New York (AFP)

French Formula One driver Jean-Eric Vergne, 29, who could be crowned this weekend in New York World Champion of the discipline for the second time in a row, says he ignores the pressure and is happy to have gone from F1 to the FE.

Q: Not too much pressure before these two races on Saturday and Sunday crucial for the outcome of the championship, both for you and your DS / Techeetah team?

R: "What?" (Laughing) We're leading both drivers and manufacturers, so it would be nice to be able to win for the weekend of July 14 in New York. others, even if there is a very big issue. "

Q: You said that being in Electric Formula was the best thing that happened to you in your racing career after being in F1. Why ?

A: "I was in a situation in F1 where I was in a tunnel with no light at the end and I arrived in Formula E where I did not have much either.But the championship was quickly drawn as a big league, people have compared it to F1, criticized in relation to F1 and as soon as there is something that is compared and criticized compared to something as big as F1, it's If there was no one, nobody would talk about it Now that there are 10 committed builders, that's important. "

Q: What has changed for you?

A: "I'm in the best team and being able to fight for wins and podiums has completely changed me, in F1 I could only fight for a 7th or 8th place if all the planets were aligned and it's a very frustrating thing that I've had a hard time living in. I'm much happier to be in a position to beat myself, all the builders today are investing billions in batteries, all brands are coming out of electric vehicles and we are the research laboratory for this new technology, we are in the air. "

Q: Can we compare the driving of an Electric Formula with that of an F1?

A: "It's hard to compare, there are some things in Formula E that are simpler like the physics, you take a lot less G, and then the FE is more physical. mentally, riding only on circuits in the city, everyone has the same car ... To be able to make the difference, we have to extract 102% of the car to try to win the tenth which makes the difference between the 1st and 15th places, the fact that the slightest mistake is paid cash in a wall while in F1, there are clearances everywhere.It is also necessary to manage the energy of the car and we do not We have no embedded intelligent system that manages it for us, it's a lot more difficult than any other motor sport. "

Interviewed by Jean-Louis DOUBLET

© 2019 AFP