Techeetah driver Jean-Éric Vergne has slammed Faraday Future Dragon Racing’s Jérôme d'Ambrosio for his defensive driving during the Mexico City ePrix.
D’Ambrosio was on an alternative strategy after an early car change and was in energy conservation mode during the final stages.
This held up Vergne, who made several attempts to get ahead of d’Ambrosio, before a mistake at Turn 1 opened the door for him towards the end of the race.
Vergne criticised d’Ambrosio’s defensive driving during their battle, calling it “unacceptable” and feeling it denied him victory in Mexico. D'Ambrosio dropped down the order on the final lap after running out of energy.
Lucas di Grassi also stopped early under safety car conditions and was also conserving energy after jumping into the lead, but was able to open up a lead as d’Ambrosio battled with those behind to finish well clear of Vergne.
“Well I have very mixed emotions,” Vergne admitted. “I think this win was ours, 100%. What d'Ambrosio did was totally unacceptable.
“He just doesn't know how to defend, he crashed into me so many times into me, forced me to go off the track.
“So, I lost a lot of time and I wouldn’t call it fair racing. He changed direction many times, so I'm very frustrated.”
However, Vergne added he was pleased to be on the podium and feels Techeetah has the car to fight for the title and race wins.
He added: “On the other hand, I'm happy that I'm here [on the podium] for the championship. We started very far away but I know I'm in the right team.
“We have got the right car to win the championship. We still don’t have a win, but I think we're coming back and we’re getting stronger every race as a team. This is the kind of result we can expect every race.”
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