Andre Lotterer has said that he settled for second place at the Paris E-Prix due to the race's "unsafe" nature, with the eighth round of the 2018/19 Formula E campaign marking the championship's first wet race in five seasons.
In Paris, Lotterer secured a second consecutive podium finish for DS Techeetah by fighting through the field, surging from sixth on the grid to second at the chequered flag.
While the E-Prix started in dry conditions, a sudden deluge of rain and hail with 30-minutes + 1 lap of racing remaining brought the race to life, with drivers struggling to deal with the lack of grip on the Circuit des Invalides track.
Witnessing four Full Course Yellows and one safety car period, it was Envision Virgin Racing's Robin Frijns who was able to master the wet to become the eighth different winner this season while Lotterer, who finished in the runner-up spot, opted to bank second, given the treacherous conditions:
"Really good operation here in Paris. A home race for the team where we brought back a second place and some really good points for the championship battle," said Lotterer.
"I was catching Robin Frijns and was going to go for the win, but then it started to rain, and the grip dropped massively.
"It got really unsafe out there, so I decided to keep it safe and bring it home. It was not possible to do any attack without risk.
"It was a good effort from the team today and Jean-Éric [Vergne] had a good race too. We’re leading the Teams' Championship and I'm second only one point behind the leader, so we will see what we can do in the next race.”
For Vergne, who finished in sixth place in the second DS Techeetah car, the Paris E-Prix was filled with mixed emotions – the Frenchman pleased with his performance in the race but disappointed by continuing struggles in qualifying:
“The Paris E-Prix is over," said the reigning champion. "Congratulations to André for another second position. It’s good for us as a team because we've extended our lead in the championship.
"As for me, it’s a bit of mixed emotions. Qualifying went pretty bad for me, but the race went very well.
"Starting 12th and coming back 6th was the absolute maximum I could have done. I will take those points happily, they’ll matter a lot at the end of the championship in New York.
"I’m happy to move forward, head to Monaco, and try to improve everything. I’m just going to try to score more points and have my second win of the season,” he added.
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