Vandoorne enjoys sweet revenge in Rome with E-Prix win

©Mercedes

Stoffel Vandoorne lucked out of an opportunity to win in Rome on Saturday, but the Mercedes-EQ driver enjoyed a sweet revenge in Sunday's Formula E round in the Eternal City.

Like yesterday, the field of electric chargers got underway behind the Safety Car although conditions appeared to have improved after qualifying which was topped by Envision Virgin Racing's Nick Cassidy.

However, the Kiwi's head start only lasted until Turn 7 where the poleman locked his brakes and spun down the order.

The mishap left Porsche's Pascal Wehrlin in the lead followed by Venturi's Norman Nato. But a charging Vandoorne quickly overhauled the latter and then used his attack mode to pass the former and take command of proceedings.

The Belgian was delivered a break when a yellow flag period triggered by a collisions between Audi's Lucas di Grassi and Nissan e.dams' Sebastien Buemi prevented Wehrlein from fully exploiting his own attack mode.

From there on it was a controlled path to the checkered flag for Vandoorne, but another caution period sparked by a crash by Audi's René Rast put the leader under pressure on the restart for one final lap.

But Mahindra's Alexander Sims didn't have the pace to challenge Vandoorne who drwaed upon his fanboost to safeguard his position at the front and deliver to Mercedes-EQ its second win of the season.

1 Stoffel Vandoorne - Mercedes
2 Alexander Sims - Mahindra
3 Pascal Wehrlein - Porsche
4 Eduardo Mortata - Venturi
5 Max Guenther - BMW I Andretti
6 Mitch Evans - Jaguar
7 Alex Felix Da Costa - Techeetah
8 Sebastien Buemi - Nissan e.Dams
9 Tom Blomqvist - NIO
10 Nico Muller - Dragon/Penske

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.