Stoffel Vandoorne hails 'perfect day' after clinching first Formula E victory

Stoffel Vandoorne hailed a ‘perfect’ day for himself and Mercedes-Benz EQ after claiming his first victory in a one-two for the manufacturer to close out the ABB FIA Formula E Championship season at Berlin Tempelhof.

The Belgian won the race from lights-to-flag while teammate Nyck de Vries finished second, his first podium, for the German manufacturer who also claimed third in the Teams’ Championship on their debut season in the all-electric series.

Nissan e.dams’ Sebastien Buemi rounded off the podium in third place while former champion Jean-Eric Vergne climbed an incredible 14 places to finish seventh in the race and secure third place overall in the Drivers’ Championship.

Vergne’s DS TECHEETAH teammate Antonio Felix da Costa finished ninth to round off his Championship winning season, as he was formally presented with the trophy at the close of an intense season finale which has seen six races in nine days.

“That was pretty much the perfect race,” Vandoorne said. “To finish the season with a one-two for Mercedes I don’t think we could have hoped for any better and to finish second in the Championship is a bonus.

“We knew we had good race pace, we have been able to show that the last couple of races but to execute that from the front and to do that from the lead is still quite different and I’m super happy we pulled that off.

“It was down to the hard work of the team; everyone has done a fantastic job. I’ve struggled the last couple of races with qualifying, but everything today was picture perfect.”

Vandoorne started on Julius Baer Pole Position for the second time in his career after coming out on top in a tight qualifying session where the top-11 were separated by just a tenth of a second and the championship leaders started from the back of the grid.

Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Rene Rast tried to leapfrog Buemi on the outside of the opening corner but was unsuccessful and De Vries soon overtook the German replacement driver, who finished fourth to make a strong statement to his potential employers next season.

During the first strategic round of ATTACK MODE, Buemi and De Vries traded places behind race leader Vandoorne while towards the back Jean-Eric Vergne quickly raced up to 11th from 21st on the grid.

However, the Frenchman was soon under investigation for contact with Alexander Sims from BMW i Andretti Motorsport and but was just given a warning and continued his progress eventually getting into the points positions.

Sam Bird, in his final race for Envision Virgin Racing before joining Panasonic Jaguar Racing next season, was making similarly good progress up to eighth from 14th with 15 minutes left in the race and setting the fastest lap in the process. The Englishman eventually finished fifth in his farewell race for the Virgin team.

Having won the race yesterday Nissan e.dams’ Oliver Rowland came back down to earth with a bump after qualifying dead last and then having his race ended prematurely with eight minutes to go.

De Vries made his move on Buemi in the closing minutes as the two black Mercedes completed a brilliant one-two to set an ominous tone for the rest of the paddock ahead of next season.

Felipe Massa finished 16th and announced following the season-ending E-Prix that he would be departing ROKiT Venturi Racing. The Brazilian said he will announce his future plans in due course.

The ABB FIA Formula E Championship is #PositivelyCharged and committed to making a positive impact on the world. Find out more at: fiaformulae.com/positivelycharged

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