Jean-Éric Vergne believes Mitch Evans failed to “leave room” for him in their first of two incidents, which occurred during Friday evening’s Diriyah E-Prix.
The first race this weekend in Diriyah was action-packed and also controversial, as Vergne and Evans collided in the opening laps. Vergne started from pole for the 16th time in his Formula E career – matching Sébastian Buemi’s record – and converted it into a second place finish.
However, P2 wasn’t looking likely early on, as Evans had much better pace. Evans tried everything to get ahead of Vergne, with his first attempt having been a tight one. The Jaguar TCS Racing driver was ahead of Vergne when he activated his first Attack Mode; however, as he exited the activation zone, Evans found himself being forced into the wall.
Vergne went into the side of Evans, something the stewards noted but opted not to investigate. This hurt Evans’ momentum. Evans tried to overtake Vergne again on the last lap but ended up dropping from third to fifth, after running very deep into the corner. After the race, Evans told Motorsport Week that he ran deep due to Vergne moving twice under braking.
Evans was livid that neither incident was looked into and he admitted that he’s “always lacked confidence in the stewards”. The Kiwi was adamant that both incidents were Vergne’s fault, although the DS Penske driver revealed his belief that Evans should’ve left him “room” as “it’s the rule”.
“Well, I mean, the driver that comes out of the Attack Mode comes on the racing line and you’re already on the limit to try and exit in front of him, so you’re already sideways and then you have to try and leave room,” Vergne told Motorsport Week.
“But you’re on the racing line. When a car goes out of the track, when he comes back, he has to leave room. It’s the rule. So, yeah, it’s a bit tricky.”
