Felix Rosenqvist backed up his sixth-place finish in Monaco last weekend with another strong drive in the Formula E Paris ePrix, only narrowly missing out on the podium as Mahindra Racing celebrated its best-ever aggregate result.
Rosenqvist took the chequered flag in fourth place on his first visit to the Circuit des Invalides in the heart of the French capital, shadowing team-mate Nick Heidfeld (GER) across the line to cement Mahindra Racing’s third place in the teams’ standings.
“This was a great team result, and I’m pleased that Nick and I could bring these points home today,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “The guys work so hard to get us up there, so they really deserve this. I’m satisfied with my own performance this weekend and I really liked the track here in Paris – difficult and challenging but great fun. We’re still waiting for that first win, but I’m more and more convinced that it’s waiting around the corner.”
Despite the lack of track knowledge at a venue first used in Formula E last year, Rosenqvist quickly got up to speed in practice and missed out on the top five Super Pole cut by just a few hundredths of a second in qualifying.
From sixth on the grid, the 25-year-old Swede then overtook Esteban Gutiérrez (MEX) for fifth as the race settled in, and eventually claimed fourth when French home hero Jean-Éric Vergne crashed out.
With Rosenqvist taking fourth and Heidfeld third, the race marked Mahindra Racing’s best-ever aggregate Formula E score.
The result also elevates Rosenqvist from seventh to sixth in the FIA Formula E Championship standings, where he now sits tied on points with fifth-placed Vergne.
“We had a good plan today and again ran an efficient race,” Rosenqvist concludes. “At one point before the pit stops, we even felt there was a realistic chance of winning, but then we were a bit unfortunate with a full course yellow. We are almost there, but we still have some room for improvement in qualifying – and that could make all the difference for us. If we can just get a tiny bit more out of the tyres on a flying lap and start the races from slightly further up the grid, we will be there. That said, today was another great race for us and it’s definitely an injection for the second half of the campaign.”
Formula E now heads into its season-ending trio of double-header events, with the remaining six races spread out across meetings in Berlin (June 10-11), New York (July 15-16) and Montreal (July 29-30).
Felix Rosenqvist, however, will be back on track as soon as next weekend as round two of Japan’s Super Formula series takes place at Okayama.
RESULTS (top five)
FIA Formula E Championship
Paris ePrix
1: Sébastien Buemi (SUI), 49 laps
2: José María López (ARG), +0.707s
3: Nick Heidfeld (GER), +2.043s
4: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), +2.621s
5: Nicolas Prost (FRA), +3.521s
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (top five)
FIA Formula E Championship
After 6/12 races
1: Sébastien Buemi (SUI), 132 p.
2: Lucas di Grassi (BRA), 89 p.
3: Nicolas Prost (FRA), 58 p.
4: Nick Heidfeld (GER), 47 p.
5: Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA), 40 p.
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6: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), 40 p.