Jean-Eric Vergne comfortably won the Paris ePrix to increase his Formula E drivers’ championship lead after drama on the last lap behind him on the road.
The Techeetah driver started on pole position and only briefly relinquished the lead for the race during the scheduled pit stop.
While the gap between him and DS Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird was small during the first half of the race, Vergne was able to pull out a gap of 4.882 seconds by the time the chequered flag dropped.
There was drama on the final lap involving his team-mate Andre Lotterer. After seemingly running out of usable energy and having to slow down, he wasn’t able to get out of the way of Bird who smashed into the back of the car.
Bird was able to cross the line in third with only three wheels and damaged suspension. The Brit was struggling for speed during his second stint and had dropped to fourth from second before the incident.
In front of him at the end of the race was defending drivers’ champion Lucas di Grassi, who started sixth and finished second after passing Lotterer before the chequered flag.
Di Grassi also complained about Lotterer’s driving after the race along with Bird, saying that he was being pushed by the Techeetah driver during the race.
Venturi’s Maro Engel ended up in fourth, his best race finish since joining the team at the beginning of the 2016-17 season.
Sebastien Buemi was the final driver to pass Lotterer before finishing the final lap, the Renault e.dams driver finishing in fifth after starting the race in eighth place.
Di Grassi’s Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler team-mate Daniel Abt made up multiple positions during the race after starting in 14th, making his way into the top 10 after three laps.
The German was able to keep hold of seventh place with Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist 1.353s down the road in eighth.
Oliver Turvey picked up points for NIO Formula E in ninth, while Jose Maria Lopez rounded off the top 10.
