Vergne hails Verstappen’s Formula E backing

Former F1 driver Jean-Eric Vergne has hailed Max Verstappen’s attitude towards the all-electric and often-derided motor racing series Formula E.

Once positioning itself as a future competitor to Formula 1, Formula E is today filled with top carmakers but still criticised by many for lacking speed.

"It’s not a category I would like to drive in myself in the future," triple world champion Verstappen said.

He also slammed the recent city track in Tokyo, joking that the designer "must have been drunk" for designing a layout that included a "proper jump".

"But I think from the driving and the racing, I always enjoy it because the talent in the series is very high and that makes it more exciting to watch.

"A couple of my friends are driving in there as well, so I always keep an eye on it."

Indeed, as well as Vergne, there are several ex-F1 drivers on the Formula E grid, including series leader Pascal Wehrlein, Stoffel Vandoorne, and recent Alpha Tauri refugee, Nyck de Vries.

Speaking with Italy’s Automoto, 33-year-old former Toro Rosso driver Vergne hailed Verstappen’s knowledge about Formula E.

"Some other drivers don’t know what they are talking about," said the 33-year-old Frenchman. "Some just talk nonsense about Formula E.

"Verstappen watches all the races where possible and is friends with many of the Formula E drivers, so it’s nice to get this comment from him.

"Because of all the races he watches, and I know he watches everything, and all the races he does on the simulator, I think he understands quite well what we do with the cars," Vergne added.

"I don’t know if we are the most technical, but it is certainly true that I have more homework to do in Formula E than in the WEC or F1."