From championship deciders to impressive double wins, New York has provided some memorable Formula E moments. Here are some of the highlights from the New York City E-Prix!
2017: Bird does the double
Sam Bird is the only driver to win two Formula E races in New York – and he did so by winning the first two races at Brooklyn Street Circuit in 2017. Having qualified in fourth place for the first race of the weekend, Bird soon made his way up to third, before getting stuck behind his team-mate Alex Lynn. After a few radio calls, Bird passed Lynn for second place and was in pursuit of Lucas di Grassi. A bold move at the hairpin saw Bird take the lead – and he didn’t look back from there.
On the Sunday, Bird secured pole position for the race. Felix Rosenqvist stormed by Bird at the start, but Bird pulled off a similar move to the previous day and secured the lead. Once again, Bird was unchallenged after that point and secured two wins in New York in the space of just 24 hours! Bird scored 53 of the maximum available 58 points over the race weekend.
2018: Pit lane chaos
Felix Rosenqvist found himself stuck in the middle of the pit lane at the 2018 New York E-Prix. Back when drivers had to switch cars at the midway point of the race, the Swedish driver pulled into the pits – only to almost make contact with Mahindra team-mate Nick Heidfeld, who was exiting his garage. Rosenqvist stopped in the centre of the pit lane to avoid a collision – but that left the other drivers having to find their way around him.
2018: Vergne wins the title
Jean-Éric Vergne became Formula E’s fourth champion at the first race of the 2018 New York E-Prix weekend. Fittingly, the Frenchman secured the title on Bastille Day. While Lucas di Grassi won the race, all eyes were on Vergne, who had started from the back. The Techeetah cars were found guilty of an overuse of power on their qualifying laps, which saw their lap times deleted.
Starting 18th, Vergne conserved energy in the early stages of the race. Before too long, Vergne was fighting his way through the pack. By Lap 16, Vergne passed Sam Bird – the only other driver with a mathematical chance of taking the title. Vergne secured the title with a fifth place finish, with one race remaining. He went on to win the following day’s E-Prix.
2019: A bad day for the champion elect
Vergne was again in contention for the title heading into the New York E-Prix in 2019, leading the way by 32 points ahead of the race weekend. He started the race from tenth place, but suffered a left rear puncture on the opening lap, in an incident which was caused by the two Dragon drivers colliding. The Frenchman pitted as a result and was able to fight back into the points – only to be spun in the final stages and finish only fifteenth, 94 seconds down on race winner Sébastien Buemi.
2019: Formula E’s first double champion
Things went better for Vergne the following day, as he secured his second Formula E title, becoming the first driver to win multiple championships in the series’ history. Robin Frijns won the race following an impressive overtake on Alexander Sims, while Mitch Evans and Lucas di Grassi collided on the final lap. Evans received a time penalty for the incident.