Vandoorne as boss, Nato deprived of podium

The Belgian saves his Roman weekend in the most beautiful way. At the same time, the Frenchman was downgraded by the race direction after the finish.

Published on 11/04/2021 à 14:14

Gonzalo Forbes

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Vandoorne as boss, Nato deprived of podium

Fourth on the starting grid, Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes) had only one goal in mind after his retirement the day before: to win. To achieve this, the Belgian had to get rid of pole sitter Nick Cassidy (Virgin), Norman Nato (Venturi) and Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche).

A mission that only took him a quarter of an hour. Quickly rid of Nick Cassidy, who made a mistake and fell back in the ranking, Stoffel Vandoorne then got the better of Frenchman Norman Nato before surprising leader Pascal Wehrlein at the start of the 8th loop.

The native of Kortrijk then created a nice margin with his runner-up Alex Sims (Mahindra) and only had to manage until the checkerboard. The entry of the safety car following the accident of René Rast (Audi) could have disrupted the end of the race but the Belgian held on to secure his first victory of the season, the second of his career.

Qualified 6th, Alex Sims took a good second place at the finish, just ahead of Frenchman Norman Nato who reached the podium for the first time. However, the Cannais rider was downgraded for excessive energy consumption and therefore forced to give up his place to Pascal Wehrlein, initially 4th.

Winner of the first race in Rome this Saturday, Jean-Éric Vergne (DS Techeetah) finished 11th. His teammate António Félix Da Costa arrives 7th after starting from 15th position on the grid.

Race to forget at Audi. Like Mercedes the day before, the German team saw neither of its two drivers (Luca di Grassi and René Rast) reach the finish.

In the drivers' standings, Sam Bird remains in the lead with 43 points. Mitch Evans and Robin Frijns follow behind with 39 and 34 units respectively. The winner of the day Stoffel Vandoorne is 4th, 1 length behind the leader. Nyck de Vries and Pascal Wehrlein both have 32 points.

Find the analysis of the Rome e-Prix by our experts in AUTOhebdo No. 2307 available from Monday evening in digital version and Wednesday on newsstands.

Gonzalo Forbes

In charge of promotion formulas (F2, F3, FRECA, F4...). Carried by the grace of Franco Colapinto.

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