Sam Bird says he was ‘gutted’ after crashing out in the last laps of the Mexico City ePrix.
The Envision Virgin Racing driver had driven brilliantly to climb from fifth to second place, and was withstanding a late charge from Antonio Felix da Costa behind him.
But under-pressure Bird ran slightly wide into the tight left-hander and onto the extensive marbles that had built up off the racing line.
It caused him to slide into the wall, and although he tried to continue he eventually crashed out again later in the lap at the stadium section.
It cost the Brit a potential eighteen points which would have kept him towards the top of the championship – instead he now lies in sixth.
Speaking after the race he said, “I’m beyond gutted with today; we’d shown just how quick the car was this morning and I was making great progress during the race – a podium finish was in our grasp.
“Losing it so close to the end of the race is heart breaking but it shows just how difficult this championship is, there’s just no room for error.
“The team have worked so hard throughout the weekend and it’s difficult to not be bringing the points home, but we’ll work hard over the next week to prepare for Marrakesh.”
Team-mate Robin Frijns also had a disappointing day as he also dropped out of the points late on.
The Dutchman had also shown strong race pace and was challenging for the top three, but a technical issue for Nyck de Vries caused him to not brake for the first turn and he ran into Frijns as a result.
Afterwards he bemoaned his bad luck, and said that a podium would have been possible for him were it not for the incident.
He said, “I’d made great progress during the race and believe I could’ve been up there on the podium today, but I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the incident with Nyck ended any chance of me scoring points today.
“It’s a difficult day for the team but with Marrakesh just around the corner we’ve got to regroup and begin our preparation for the upcoming race.”
The pointless finish for Virgin Racing has seen them drop to seventh in the team standings, thirty-three points behind current leaders BMW i Andretti Motorsport.
