Vergne is right – he didn't cause another crashgate

Last weekend in New York, Jean-Eric Vergne made history. By winning the 2018/19 ABB FIA Formula E title he became the championship's first double champion, and at the same time became the first driver to successfully defend a title.

He also helped his DS Techeetah squad seal the teams' title to become the second squad after the ultra-successful Renault e.dams outfit from FE's first three seasons to achieve that feat. But it wasn't quite what it could have been.

Vergne finished the final race of the season in seventh place at New York's Brooklyn circuit, enough to take his second FE title ahead of Nissan e.dams driver Sebastien Buemi in the final reckoning.

As a result of Vergne finishing off the podium, FE had to enact a hasty plan to add the champion onto the end of the post-event press conference. But instead of then leaving to join the scrum of the media pen (essentially a print media, TV, and photography mix zone that can be chaotic at the best of times and nightmarish at the worst), he disappeared.

Instead of expanding on his words to FE world feed commentators Jack Nicholls and Dario Franchitti on his slow-down lap, or in the champion's press conference to countless media outlets, he was gone.

Vergne had stayed until long after his FIA-required time in the pen to give numerous interviews after his first win of the season at Sanya back in March, but this time around he did not get the chance to cheerfully answer the same questions over and over again.

The reason for his sudden vanishing act was that he had been summoned to see the stewards. Word had reached Autosport that an investigation was underway just before the main press conference for race winner Robin Frijns, runner-up Alexander Sims and third-place finisher Buemi had begun. The investigation was the result of a saga that had been brewing throughout Sunday at the Red Hook Port-based track.

It related to a radio message Vergne had issued to Techeetah the day before, during the at-times shambolic crashfest that was the opening race. In that race, just after the initial early pile-up involving both Techeetah cars, Vergne twice asked his team to tell Lotterer to stop on track to try and trigger a safety car.

"I didn't create a crashgate, I haven't done that" Jean-Eric Vergne

He then asked if the team had heard him and it confirmed to him that it had. But that was it - no further response was given. And although Lotterer did briefly crash on the extra lap he did while Vergne was having a punctured tyre and damaged nose replaced following the pile-up, triggered by Sam Bird spinning Jose Maria Lopez, there is no evidence he was instructed to do so. Plus, he did not remain in the barriers or stop again in a place that would have triggered a safety-car period.

Both Techeetah drivers did benefit from the intervention of a safety car - caused by Alex Lynn stopping with a powertrain failure - to get back in the fight for the minor places after being way off the pack following their repairs. But Vergne was later involved in a massive crash with Felipe Massa, which Lotterer, Stoffel Vandoorne and Jerome D'Ambrosio were also caught up in.

Afterwards, he dusted himself off, refocused, and set about sealing the title a day later.

But Vergne's radio calls had been broadcast on FE's official app. Autosport understands that at some point on Sunday morning the FIA became aware of this, but no investigation was launched at the time. It is unclear how the governing body was alerted to their existence - with several theories doing the rounds in the paddock on Sunday night - or if it had indeed known about them all along.

Vergne's remarks, although certainly unsporting and ill-judged, were said in the heat of the moment

The investigation ultimately found that Vergne had breached "Appendix B of the International Sporting Code of the FIA, the Code of Good Conduct", and he was ordered to complete a day of community service for the governing body within the next six months.

Before the news of his penalty was announced, Vergne was said by one source to have left the stewards' room looking very happy - although surely this was just relief at the lack of sporting sanction.

Once he had delivered his case, which rested on his "concerns for his safety and that of other drivers due to debris on track and [he] made the request to his engineer that car #36 [Lotterer] be requested to stop for that reason only", per an FIA bulletin, Vergne was free to resume his media blitz at the DS Techeetah garage.

But tough questions had to be asked in his moment of triumph. When Autosport told Vergne it had heard the messages in question, he instantly replied: "What I asked - every other driver in Formula 1 or Formula E would have asked the same.

"You crawl by, you see your team-mate one lap down, car broken, front wing [underneath], in the wall - it's something normal. Everyone would have asked the same. It's not like he was running for position with the car fine [or] I asked to put it in the wall like something in the past that has happened.

"I didn't create a crashgate, I haven't done that. Ask any other driver and they would have done the same, it's no big deal."

And Vergne, who it should be noted also said he agreed with the FIA and said he was "happy for whatever penalty they give me to set [an] example [so] that the drivers, me included, stop complaining on the radio to try and make things happen for their own benefit", is absolutely right.

He has not caused a second crashgate to follow former Jaguar FE driver - and season one champion with NEXTEV - Nelson Piquet Jr's actions at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. It would have been wrong had Vergne been given more than what he received, and a travesty had the desire from the social media wolves howling that he should be stripped of his title been fulfilled. Not that the FIA would listen to such nonsense anyway.

So, here's why those calling for a harsher penalty are wrong. Firstly, Vergne's remarks, although certainly unsporting and ill-judged, were said in the heat of the moment - just after a big incident that had had a major impact on his chances in the race.

Yes, he had a massive lead ahead of the New York round, but he was still very keen to wrap up the title as early as possible. If it is there for the taking, no driver would ever put off clinching a championship with time to spare.

Secondly, people are allowed to express their emotions, even if it does get them into trouble at times. If motorsport fans want human beings to compete in the sport they love rather than be PR-trained robots, then we must accept and forgive them when they fail in cases such as this.

And finally, Vergne's messages reflect his raging desire to win - even if he said ahead of the race that he "hates losing more than I like winning." That attitude, frankly, is fair enough in this instance.

All of the above are valid simply because nothing ultimately happened. If it had - say Techeetah had told Lotterer to stop or crash - then the assessment of the situation would naturally and rightly be much different. In that hypothetical scenario, only the strictest of penalties would have been fitting.

A slight side note to all of this concerns the Audi team. The German squad, which was Techeetah's closest rivals in the teams' championship - and ultimately finished second in a reverse of last year's result - is also Techeetah's pitlane neighbour courtesy of that 2017/18 ending.

Yes, some of the gloss was taken off Vergne's title triumph by notcrashgate. But it should not dilute the brilliance of his season

On Saturday night, as Vergne reflected on his ragged race - and possibly his radio remarks - DS Techeetah protested the driving standards of Audi driver Lucas di Grassi to the stewards.

It argued di Grassi had hit Lotterer into Vergne in the early melee and then continued to push the triple Le Mans 24 Hours winner until he was fully turned around. But the stewards rejected that, saying Bird had already been punished for causing the original track blockage and that Lotterer had, in fact, struck Vergne before being hit by di Grassi.

On Sunday night, Vergne said: "Audi were extremely pissed off that my team protested them yesterday. So, they found anything to protest us. As simple as that."

There is no suggestion Audi did protest Vergne - and the team was not cited in the stewards document announcing the community service penalty. But that did not reassure Vergne in the immediate aftermath, or stop him leaving the media attention in his garage to briefly confront Audi team principal Allan McNish over his suspicions.

Autosport contacted Audi to ask if it had done what Vergne suggested and the team denied that was the case on multiple occasions. And when asked if there was any bad blood between the two squads after the two investigations, McNish said: "To be honest with you, I'm not sure [about Vergne's comments]. We were protested by the team [on Saturday] and that was thrown out. And that's the only protest that's there. That's it as far as I'm concerned."

Ultimately, this whole thing was a fuss over nothing. A storm in a teacup - or bickering over a bagel to make up a more Brooklyn-appropriate expression. So, let's return to Vergne's triumph and give him the final words he had been denied from saying to some on Sunday.

"We will give it all next season, that's for sure," he said. "I want more. The [Saturday] race made me realise a lot of things. Nothing is won until the chequered flag, and it gave me even more hunger to be more successful in the future. To arrive with [a bigger] points lead in the final [race weekend] next year, but you never know how next season plays out. It was the best example yesterday. There was more action than in a Michael Bay movie.

"I don't know the feeling [about winning a second title]. I need a little bit of time to calm down and realise what we've done, but we've done something absolutely incredible with this team. I'm so proud of the guys working there, also back at the factory - I think they're clearly the best."

That is how the 2018/19 FE season ended. Yes, some of the gloss was taken off Vergne's title triumph by notcrashgate. But it should not dilute the brilliance of his season.

He will return for the next campaign with a target on his back that is now twice as big as it was this season. Not because of this incident, but because with two titles he has established himself as FE's premier star.