2023 Formula E Hyderabad ePrix Stats Review: Here's What Stood Out at India

Formula E: The inaugural Hyderabad ePrix ended in nail-biting fashion as the front runners continued to battle till the very end. India’s return to World championship racing not only brought about a spectacular race but also threw up several interesting numbers. Here’s a round-up from Hyderabad.

- Jean-Éric Vergne is the only driver on the current Formula E grid to be a part of the last World Championship event hosted by India in 2013. However, his returns that day were forgettable, finishing a lap down in P13. His second coming proved more fruitful, with his 11th career win and first in almost two years.

- Starting from P2 in Hyderabad, Vergne went on to win his second race in Asia. His first win in the continent came at the 2019 Sanya ePrix, another race where he started second. On both occasions, he was joined by António Félix da Costa in third.

- The Frenchman sat 12th in the championship prior to the Hyderabad race, but his well-controlled victory eventually catapulted him to third in the standings.

- Fighting tooth and nail with a charging Nick Cassidy in the final stages, Vergne clinched the race with a slender 0.4s gap over the New Zealander. That’s the smallest win margin since last year’sMexicoCityePrix, twelve months ago.

- With a P2 finish, Cassidy claimed his first podium of the season. He has now scored a podium finish in every season since his debut.

- Sébastien Buemi originally finished 3rd, however, was handed a time penalty which dropped him to 15th in the classification. If not for the penalty, it would have been Buemi’s first rostrum appearance since 2020.

- Like Vergne, Buemi too has driven in India previously (2011 Indian Grand Prix), however, he has yet to score on Indian soil.

- Da Costa, participating in his 100th ePrix, was the beneficiary of Buemi’s penalty and was thus handed the third-place spot on the rostrum. In the process, da Costa became only the second driver to register a podium finish in his 100th ePrix, after Sam Bird at the Diriyah race earlier this season.

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- It was the first time Vergne, Cassidy, and da Costa shared a podium in Formula E.

- Championship leader Pascal Wehrlein came in 4th and extended his lead over Andretti’s JakeDennisby 18 points. Dennis started the race in 11th but dropped further down and was the last driver to cross the finish line in 16th.

- Although it’s been just four races into the 16-round season, Wehrlein is now the only driver to score in every race this year.

- Sam Bird collided with teammate Mitch Evans on lap 12 resulting in a double elimination for the Jaguar team, their first double retirement in five years (60 races).

- The Hyderabad ePrix was the seventh straight round where the pole-sitter failed to win the race. It’sthejoint-longest streak in Formula E history, matching the seven races between MarrakeshandParisin2019 where the pole-sitter didn’t make it to the top step even once.

- This season has seen a different pole-sitter and bonus point scorer in each race

- The safety car has made an appearance in each of the last seven ePrixs.