London born drivers Alex Sims and Dan Ticktum finished just outside of the points at the iconic Monaco ePrix this weekend, crossing the line tantalisingly close in 11th and 12th respectively.
Stoffel Vandoorne capped off a strong weekend with a victory, to take the lead at the top of the drivers’ championship. Vandoorne’s race victory prevented Jaguar driver Mitch Evans from picking up a third straight Formula E victory.
Mitch Evans qualified in pole position, and lead the pack into turn one. Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein battled hard with Evans into the Nouvelle corner just before the half-hour mark but decided to not attack at that minute.
This came at a moment in the race where a minority of drivers decided to use their first attack mode activations and Jean-Eric Vergne wasted no time at all after activating his, managing to overtake Evans and Wehrlein.
Issues For Wehrlein
Wehrlein would eventually activate his own attack mode and take the race lead from Vergne but disaster struck when his car developed a mechanical problem, forcing him to retire from the race. His stricken car caused a full track yellow flag, thus halting Vergne’s next attack mode use.
Vandoorne would stay disciplined throughout and a series of neat and tidy overtakes, paired with a safety car after Andre Lotterer was caught by Oliver Rowland going into turn 1, sending the pair crashing into the wall and forcing a safety car. The duo were the next to have to retire from the race.
Despite a late charge from Evan, Vandoorne managed to keep his cool to take home the race win for Mercedes, and his first race win of the season.
Bad Time For London
It’s been a torrid time for both London-born drivers, with Sims remaining without a championship point after six races and Ticktum gaining just the one after a tenth place finish in the Rome ePrix. The pair have had mostly quiet races with both drivers gaining positions from their qualifying places.
Speaking to FormulaEZone, Alex Sims talks about his near-miss on a points finish, saying: “The level is very high and there’s still some understanding I need to do, mainly in qualifying.”
With the next round in Berlin, the young Brits will be hoping that their season turns around and they can start adding more points to the board.
