Vergne cool amidst pressure from behind

Despite being embroiled in a four car scrap for victory in Monaco, race winner Jean-Eric Vergne says he was “never afraid” of losing the lead given the lack of overtaking opportunities around the circuit.

Vergne crossed the line to take his second victory of the season, fending off the close attentions of Oliver Rowland, Felipe Massa and Pascal Wehrlein, who all finished within two seconds of each other.

With the high pressure from behind, the Frenchman said it kept him on his toes but was never in fear of being overtaken.

“It was fine. It kept me alert! For someone to overtake in Formula E the guy needs to be five seconds quicker, I was never afraid,” said the reigning champion.

Vergne takes the lead in the championship by five points to teammate Andre Lotterer, the first time in series history that two drivers from the same team has occupied the top two positions of the driver’s standings, but isn’t getting carried away as he believes consistency will rule the rest of the season.

“I still don’t [consider myself the favourite], people come here asking me if I’m thinking about the title but I was sixth coming here and today I leave being first.

“It’s going to be up and down like this until the end of the year and for me to win this championship I would need to be as consistent as possible. At this moment I don’t consider myself the favourite more than any of the other drivers who can still win the title.”