Jean-Eric Vergne has said that his victory at last weekend's Monaco E-Prix was a case of "staying on track and finishing the race," with the Frenchman taking a controlled victory in the Principality.
By winning in Monaco, the DS Techeetah driver became Formula E's first repeat winner of Season 5, ending the all-electric single-seater series' streak of seeing eight different winners in the first eight races of the 2018/19 campaign.
Vergne started the Monaco E-Prix from pole position and took a lights to flag victory, holding a clear advantage over second-placed finisher Oliver Rowland in the first half of the race before the Briton clawed back in the final run to the chequered flag as Vergne managed his battery to the end.
Following the ninth race of the season, Vergne hailed his seventh career Formula E win as controlled, with his dominance over Rowland ensuring that taking the victory was just a case of remaining out on track and taking the chequered flag:
"Having my first podium in Monaco and being a winner, I feel extremely happy and it’s an incredible feeling," said the reigning champion.
"The race, I think, was pretty much under control. When I wanted to push I could create a big enough gap and then my engineers were telling me how far back Oliver [Rowland] was and I was lifting depending on how close he was, so I could keep the target and at the end we were very close.
"It was a question of staying on track and finishing the race and I knew that if I closed the door at the right time he wouldn’t pass me… unless he went over me – so I was feeling pretty confident!"
Surging to the lead in the Drivers' Championship with only four races remaining, Vergne paid dividends to his DS Techeetah team, with the Franco-Chinese squad extending its advantage in the Teams' Standings, aided by Andre Lotterer who took seventh in the Principality to maintain second in the title fight:
"I want to thank the team because they really did give me a fantastic car and I think we made the best out if it," continued Vergne.
"Now we’re leading the championships and André [Lotterer] is second in the Drivers’ championship too. Everything is looking good, we need to keep pushing, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do."
DS Techeetah Team Principal Mark Preston added: "It’s very neat be the first team in championship history to have a 1-2 in the Drivers’ Standings and to lead the Teams’ Standings too with only four races to go.
"Of course, this doesn’t mean that we’ll put our feet up now, rather the opposite. We saw how close it was at the season finale last year and we’re very keen to keep our lead all the way in the to bitter end this time – in both championships.”
Formula E's fifth season of competition will continue at the Flughafen Tempelhof Circuit in Berlin, Germany, on May 25.
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