Two-time Formula E World Champion Jean-Eric Vergne has spoken to LWOS about his hopes for the rest of the season, FE’s popularity growth, and its sustainability goals.
Fresh from his fifth 24 Hours of Le Mans finish last weekend, Jean-Eric Vergne is ready to get back into the saddle as Formula E is a week away from its first race in the United States city of Portland. Currently fifth in the Drivers’ standings, the two-time FE Champion has not won a race since Hyderabad. But, the Frenchman is feeling glass-half-full about his year and what’s to come with three races left.
“It’s not been too bad a season. We’ve been on the back foot for a few races, but we’ve had some good ones as well.”
“We’ve lacked performances in some races, but as a team, we’ve done the best we could have with the package we have. And what we expect with the remainder of the season is, because we’ve been pushing so hard, the performance can be improved and we can fight for wins and have a chance for the Championship.”
“American fans are great”
With the American round switching from New York, I asked Vergne what fans can expect from the brand-new track.
“It’s going to be a crazy race. The level of energy-saving that needs to be done there will be absolutely mental, like what we’ve never seen. In Brazil, we saw a race where people didn’t want to lead and there was lots of overtaking and cars being side-by-side. There’ll be lots more of that in Portland.”
With the prospect of such excitement in mind, does ‘JEV’ expect to see further spikes in popularity in America?
“I surely hope so. I have an American team owner [Roger Penske] that is really committed to Formula E as well as what he already does in America. It makes sense that we are more involved in America – we have had races there most years, most recently in New York. Now we have Portland, and I hope in the future we could race somewhere like LA. That would be fantastic.”
Evidently enthusiastic about the prospects of further racing in the USA, Vergne is hopeful for further involvement from the powers that be to give Formula E further reach in the States. “I think we have to do a bit more, the races need better coverage in America which needs to come from Formula E. American fans are great, but they need to be able to see more of the races to follow a full season. We need to evolve there, and we are doing that. I hope we can give them an amazing show so we can come to the US more often.”
‘There is never a dull moment in Formula E”
Does Vergne agree that the high numbers of overtaking make FE one of the most exciting racing series in the world?
“For sure there is never a dull moment in Formula E, we’ve seen that lately. I can tell you in advance that the Portland race is going to be the craziest we’ve ever had!”
In Monaco, despite some criticisms, the drivers I spoke to all had positive things to say about the Gen3 car which debuted this season. Vergne most certainly shares these sentiments, but also agrees there are areas to improve.
“It’s a great car and there’s been great racing with it. At the end of the day, that is what matters. In Formula 1, you may have the best cars but if there is a race where there is no overtaking, everybody falls asleep. With Gen3, one area that can be improved is the grip. This would be improved by two things. Firstly, having a completely slick tire would help a lot. And secondly, a new aero package. It should be changed because now it doesn’t give us enough downforce and so it’s very draggy. You have a lot less drag when you follow somebody, and so the car in front isn’t saving as much energy as the car behind. The cars are great, but with those two changes it would be absolutely amazing.”
Nio 333’s Dan Ticktum told me in Monaco that high overtaking numbers this season may be partly due to the strategic necessity caused by Gen3. This leads to risks of what he called “un-organic” racing. Vergne agrees: “If there was less drag, there would be less interest in staying behind somebody so therefore there is no interest in letting somebody by. It will be more difficult overtaking, but more sincere overtaking.”
“We may as well race in a responsible way”
One of the hallmarks of an all-electric series like Formula E is providing an entertaining form of motorsport combined with the appeal of sustainability. Does Vergne think the sport is doing a good job to draw attention to such matters?
“I don’t have the numbers of what we do exactly but the message we’re sending is clear: we are racing electric cars, and it’s not the future anymore – it’s the present. Electric cars are happening in the world and that’s where there is a lot of interest, and Formula E is the laboratory of electric vehicles through racing. What we do makes sense and has a powerful message and it’s being heard today. It maybe wasn’t heard when we started but if you look at the success of Formula E now, the places we are going to, and the sponsors that are linked to it, you can see so many people are pushing the sustainability message.”
“We are doing what we can in the sport, and it’s fair to say that racing isn’t going to save the world. But we aren’t going to stop racing, so we may as well race in a responsible way. Anything a human can do in their own way brings a positive impact, and if we can do that through sport, people can do it with their way of living.”
“I am very proud of the work the team put in”
Lastly, it would have been rude not to ask JEV about his 8th place at Le Mans, the highest finish for a Peugeot this year. I wondered how he found the weekend for him and, as a man with links to Ferrari [serving as their F1 Test and Development Driver in 2015 and 16], what he thought of their historic Hypercar win.
“It was amazing to see, but I would’ve liked to have seen us win! But looking at the cars we had before the race, it was remarkable. Only one issue in the race, I am very proud of the work the team put in. We led for a while and [were] in a podium position for quite a bit. We had a good performance in qualifying and the reliability was the best we had. It’s nice to see the whole team pushing so far. We are very motivated to keep working and hopefully fight for the win next year.”
Featured Image Credit: Simon Gallaway
