Formula E: Jean-Eric Vergne wins 2018-2019 driver championship

Jean-Eric Vergne became the first two-time champion in Formula E history by securing the 2018-2019 championship in the season finale.

DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne entered the 13-race 2018-2019 Formula E season as the reigning champion after winning the 2017-2018 championship, and his title defense proved to be successful.

In the fifth season of Formula E competition, Vergne became the first two-time champion in the sport’s history.

Entering the season finale, New York City ePrix Race 2, at Brooklyn Street Circuit, Vergne led the driver standings by 22 points (130 to 108) over Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Lucas di Grassi, another former champion, in second place.

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Also still mathematically eligible to win this championship heading into this 36-lap race around the 14-turn, 1.475-mile (2.374-kilometer) Brooklyn Street Circuit temporary street circuit in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York was Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans, who entered it in third place in the driver standings, 25 points behind Vergne (130 to 105).

With a maximum of 26 points on the table for each driver in this race (25 for winning and one for recording the fastest lap), as BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Alexander Sims took the pole position and the three points that came with it, the odds of somebody other than Vergne winning the championship were slim.

While there was a lot of drama in yesterday’s New York City ePrix Race 1 in terms of drivers aside of Vergne remaining mathematically eligible to win the championship, there was no such drama in New York City ePrix Race 2.

Evans and Di Grassi were running in sixth and seventh place, respectively, on the race’s final lap while Vergne was running in ninth. Had they finished there, Vergne still would have won the championship, but they ended up making contact and crashing.

As a result, Vergne went on to finish the race in seventh place and score six points as opposed to finishing in ninth and scoring two. Neither Evans nor di Grassi ended up scoring points, as they finished in 17th and 18th place, respectively. Vergne ended up winning the championship by 17 points (136 to 119) over Nissan e.dams’ Sebastien Buemi in second place.

The 2019-2020 Formula E season, which Jean-Eric Vergne is set to enter as the two-time reigning champion, is scheduled to begin on Friday, November 22, 2019 with the first of two races of the Ad Diriyah ePrix at Riyadh Street Circuit in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.