page_title: 2019 Swiss ePrix
section_title: Race
hierarchical_section_title: 2019 Swiss ePrix / Race
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Jean-Eric Vergne devant les studios d'Europe 1
context_page_description: The 2019 Swiss ePrix 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 event. 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.
context_section_description: The race got off to a chaotic start after Pascal Wehrlein was turned sideways at the first chicane after making contact with Sébastien Buemi. Wehleins' 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.
  The race was promptly red-flagged in order to clear the track. This allowed teams to make repairs to their cars. Meanwhile, the race officials decided to reset the field in the order that they had started the race, as they were unable to determine the position of most of the grid when the red flag had come out. Several of drivers who made it past the blockage, and therefore gaining considerable track position, were quite upset about the decision, and got into a heated argument with race officials once they returned to pit road. Lucas di Grassi, who was fighting for the championship with the pole sitter, Jean-Éric Vergne was particularly upset, as he had made up eight places after starting nineteenth. However, the reordering had been done in accordance with the regulations which stated that "in all cases the order will be taken at the last point at which it was possible to determine the position of all cars. All such cars will then be permitted to resume the race."  Following the 40-minute stoppage, the race was restarted behind the Safety car with all drivers (save for Frijns) lining up again.
  Right from the restart, Vergne came under attack from Mitch Evans. Evans would continue to challenge for the lead most of the race, making several attempts at passing on the downhill run into turn 3. Twice during the race, Evans was able to activate his two attack mode power boosts a lap ahead of Vergne to try and get past the 2017–18 champion, but Vergne was able to defend against the passing attempts, before finally being able to get to the attack mode activation zone himself to equalize the power between their two cars. During his first attempt, Evans was hindered by a local yellow flag caused by the stopped Mahhindra of Pascahl Wehrlein. Wehrlein, who retired from the race due to a technical failure, come to a halt on track just before the attack mode activation zone. During the race, Vergnes' Techeetah team mate, André Lotterer, managed to move up the field to fourth place from his starting place in eighth. The Envision Virgin Racing driver Sam Bird, made a difficult pass for fifth around the outside of the GeoX Dragon of Maximilian Günther going through the fast downhill turn three.
  During the final two laps, a heavy rain began to fall on the circuit, adding a new complexity to the race. The rain caught out Sam Bird who spun, losing valuable time, and allowing André Lotterer to get passed for fourth. Evans attempted use the wet tack to his advantage, but Vergne was able to hold on for the win, leading the top four nose-to-tail across the line. Evans came second, leading Buemi in third, and Lotterer in fourth. After his spin, Sam Bird managed to hold onto fifth, ahead of Maximilian Günther in sixth. Daniel Abt, Alex Lynn, and championship contender Lucas di Grassi rounded out the top ten.
caption: Jean-Éric Vergne (pictured in 2016) extended his championship lead with his third  victory of the season.
exif: {}