Impressive race pace in Rome

A double-header contested at one of the series’ most iconic tracks, as well as being one of the longest (3.385km) and technically demanding, featuring a succession of uphill and downhill sections. These difficulties were only added to by the swelteringly high temperatures recorded recently in Rome, which made life difficult for team members in the pit garages and for the mechanics, with the need to find the right operating window for the tyres, for example.

Both qualifying sessions proved tough for DS PENSKE, with twelfth position the best result recorded by the DS E-TENSE FE23s of Stoffel Vandoorne (Saturday) and Jean-Eric Vergne (Sunday). However, the Franco-American outfit once again showed great determination and an ability to fight back from adversity, managing to claim vital points in each of the races.

On Saturday, French ace Vergne produced a thrilling comeback, recovering from sixteenth on the starting grid to finish fifth overall in a race that was briefly suspended after a spectacular accident involving seven cars. JEV fought tooth and nail, right to the bitter end, to try and get past the championship leader and grab fourth place, but alas, his efforts proved to be in vain.

On Sunday, it was the defending champion’s turn to cut through the competitive Formula E field, as Belgian Vandoorne plotted a route past his rivals, climbing from a lowly eighteenth on the starting grid to finish eighth at the chequered flag. In both cases, the impressive race pace of the DS PENSKE cars raises the hope that the team can achieve better results in London (29-30 July) at the final round of the season, half of which will be contested inside the ExCel exhibition centre in London’s Docklands, provided it manages to turn its clear potential into fast times in qualifying.

Championship update

Thanks to the fourteen points scored this weekend in Italy, DS PENSKE now lies fifth in the teams’ championship. Ten of the total of fourteen were amassed by Jean-Eric Vergne, who is also fifth in the drivers’ world championship, with four points added to the tally of Stoffel Vandoorne, the defending world champion.