Jean-Eric Vergne: It’s a race to forget

Jean-Eric Vergne is ruing his contact with Michael Schumacher on the opening lap of the Indian Grand Prix, which forced the Frenchman to return to the pits with front wing damage. After that, it was a case of picking up the pieces at the back of the pack, eventually finishing a distant 15th.

After starting the race from 18th, the F1 rookie found himself locked in a “sandwich” of cars as the tight field negotiated the opening corner. Despite applying full brakes in an attempt to avoid contact, Vergne still suffered front-wing damage as Michael Schumacher was forced to limp back to the pits with a right-rear puncture. This put Jean-Eric Vergne on the back foot for the remainder of the race, as he strove to claw his way back through the field.

“Immediately after the lights went out, I was caught up in a bit of a sandwich and had to brake harder and earlier than I wanted to.” Explained Jean-Eric Vergne, “That meant I locked my wheels and made contact with the back of Schumacher’s car. It broke my front wing, so I had to pit and my race was more or less over after that. I continued to push as hard as I could, trying to do good lap times, but the performance of my car has not really been that great this weekend. In one way, it’s a race to forget.”

Jean-Eric Vergne’s team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was embroiled in a similar incident with the Sauber of Sergio Perez, however the Australian driver’s front wing did not receive any major damage, unlike Vergne. This enabled Ricciardo to continue circulating out on track, whereas Sergio Perez was forced into retirement after initially pitting for new tyres due to a puncture. Despite another points-less race for the Faenza-based outfit, both Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne are confident of a more competitive result next time out at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

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