Jean-Eric Vergne leaves the DS Virgin Racing Formula E Team

In an interview with the media after the London ePrix, DS Virgin Racing driver Jean-Eric Vergne confirmed that he will not be racing for DS Virgin Racing in Formula E next season but he will remain in the series next season.

With speculation about Vergne's future has been circulating in the paddock for some time, Vergne finally confirmed his departure to the media after the London race on Sunday, with his current team mate Sam Bird is expected to stay at the team.

In his interview to the media, Vergne confirmed the news as follows:-

“Yes, it was my last race with them,” Vergne said. “You will know [my next team] soon.”
His response when asked if he'd be in a championship-winning car was assured; even though Vergne did confirm that his next destination is not Jaguar. “Yes I will. 100%.”

Vergne crossed the line third in London on Sunday, but was demoted to seventh in the final classification after hitting 0% energy on the second stint. Vergne explained the reasons why this happened as follows:-

“My team counted one lap less, so in the last lap I was surprised not to see the chequered flag,” Vergne explained. “I don't know how it's possible to have this problem, but I'm of course very disappointed because I had done the race, third was where I should have finished. Two podiums in a row would have been nice to end the season. But I absolutely don't understand how this mistake was possible today.”

DS Virgin Racing Team principal Alex Tai apologised for the miscalculation on the pit wall as follows:-

“I freed up JEV to make sure he was still able to attack and race as hard as he wanted to race,” Tai explained. “I should have taken a little bit more into account some of the maths that was going on in the pit lane at the same time. We can only apologise to JEV for not pointing out what the situation was that was occurring in front of him.”

When asked further in his interview about Vergne leaving, Tai remained coy, but thanked the Frenchman for his efforts. Tai added the following:-

“I don't really want to talk about the movement of drivers at this stage or confirm or deny anything,” Tai said. “We will be making an announcement about our series three drivers at some stage over the summer. I want to thank JEV for his excellent efforts. You've seen those over the last few days and principally in Paris and Berlin. He's a great driver and would be an asset to any team. He has been an asset to our team, and I'd like to thank him for that. But I'm not confirming any drivers at this stage.”

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa