Team: DS Virgin Racing
Drivers: Sam Bird & Jean-Eric Vergne
Team Principle: Alex Tai
2014/15 Championship: 5th – 133 points
Virgin really embraced Formula E and early in the inaugural season looked like they may produce the first champion in Sam Bird. By the time, the teams and drivers arrived in London for the end of season double-header though the Brit was too far behind to take the title even if he won both races. The team had a solid season, finishing 5th in the Teams’ Championship with Bird scoring 103 of their 133 points. The remaining 30 were scored by Jaime Alguersuari whose best result was 4th in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Spaniard didn’t race in London and was replaced by Swiss driver Fabio Leimer who is the current Manor Marussia F1 test driver.
Bird stays with the team for Season 2 and is joined by Jean-Eric Vergne who raced for Andretti Racing last season. Both drivers are capable of winning races and could potentially win the championship making the DS Virgin Racing team one of the strongest on this season’s Formula E grid.
Driver Name: Sam Bird
Nationality: British
Date of Birth: 9/1/87
Formula E Races: 11
Formula E Wins: 2
2014/15 Championship: 5th – 103 points
After an impressive podium in the first ever Formula E race in Beijing (thanks to Nicolas Prost taking himself and Nick Heidfeld out of the race on the last lap), Bird picked up two wins in Putrajaya and London on his way to fifth in the standings. He was consistently one of the fastest drivers in the field, but his championship hopes were hampered by three retirements.
Bird has a ten-year history of single-seater racing progressing from Formula BMW UK and Formula Renault UK through Formula 3 to GP2. In 2012, he finished third in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with two wins while completing his duties as the F1 test driver for Mercedes AMG Petronas. 2013 was even better as he was runner-up to Fabio Leimer in the GP2 championship, picking up five wins to the Swiss driver’s three but finishing twenty points behind by the end. After failing to secure a drive in GP or even F1 in 2014, he signed for Virgin Racing in Formula E while also competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and taking part in the Le Man 24 Hours.
This year he has finished 11th at Le Mans in his second attempt at the 24 Hours and also sits third in the WEC LMP2 category alongside co-drivers Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal in the G-Drive Racing team after winning the opening round at Silverstone.
Driver Name: Jean-Eric Vergne
Nationality: French
Date of Birth: 25/4/90
Formula E Races: 9
Formula E Wins: 0 (best finish 2nd Long Beach, USA)
2014/15 Championship: 7th – 70 points
Vergne joined the Andretti Formula E team in 2014 after the opening two rounds had already taken place, replacing the suspended Franck Montagny who tested positive for a banned substance. He was immediately on the pace with pole position on his debut at Punte del Este, Uruguay but eventually finished outside the points. He would take pole in two more races across the season (in Miami and Moscow) and finish on the podium twice (second in Long Beach and third in London). He clearly showed he has the pace for Formula E and with a bit more luck he could have a shot at the title.
Like Bird, Vergne has a career in single-seater racing but progressed to Formula 1 where he raced for three years. He won the first championship he competed in with the 2007 Formula Campus Renault title and went on to race in Formula Renault for two more years. In 2010, he won the prestigious British Formula 3 Championship with 13 wins in 30 races to join Nelson Piquet, Mika Hakkinen and Ayrton Senna on the list of champions. In 2011, he finished second in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series behind current DTM driver Robert Wickens from Canada while also being the test driver for Scuderia Toro Rosso. He was promoted to the full race team at Toro Rosso for 2012 and stayed through 2013 and 2014 competing in 58 races and achieving a career-high of 13th in the championship in 2014.
As Toro Rosso went for two rookies in 2015 with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz the Frenchman found himself without a drive but has moved to Ferrari as test driver while waiting for opportunities for 2016.
