JEAN-ERIC VERGNE survived a late downpour to win the Swiss ePrix to boost his chances of winning back to back titles. Mitch Evans was hot on the Frenchman’s tail throughout the race and piled on the pressure in the closing wet laps but could not find a way past. Hometown hero Sebastian Buemi made up […]
JEAN-ERIC VERGNE survived a late downpour to win the Swiss ePrix to boost his chances of winning back to back titles.
Mitch Evans was hot on the Frenchman’s tail throughout the race and piled on the pressure in the closing wet laps but could not find a way past.
Hometown hero Sebastian Buemi made up the final step on the podium in front of a passionate crowd in Bern after being born an hour away from the city.
Vergne said he was struggling to sleep in the build up to the race after recovering from his defeat in the Le Mans 24 hour race.
The defending champion said: “It has been a really tough week, the mental exhaustion, I had after Les Mans made me really tired.
“I was back in the simulator at 9am on the Monday after Le Mans, it’s been tough.
“I couldn’t sleep very well in the night, I arrived here feeling like a zombie.”
Vergne now has a dominant 32-point lead in the championship after Lucas Di Grassi finished 10th, with the season coming to a close with a double header in New York.
When asked what it would mean to win back-to-back titles, he added: “It would be the biggest achievement of my career, that’s a no brainer.”
The race was full of drama following a 19-car pile up inside the first minute of the race forcing a red flag.
The incident sparked controversy as Felipe Massa and a handful of other drivers raged at the stewards.
The FIA chose to start the race in grid order rather than allow the drivers to keep the positions they had made up.
Title-challenger Lucas Di Grassi branded the decision a “joke” and furiously said they were “wrong”.
Massa added: “I have never seen that [decision] in my life.”
