Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale.
The #newyorkcity E-Prix was red-flagged after rain began to fall, causing several accidents that also involved #stoffelvandoorne. The two Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team drivers ultimately finished fourth and eighth in round eleven of the 2021/22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
Stoffel Vandoorne:
"Unfortunately, the race ended badly with a big crash. I aquaplaned and just lost control. I think the top three all spun off when the rain began to fall. A pretty dramatic end to the race, quite frankly. It's not how I wanted it to finish, but that's the way it is. I think this E-Prix was an intense affair right from the start and probably not one of our best races, if I might say so. We were a bit lacking in pace but were still up there with the front-runners. Once it was dry, it felt like things were on the up and I thought the race was going my way. I gradually moved up into P2 but then it started to rain and things got a bit tougher. Let's wait and see what tomorrow brings."
Nyck de Vries:
"That was a very eventful race which ended abruptly and in an extremely aggressive manner because of the rain. Our race went fairly well. I felt I was quite competitive and fast at the start of the E-Prix but lost some of the edge to my competitiveness towards the end. I was probably a little too conservative once the rain began to fall. At least we got some points out of this race. We might have stayed up front had we been slightly better placed in qualifying. Still, we'll get another chance tomorrow."
Ian James, Team Principal:
"It's been a day where, overall, we can be pleased with our performance. In qualifying Stoffel optimised the circumstances and made it into the Final round of the session, ultimately missing out on pole position by only 0.008 sec. A solid result, even though we were obviously disappointed not to have achieved Pole.
From there we felt we were able to put ourselves in a position to capitalise on the performance and hope to score some decent points. Unfortunately, the rain that came down about two thirds into the race, was pretty heavy, and that meant that standing water quickly developed along the track. At that point, the tyres have worn significantly and it was almost inevitable that at some stage something would happen - and it did. Unfortunately, Stoffel was in a position that caught him out, as one of the leading cars, and was unable to avoid the standing water.
Above all, I'm extremely happy all drivers involved are OK. Despite that there is some significant damage to the cars. In the end, I think the FIA took the right decision to, firstly, red flag the race and secondly, not restart after; all decisions were taken with the safety of the drivers in mind. Then, as per procedure, the running order of the penultimate lap before the red flag was taken as the final race result, meaning P4 (Stoffel) and P10 (Nyck) for us. Some penalties across the grid saw Nyck move up to P8 in the final classification - securing some important points for both drivers and the team.
There is a lot of work ahead tonight for the team. On top of all the normal race preparation for tomorrow and debriefs of today's race, we have a car that is severely damaged. Stoffel's car returned to our garage in a bad state. It will be a tough challenge for the mechanics, into the late hours. I'm extremely grateful for the effort they have already put in - and it will be impressive to see how they will turn around the work before tomorrow's early practice session. Then, tomorrow, we will give it our all again."
© Copyright 2024