The 2019 Swiss ePrix (formally the 2019 Julius Baer Swiss E-Prix) was a Formula E electric car race on the streets of Bern, Switzerland, on 22 June 2019. It was the eleventh round of the 2018–19 Formula E Championship, and was the first and only running of the Swiss ePrix, which was the second Formula E race held in Switzerland, after the Zürich ePrix in 2018. The race was won by Techeetah driver Jean-Éric Vergne after starting from pole position and leading all 31-laps. Jaguar driver Mitch Evans finished a close second, ahead of Swiss driver Sébastien Buemi who finished third for the Nissan e.Dams team.
The race was halted by a red flag on the first lap following a collision involving several cars that blocked the track. After a 40-minute delay, the race was restarted with drivers reordered back to their starting positions. These position changes led to complaints by several of the drivers who had gained positions during the first lap. Envision Virgin Racing driver Robin Frijns was the only driver who was unable to restart the race due to car damage suffered in the first lap crash.
The majority of the race was held under dry conditions until the final two laps, when a heavy rain shower brought treacherous conditions to the circuit. The change in weather allowed Evans to close the gap to Vergne and stay with him to the checkered flag, but Vergne was able to hold on, ultimately crossing the line just 0.160 seconds ahead of Evans.
The consequence of the final positions meant that Jean-Éric Vergne was able to expand his lead in the Drivers' Championship by 32-points over championship rival Lucas di Grassi who finished ninth. The strong result for Mitch Evans moved him from sixth to third in the standings. Techeetahs' victory meant that they were able to extend their lead in the Teams' Championship by 43 points over Audi, while Virgin maintained third place with two races remaining at the double-header in New York.
Background As the season comes to a close, Formula E returned to Switzerland at the Bern Street Circuit. With 14 corners, It was the second longest track Formula E had raced on, after the Brooklyn Street Circuit in New York. It was challenging for the drivers including the tricky chicane at turns 12, 13 and 14.
Preparations In 2018, it was announced that Bern would host a round of the 2018-19 Formula E Championship. The Swiss ePrix was added as a replacement for the Zürich ePrix, which had debuted in 2018. The city of Zürich was unable to host the race again in 2019 due to other events happening that summer.
A few days before the race, there was an environmental protest against the race being held. The largely peaceful protest involved several hundred protesters riding bicycles around the circuit. The protest was to raise awareness to the environmental damage caused by the trucks traveling to set up the race, as well as all the spectators who were expected to driving to the city to watch the race.
Later, organizers of the race filed a criminal complaint against several protesters who allegedly vandalized the circuit. The complaint estimated that protesters caused over $400,000 in damages, which included cut TV cables, and damaged sponsorship banners that were hung around the track.
Circuit The temporary 2.750 km Bern Street Circuit was made up of city streets in the de facto capital of Switzerland. The 14-turn track wound through the Old Town portion of the city, past Rosengarten park and the Bärengraben (bear-pit). The narrow track was noted for its elevation changes, with almost the entire track being on an incline or decline. Jaguar Racing driver Mitch Evans said ahead of the race that he thought it was "...a real, hardcore street circuit...I think it's going to be a complete roller coaster." Other challenges of the circuit that drivers noted include variations in the tarmac surface and road camber, as well as several sharp corners and chicanes. Additionally, several drivers remarked about narrowness of the circuit, and the difficulty for overtaking. The combination of steep hills, sharp corners, and length (Bern was the second-longest track on the 2018–19 calendar) meant that managing energy with the regenerative braking would be a real test for the drivers. The confined spaces in the old city also added logistical challenges for the teams. The indoor paddock area, where teams prepare the cars before the race, was located 800 meters away from the pit lane. The Attack Mode activation zone was located off the racing line between turns 8 and 9, and had to be used twice during the race by each driver.
The Bern Street Circuit is the only circuit on the Formula E calendar that necessitates an uphill start (Laubeggstrasse), and features turns and roads with uneven camber from left to right, the steepest downhill section on the entire calendar (Aargauerstalden and Schosshaldenstrasse), as well as a live bear pit, though the bears would be absent during race time.
Preview Going into the race weekend, Jean-Éric Vergne was leading the drivers' championship by just six points ahead of Audi driver Lucas di Grassi. di Grassi had moved into second place in the championship after winning the previous race in Berlin, and putting him ten points clear of Vergnes' Techeetah teammate, André Lotterer. Just 21 points separated the top five drivers in the championship, including Vergne, di Grassi, and Lotterer, as well as BMW driver António Félix da Costa and Robin Frijns for Envision Virgin Racing. Of these, all but Lotterer had won a race that season. In the teams' championship, Techeetah was leading the 2017-18 champions Audi, who had overtaken Envision Virgin Racing for second place in the championship.
Practice and qualifying The Friday shakedown session, which allows drivers to get a feel for the track at a lower power level, was delayed after the track construction was not finished on time. The shakedown time was also reduced to fifteen minutes. The race officials decided to give more time to construction crews to work on installing the track barriers and catch fencing.
The first practice session was held Saturday morning under overcast conditions, with the Audi drivers of Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt being the first out on track. As the session progressed, the lap times improved as drivers become more comfortable on the circuit. Ultimately Jean-Éric Vergne was able to set the fastest time of 1:19.281, just 0.111 seconds ahead of his teammate, André Lotterer. Lucas di Grassi, Robin Frijns, and Mitch Evans rounded out the top five. During the second free practice session, several drivers had difficulty with track limits, with Gary Paffett, Maximilian Günther, and Tom Dillmann all taking to the escape road (the latter two were investigated by race officials). In the end, Mahindra driver Pascal Wehrlein was able to set the fastest time of 1:19.118, with both Techeetah drivers, Lotterer and Vergne, finishing the session in second and third respectively.
Qualifying got underway Saturday afternoon with the group stages in dry, overcast conditions. Jaguar Racings' Mitch Evans set the fastest overall time with a lap of 1:18.897. Along with Evans, Techeetahs' Jean-Éric Vergne, Mahindras' Pascal Wehrlein, Sébastien Buemi for Nissan e.Dams, Maximilian Günther in the Geox Dragon Racing, and Envision Virgin Racings' Sam Bird all set the top times in their respective groups, thereby advancing to the Super Pole shoot-out.
Audi driver Daniel Abt qualified seventh, having missed out on advancing to the shoot-out by just 0.119 seconds. He was ahead of championship contenders André Lotterer of Techeetah and Envision Virgin Racings' Robin Frijns who were unable to make it out of their group, and started eighth and ninth respectively. Jaguar driver Alex Lynn was just a tenth of a second behind Frijns, and would round out the top ten on the grid.
Mahindra Racings' Jérôme d'Ambrosio started eleventh, ahead of the Venturi of Felipe Massa, and Oliver Rowland in the Nissan e.dams who started thirteenth. Next was the Geox Dragon of José María López in fourteenth, who started ahead of the HWA teammates of Stoffel Vandoorne and Gary Paffett in fifteenth and sixteenth. Alexander Sims in the BMW Andretti car was seventeenth, ahead of Swiss driver Edoardo Mortara for Venturi. Two of the championship contenders had disappointing qualifying laps, with second placed Audi driver Lucas di Grassi managing only to go nineteenth fastest, while António Félix da Costa, who went into the weekend in fourth, started twentieth in the BMW i Andretti. The NIO drivers of Tom Dillmann and Oliver Turvey qualified at the back of the grid, in twenty-first and twenty-second respectively.
During the Super Pole shoot-out to determine the top six starting places, Vergne was able to set the fastest time of 1:18.813 seconds, allowing him to take his first pole position of the season. Mitch Evans clipped the wall during his lap and ended up behind Vergne by just 0.307 seconds, but was still fast enough to prevent Swiss driver Sébastien Buemi from getting a front row starting position at his home race. Buemis' time of 1:19.164 just 0.004 seconds ahead of fourth place Wehrlein with a time of 1:19.168. Maximilian Günther was able to start fifth with a time of 1:19.371, equaling his best qualifying result of the season, while Sam Bird rounded out the top six with a time of 1:19.536. In addition to starting the race from the front of the grid, Vergne was also awarded three championship points, which put him nine points ahead of Lucas di Grassi in the drivers' championship.
Qualifying classification Driver Team Time Gap 125 Jean-Éric VergneTecheetah-DS1:18.813 –1220 Mitch EvansJaguar1:19.120 +0.3072323 Sébastien Buemie.Dams-Nissan1:19.164 +0.3513494 Pascal WehrleinMahindra1:19.168 +0.355 456 Maximilian GüntherDragon-Penske1:19.371 +0.558 562 Sam BirdVirgin-Audi1:19.536 +0.7236766 Daniel AbtAudi1:19.554 –7836 André LottererTecheetah-DS 1:19.585 +0.031894 Robin FrijnsVirgin-Audi1:19.591 +0.0379103 Alex LynnJaguar1:19.608 +0.054101164 Jérôme d'AmbrosioMahindra1:19.613 +0.059111219 Felipe MassaVenturi1:19.638 +0.084121322 Oliver Rowlande.Dams-Nissan1:19.670 +0.11613147 José María LópezDragon-Penske1:19.714 +0.16014155 Stoffel VandoorneHWA-Venturi1:19.719 +0.165151617 Gary PaffettHWA-Venturi1:19.804 +0.250161727 Alexander SimsAndretti-BMW 1:19.908 +0.354171848 Edoardo MortaraVenturi1:20.023 +0.469181911 Lucas di GrassiAudi1:20.034 +0.480192028 António Félix da CostaAndretti-BMW1:20.081 +0.52720218 Tom DillmannNIO1:20.506 +0.952 212216 Oliver TurveyNIO1:20.551 +0.99722Source:
Race The race got off to a chaotic start after Pascal Wehrlein was turned sideways at the first chicane after making contact with Sébastien Buemi. Wehrlein's car was then wedged between the barriers and the car of Maximilian Günther, thereby blocking the track and leading to a large pile-up. Robin Frijns, while attempting to avoid the wreck, was hit from behind by Jérôme d'Ambrosio and got turned into the wall on the opposite side of the track, ending his race. This event caused much of the field to be stuck behind the incident. A few drivers, including Sébastien Buemi, Lucas di Grassi, Felipe Massa and António Félix da Costa, were able to snake their way through the mess, and use the escape road to continue on.