Vergne wins in Rome as round three of Formula E finishes under safety car
There was plenty of drama on the historic streets of Rome for round three of the 2021 FIA Formula E Championship as pole position winner Stoffel Vandoorne suffered a late-race crash to set up a safety car finish headed by Jean Eric Vergne in front of round two winner Sam Bird and Jaguar team-mate Mitch Evans.
With six minutes of the 45 minute plus one lap race duration the battle for the lead had boiled down to a duel between DS TECHEETAH’s Vergne and Audi’s Lucas Di Grassi, until di Grassi slowed shortly after Vergne had passed for the lead just as Vandoorne spectacularly crashed out.
Di Grassi had initially made a superb move on leader Vergne at turn four with just under seven minutes remaining, only to slow less than a lap later, and as the Brazilian slipped backwards down the field, Vandoorne hit trouble, clouting the wall and spinning backwards and out of the race.
With insufficient time to clear up the debris and resume racing, the race finished behind the safety car, giving double champion Vergne his first win of the season and his 10th Formula E-Prix victory and handing another double podium to Jaguar Racing.
Rome E-Prix round three results
- 1 Jean ERIC VERGNE - DS TECHEETAH
- 2 Sam BIRD - JAGUAR RACING
- 3 Mitch EVANS - JAGUAR RACING