Jean-Éric Vergne felt the timing of the full-course yellow during the Monaco E-Prix ruined his chance of chasing victory on Saturday, with the Frenchman having just activated his second attack mode when it was called by race direction.
The DS Techeetah driver was involved in the lead battle in Monaco all afternoon long, but Pascal Wehrlein’s untimely retirement prevented him from using his additional power from the attack mode as it ran out before the caution period was removed.
Nevertheless, Vergne says he is happy to come away from the event with a third podium of the season, although he fell behind Stoffel Vandoorne to second in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Drivers’ standings.
“I finished third and I’m quite happy with the race obviously,” said Vergne. “I wanted to win it but I got unfortunate with the second attack mode, as when I activated it the full course yellow came out, which ruined my chance to win.
“I’m still happy with third, we scored strong points in the championships, and we are going to come back stronger in Berlin.”
“I’m happy with the race, not so happy with qualifying” – António Félix da Costa
Team-mate António Félix da Costa was happy with his recovery in the race, having missed out on the duels and starting tenth on the grid, he ended the day just a couple of seconds shy of the podium in fifth.
Félix da Costa, the 2021 winner in Monaco, said he had the pace in the car to attack but his result in Qualifying left him with too much to do to fight for the victory. However, the pace has given him a confidence boost heading into the rest of the season.
“I’m happy with the race, not so happy with qualifying where I put myself in a difficult situation,” said Félix da Costa. “Today we had the car, the pace, so it’s always fun when you can race like that.
“The team gave me a great car, probably the best one I had this season so far, which gave me a lot of confidence.”
