way to the finish.
“But I’m glad that I managed to do that, because there were a lot of incidents today and it’s important for us to have scored decent points again. That’s what matters in this championship.”
Team-mate Nyck de Vries missed on a potential podium finish meanwhile after a post-race time penalty demoted him from third to fifth.
The Dutchman overtook Mitch Evans on the very last lap to climb into the top three, but a penalty regarding his battery temperatures meant that he was classified down in fifth.
Despite that disappointment de Vries said that he was happy with his race.
“I didn’t have the best of starts on the inside, but I was able to limit the damage,” he said.
“After that, I managed to stay calm in the early stages of the race and benefit from some of the other drivers’ mistakes. My pace was good, and I was able to fight my way forward through the field.
“Unfortunately, I then got a penalty, which is a pity. But overall it was a good race.”
