On the outskirts of ExCel London, the venue for the 16th and final round of the 2024 Formula E world championship, the weather was a little cooler than the day before. But that doesn't change the fundamental facts of the day's racing. Against the backdrop of the grand finale between Porsche and Jaguar, DS Penske's objective was to consolidate its third place in the team rankings, ahead of Nissan and Andretti. To achieve this, the team counted on the determination of Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne, experts in the discipline with three titles between them - Vergne is the only driver to have won the championship twice.
But the planets also have to align on this high-risk, narrow circuit, where any contact can put an end to a driver's hopes. During the only free practice session, the pressure was on. The teams continue to work on the set-up of their cars, because today's round is different from the day before. In addition to the fact that it is the final round of the 2024 season, it is three laps shorter - 34 instead of 37. This changes the energy approach and the calculations of the race engineers. With the same amount of energy at the start as the day before, and certainly a faster pace, there are fewer opportunities to overtake.
During this 30-minute session, Vergne showed the same good form as on Saturday. He put his DS E-TENSE FE23 into third place, just two hundredths of a second behind Oliver Rowland's Nissan. Vandoorne showed his wisdom, still in the top 10, while the 21 drivers who took part in the session (Nick Cassidy's Jaguar did not leave his garage) were just seven tenths apart. Then focus switched to qualifying and the award of the three points for pole position, which were of particular importance on this Sunday lunchtime on the banks of the Thames.
The pressure mounts
As on the previous day, the two DS Penske drivers are in Group B. This 12-minute qualifying phase sees the top four go through to the quarter-finals. At mid-session, Vandoorne was firmly in the lead, with Vergne not far behind.
When the timer stopped, the objective was achieved: at the end of the two groups, only DS Penske and Jaguar qualified their two cars for the knockouts. Occupying sixth and seventh on the grid, the DS E-TENSE drivers - with Vergne in the lead - were expecting a very eventful race.
But the solidity and experience of the French driver and his Belgian team-mate enabled them both to finish in the points once again, in sixth and ninth place respectively. This result puts DS Penske in third place in the teams' standings, behind Jaguar and Porsche, and still ahead of Nissan and Andretti, Porsche's customer team.
In the drivers' standings, Vergne took sixth, just seven points behind Antonio Felix Da Costa. The top six included the two Porsches, the two Jaguars, Oliver Rowland's Nissan and Vergne, who once again enjoyed a fine season with the only French carmaker in the championship.
