It was fitting finale to the 2018-19 FIA Formula E series with DS Cheetah driver Jean-Eric Vergne defend his world championship title. In doing so, he became the first-ever driver to become a two-time world champion of the electric racing series that completes five seasons. Vergne finished seventh in the second race of the New York e-Prix, securing crucial points as championship contenders Mitch Evans of Jaguar Racing and Lucas di Grassi of Audi Sport crashed on the final lap. It was Envision Racing's Robin Frijns who took a win in the season finale, while Vergne needed to take a points-finish to defend the title.
Vergne started the final race in 11th place and had to complete e-Prix to defend the world title
Vergne started 11th on the grid behind di Grassi and Evans, for the final race of the season. He had a significant 22-point lead over title contender di Grassi, which meant he just needed to finish within points. His crash in the race of Saturday though did make for a closer than expected finish in the championship in what turned out to be a highly dramatic race. Vergne was clear of playing it safe and slowly climbed the order. He first passed Edoardo Mortara on the first lap and then moved on to pass Stoffel Vandoorne on Lap 27, while title his rivals di Grassi and Evans moved up to fifth and seventh respectively.
It seemed Vergne would have to complete the race in ninth place, but a crash between di Grassi and Evans saw both the title rivals being eliminated on the final lap with the DS Cheetah contender being promoted to P7. The incident saw the Audi driver slam into Evans before Turn 11, taking both the drivers out of contention. Both di Grassi and Evans would have to win the final race to win the world title, but the drivers certainly were off a podium finish. Evans did come close to passing Daniel Abt for fourth in the closing laps but couldn't find an opportunity to pass. Evans managed to reverse and complete the race from the incident but was handed a 10-second penalty for the collision that dropped from 10th to 17th in the final classification of the race.
Vergne's 7th place finish pushed the DS Cheetah team to the top of the points table in the team standings
Meanwhile, the New York e-Prix was being ruled by Sims in the first half of the race, while Frijns only made a move after being halfway through, in what was a dominant drive. The Virgin Racing driver crossed the chequered flag 3.2s clear of Sims, followed by Sebastian Buemi of Nissan e.dams coming in third, who is also the runner up for Season 5. Buemi attacked Sims multiple times to take second place but the maiden pole-sitter fended off each of the advances.
The Evans and di Grassi crash also sealed DS Cheetah's first-ever constructors' title for the 2018-19 season, which was followed by Audi Abt Sport in second place. Envision Virgin Racing finished third in the team standings.
For the only Indian team on the grid, Mahindra Racing struggled to perform better despite the initial brush of success in the initial races of Season 5. The last couple of races saw the team barely score points and this weekend was no different. The team's Jerome d'Ambrosio managed to finish 11th after being promoted two positions post the Evans-di Grassi crash, while Pascal Wehrlein was placed 13th finishing ahead of Evans.
