Vergne opens his counter, the Mercedes on the carpet

He did it ! Deprived of a podium in Saudi Arabia last February, Jean-Éric Vergne won the first e-Prix of the weekend in Rome this Saturday.

Sixth on the grid, the DS Techeetah driver first took advantage of the clash between the leader and pole sitter Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes) and his first pursuer André Lotterer (Porsche) to move up to second place behind Luca di Grassi (Audi).

HUGE HUGE DRAMA at the start of the race as race-leaders Stoffel Vandoorne and Andre Lotterer collided 

Watch live here >> https://t.co/sHOKGxvLZW#RomeEPrice pic.twitter.com/TlGK7hV3ik

- ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) April 10, 2021

Then began a duel between the two men for the final victory. Side by side, JEV and di Grassi knew that everything was going to come down to the strategy of fashion attack. And in this game, it was the Brazilian who showed himself to be the strongest.

Everything seemed to have been played out, but it was not without counting on the mechanics. While in the lead, Luca di Grassi saw his driveshaft give way just a few minutes from the checkered flag, leaving the way clear for Jean-Éric Vergne.

At the same time, Stoffel Vandoorne and Nick de Vries (Mercedes) made a mistake while trying to avoid Luca di Grassi idling on the track, thus causing the intervention of the safety car. JEV then only had to cross the finish line first to claim his first victory of the season ahead of the two Jaguar drivers, Sam Bird and Mitch Evans. Robin Frijns (Virgin) and Sébastien Buemi (Nissan e.Dams) completed the Top 5.

Despair for the @MercedesEQFE team as both cars collide while trying to avoid a slowing down @LucasdiGrassi...

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- ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) April 10, 2021

If Luca di Grassi was forced to retire, René Rast saved the furniture at Audi. Only 21st on the grid, the German managed a crazy climb to 6th place. Enough to look forward to a better day this Sunday.

Found responsible for the incident with Stoffel Vandoorne, André Lotterer received a 5-second penalty and finished 16th and last qualifier in the race.

In the drivers' standings, Sam Bird takes the lead with 43 points. Robin Frijns is second at nine points, Nyck de Vries third at 11. Jean-Értic Vergne moves up to 5th position and is 18 lengths behind the leader.