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Formula E staged the first international motor race in New York City last weekend and the double-header event in Brooklyn produced some fantastic racing.
Sam Bird won both races to equal the feat produced by Nico Prost in the Season 2 London ePrix and there were points on their debut for the two newcomers Pierre Gasly and Alex Lynn.
Here is what all 20 drivers made of their weekend:
Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, 53 points (R1:1st,R2: 1st)
“I’m still in shock! What a weekend it’s been and what a car the DS Virgin Racing guys have given me. I’m just delighted for everyone in the team, especially by engineers and mechanics, who have worked so hard for this.”
Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH, 22 points (2nd, 8th)
“It was great to get my third second-place finish of the season. But I am really hungry for the win now. The team helped me immensely on race management so I was always up on energy to the drivers around me. The track surprisingly provided some overtaking opportunities so I had a really exciting race. I am really pleased to see my team-mate Stephane also on the podium. We are a strong team and will only get stronger.
Lucas di Grassi, Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport, 22 points (4th, 5th)
“Firstly a compliment to Formula E for bringing the series to New York. We are only in the third year of the championship and the premiere for a car race in the heart of this metropolis is another fantastic milestone. We didn’t have the speed this weekend to win races. But we made the best of our opportunities and brought ourselves into a better position in the title battle. Now the entire focus is on season’s last two race days, during which we will leave no stone unturned in our quest for the title.”
Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, 18 points (15th, 2nd)
"I'm thrilled to be back on the podium after a great New York City ePrix. It was feeling pretty good in the beginning and I had a very good start off the line. I thought we had the race under control with Sam. It was great we challenged him for the lead, and though he got past me again at the end of the first stint we were able to show that our car is capable of winning races. It’s a great position to be in for the final two rounds of the season and I can’t wait to get back in the car in Montreal.”
Pierre Gasly, Renault.e.dams, 18 points (7th, 4th)
"This weekend was very positive because it was my first experience in Formula E and I didn’t really know what to expect. We had a very busy schedule, especially with me arriving later on during the event. There was a lot to learn but we did great. We scored important points for the team. I didn’t expect to be in Super Pole this morning after only one day spent in the car. Furthermore, having to learn how to manage the battery and dealing with this in addition to driving. It was a great opportunity to discover a new discipline and I enjoyed the challenge very much. I would like to thank the team for this great weekend and I hope they will win in Montreal."
Stephane Sarrazin, TECHEETAH, 15 points (3rd, 12th)
“So happy to fight at the front again! I was always confident in the race because I knew I had the pace. I want to thank my engineer Hobson Campbell. He was coaching me step by step in the race on energy management. I felt like I had a co-driver. On Sunday my car was very fast and we deserved a better result. My pace was good and we made a lot of places during the race but on the last lap there was an issue with my energy and I had to slow.”
Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, 15 points (dnf, 3rd)
"It was a good race and quite exciting, to finish with another double podium is fantastic. I managed to gain a position from the start and was also pushed a bit from the back. Luckily the car stayed in one piece! After that I had very good pace, better than the cars in front but I tried to play it safe especially after what happened on Saturday. It was important not to risk anything. With Felix's issue, I could move forward to try and put some pressure on Sam. It was also a great pleasure to win FanBoost today and thank you to all the fans for your votes."
Nico Prost, Renault e.dams, 12 points (8th, 6th)
"It was not an easy weekend but I had two great races, especially on Sunday recovering from 14th to sixth. Maybe we could have found a balance between Saturday’s race and today in terms of number of laps because there was a real difference; 45 and 47 laps would have been better. When you have to save a lot of energy, you can’t overtake. On the other hand, I need to try something different for qualifying because it’s not working. I will continue to try my best to take points every race and be back on good pace."
Loic Duval, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, 10 points (5th, 13th)
“The first ever Formula E New York ePrix was a pretty successful one for me and the team. After qualifying in 12th on Saturday, I knew we could make up some places and I had some good battles to eventually cross the line in fifth place - my best result of the 2016/17 season! Unfortunately, we struggled on Sunday and I could only manage 19th in qualifying. The race went better, but I was unable to get any points after finishing 12th. Overall though there are plenty of positive signs and now we look ahead to the season finale in Montreal.”
Oliver Turvey, NextEV NIO, 8 points (6th, 14th)
“We have struggled a lot this weekend with thermal issues and with the powertrain, and that has been frustrating. It was even more difficult on Sunday with the hot temperatures due to the race starting earlier and the longer race distance. I was happy to finish P6 on Saturday, which was the best we could have done, and score eight points, but it was a shame that we couldn’t get anything out of the race on Sunday.”
Tom Dillmann, Venturi, 6 points (13th, 7th)
“Overall Sunday was a good day, to regroup after we had a few mistakes on Saturday, which was a bit disappointing so it was good to regroup and have a solid day. It was a good race, I think we were best of the rest on Sunday, seventh place and six points is good for us in the teams’ championship for the fight for P7 and everything to play for in Montreal.”
Robin Frijns, Andretti, 4 points (9th, 9th)
“As planned, we went really long with the first car. We did a lot of energy saving to do a shorter stint in the second car which worked out. That was a full course yellow while in the pit stop area. A lot of people, everyone, boxed except me and I went longer. At first I thought it was a mistake, then everybody was struggling a lot the last five laps and I made up a lot of positions. I think it was good to finish and we were in the points again."
Alex Lynn, DS Virgin Racing, 3 points (dnf, dnf)
“I’d like to thank the DS Virgin Racing team for giving me the opportunity to race this weekend. I’m very proud of what I achieved, especially with the pole position, and very happy for the team with the results they got.”
Adam Carroll, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, 1 point (10th, 11th)
“It was wild, that’s the only way I can describe it. I just don’t know what some of the guys out there are thinking. It was brilliant to watch for everybody else, but it was definitely interesting from in the car as well. It’s good to score a point, we were genuinely in the fight for the first half of the race, the second part of the race was difficult, had a braking issue which we managed to make better and figure what was going on but unfortunately that had made it really tricky for the first sort of six, seven laps out of the pits. I think the guys behind at that time were on a different strategy but they were very fast, once we found a solution for the problem we had, I was able to stay with them, so that was frustrating but good to get a point in the end, which we definitely deserved.”
Jerome D’Ambrosio, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, 1 point (dnf, 10th)
Daniel Abt, Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport, 1 point (14th, dnf)
“Obviously that is absolutely not what I had expected for the days in New York. It’s hard to stomach, especially when you are robbed twice of the reward for the hard work. The single point for the Visa Fastest Lap is definitely the hardest fought one so far in my Formula E career. I now have a weekend off to draw breath and to forget everything and then we’ll tackle Montreal with all our energy.”
Maro Engel, Venturi, 1 point (dnf, dnf)
“To be honest, it was a really frustrating, just because of the potential. The car shut down in qualifying on Saturday when we were on our way to a shootout position and the guys have done a great job with the car and have just produced a really quick car. It was frustrating to have to start last with that shutdown. We had a good clean race on Sarurday, at the beginning moved up nicely and to be honest I thought we were on for a really strong points finish, even starting last. Whilst I overtook Nelson Piquet Jr, Nico Prost, I don’t know I guess he tried to go with me and overtake him as well and missed his breaking or whatever but hit me on the rear right and punctured my tyre and that was race over. From that point, the aim was to set the Visa Fastest Lap which luckily, we managed, which is great to take home some silverware from the Qualcomm New York City ePrix.”
Nelson Piquet Jr, NextEV NIO, 0 points (11th, 16th)
“Not much different than I expected, to be honest. We were suffering with the powertrain, efficiency, temperatures at this race. Just not that much to say really, we qualified good because it doesn’t depend much on efficiency and powertrain is more up to the drivers. Halfway through the race I had to back off massively to cool down the motors and that was it.”
Antonio Felix da Costa, Andretti, 0 points (12th, 15th)
“It was a good start to the race. I made up a few positions doing well on energy, considering the cars around me. I jumped another car on the pit stop, was running in the points and then, circumstances of the race, we were fighting with other cars which made me have contact with Duval at one point. I don’t agree on the decision of the race control, but I ended up with a drive through from that. Lost the race there. Encouraging pace on the race, but just need to work on our qualifying to start a little bit ahead.”
Mitch Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, 0 points (dnf, dnf)
“I had a technical issue in one of the braking zones and the car shut-off so I couldn’t get it reset, it was a shame as I was running in the points on Sunday. Obviously after a bit of a disaster on Saturday, it was looking good to score some points. We had a good first lap and was running quite well, with Lucas di Grassi in front and then all of a sudden, braking into five the car just shut-off and I just lost the regen and couldn’t get it started again, so that was that really.”