JACK NICHOLLS: ‘Title-winning experience could hand Vergne edge in four-way fight’
That in itself was not a disaster for Vergne. Of his title rivals, Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ) only concluded fourth, standings leader heading into Rounds 11 & 12, Edo Mortara only ninth, and Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) was outside of the details, so Vergne wound up only 14 factors off the championship guide.
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His teammate Antonio Felix da Costa managed to qualify second – which grew to become Julius Baer Pole Place just after Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy eas slapped with a penalty – but Vergne smacked the wall on the exit of the chicane on his quick energy, which means he could only handle 13th fastest. A race-lengthy slog meant he had only manufactured it to 10th at the commence of the penultimate lap, ahead of a collision with Lucas di Grassi (ROKiT Venturi Racing) ended his race and denied him of that a single championship issue.
Vergne was aggrieved, but in the grand plan of matters I doubt that just one issue will be of any notice occur the remaining calculations. If he loses the similar floor that he did in New York in London this weekend, his title obstacle will be mathematically in excess of.
Motorists like – nay appreciate – to explain to us that all races are worth the similar details, so have an equivalent degree of value, and that they simply have to deal with each and every the exact. I imagine some of them. My illustrious co-commentator Dario Franchitti insists that he was equipped to focus in that way without having as well substantially work, just due to the fact that is how his brain is wired.
Other people, this sort of as 2016 F1 Environment Winner Nico Rosberg, have admitted that retaining that concentrate and placing title scenarios out of your brain is amazingly difficult. Of system, we hardly ever know the internal workings of a motorists intellect, and can only think what they tell us as the reality.
And this is the place I feel Vergne could have the upper hand. The Frenchman has absolutely nothing to show, acquiring two System E titles in the bag previously and is firmly founded as 1 of the greatest motorists on the grid. None of the other motorists in the fight have received a Components E title, and in fact none have gained a championship in the very last 7 yrs.
That is not intended as a criticism in any way – how was Vandoorne meant to win a title driving a McLaren in Formulation 1 for two seasons – but a lot more a remark that racing motorists exist to earn races and championships, and the for a longer time you go without having one, the hungrier you develop into, and probably as a consequence the a lot more tension you put on you when the chance will come your way.
Vandoorne is basically the most current winner exterior of System E, right after wrapping up the GP2 Sequence in 2015. Evans past won a title in 2012, when he defeat da Costa and Daniel Abt to the GP3 crown, although for Mortara his past championship was the 2010 F3 Euroseries.
New York City was not a major scoring venue for any of our title protagonists, admittedly, and we now get there in London for the penultimate race weekend of the season. There have been monitor changes, and the new qualifying format will provide a great deal cleaner racing than we saw past year.
Producing it into the Qualifying Duels will be absolutely key. It is no coincidence that Vandoorne was the only one of the prime 4 to make it into the Duels on both of those times in the Usa and subsequently took property the biggest haul of points.
Motorists can say they are taking it 1 race at a time, and I will imagine them to a issue, but for absolutely everyone else the strain is – like the route in and out of ExCeL’s unique indoor portion – ramping up as we achieve the business enterprise finish of the combat for the ABB FIA System E World Championship.