Mercedes’ Ian James: “New York wasn’t the weekend we were hoping for”

The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team failed to score points in either race of the New York City E-Prix, and Team Principal Ian James admitted it was not the kind of weekend the team needed so close to the end of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season.

Nyck de Vries has fallen to tenth place in the Drivers’ Championship after finishing thirteenth and eighteenth across the two races, while Stoffel Vandoorne retired from race one and could only finish twelfth in race two as he slipped down to thirteenth in the standings.

James says they will leave the Brooklyn Street Circuit disappointed, but he believes the team will fight to return to the kind of pace that took them to three victories in the opening five races.

“New York wasn’t the weekend we were hoping for,” said James.  “It wasn’t the weekend we needed or should have delivered either. Stepping onto the plane home tomorrow without having scored a single point this weekend is more than disappointing.

“We found ourselves in a difficult position this weekend. It hasn’t been the first time we didn’t score as good of a result as we hoped for, but it has been the first track this season on which we seemed to struggle to find the pace we know we normally have. That’s frustrating, but also an opportunity and challenge for the team to bounce back from.

“And if there is one group of people I have full confidence in to fight back from such a position, it’s this team. They’ve got that fighting spirit, and as we speak, the team is already looking into the data, leaving no stone unturned to make sure we can get ourselves back in the game.”

James says the pointless weekend was made even more disappointing in the fact that their main rivals all scored points, but the team remain determined to fight back across the final four races of the season.

It is now three races since Mercedes picked up a point, and the team have fallen from the top of the Teams’ Championship to fifth, thirty-three points behind current leaders Envision Virgin Racing.

“Our competitors have been picking up points this weekend, and we are slowly starting to find ourselves the hunters, rather than the hunted,” said James.  “We are determined and motivated as a team to keep fighting for all the points we can score for the remainder of the season.

“We only have four races left. Four chances at two locations that are close to our hearts: London and Berlin. And I’m confident we will make them count – the championship is still very much open.”