Vandoorne(pictured above) successfully navigated through a lap 1 melee in the second Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix of Formula E’s first venture into the South Korea and keep it clean throughout the rest of the race to bring the Silver Arrow 02 home in second place. Only Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) had any chance of catching Vandoorne going into the race. But Vandoorne’s eighth podium of the season — more than any other driver — proved to be enough to secure his first drivers’ crown and hand Mercedes-EQ back-to-back drivers’ and teams’ titles on the German marque’s Formula E swansong.
Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) drove to a strong third position, despite a tough-to-take five second penalty following a coming-together with Antonio Felix da Costa.
“World champions; wow! It’s just the best feeling ever,” declared the Belgian Vandoorne. “Just look at the season we’ve had — the consistency and the car has been amazing, and the team has done an incredible job. I think every single one of us deserves it. What we’ve accomplished is something special. Mitch has pushed me all the way along, the same with Edo — they were there all the time. It was really about the consistency in the end — they all have more wins than me, but I have the most podiums, I think.
“It was difficult to focus because the pace at the end was so high. I knew Jake had a five-second penalty, so I had to stay close enough to him to secure P2. It was an awesome day, a lot of concentration. I am drained after this year, it has been a lot of effort, the effort I have put in and the team has put in — it is incredible.”
