“Challenging” race for Virgin in Mexico

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A mixed day for DS Virgin ended with points from Sam Bird’s sixth place finish. A spin and technical problems cost team mate Jean-Eric Vergne the change to join him, and both drivers are now focused on the race in Long Beach next month.

The Mexico track didn’t seem to suit Virgin’s car at all, with both drivers struggling on the dusty track in qualifying. A mistake in qualifying saw Bird lose four tenths of a second and cost him a place in the top ten.

Bird was able to make up the places during the race. Vergne, who started sixth, did the opposite.

An overtaking attempt on Loic Duval ended badly, with Vergne spinning and losing eleven places.

[pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Duval blocked me and I had nowhere to go, I was so far behind,” Vergne said. “I managed to make up a few places, the car was great today and I know for a fact as I was going as fast as I could in that respect.”[/pullquote]

Vergne continued in the damaged car until the pit stop, where there were even more problems for the Frenchman. Technical problems with the second car slowed the pit stop and he was a lap down by the time he came out of the pits.

“It was a different race for me after the problem in the pit-stop, when I left the pit-lane I was being lapped by the leaders.”

Vergne crossed the finish line a lap down, finishing sixteenth after Lucas Di Grassi’s disqualification was taken into account.

“I am learning and I know I’m not having a great year, but I envisage a long term relationship with DS Virgin Racing and I want to do better.”

Bird had a much more successful day. A grid penalty for Antonio Felix Da Costa promoted him to tenth on the grid and he was able to fight his way up to P7 as he crossed the finish line. It was a much less eventful day for the Brit than for his teammate, but still disappointed compared to the win in Buenos Aires.

“It was a tough drive and the points we gained are invaluable,” said Bird. “I know it perhaps wasn’t the ideal outcome overall for the team but we’re resilient and like Jev says, I believe we will only improve.”

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Image courtesy of FIA Formula E Media

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