Vandoorne happy with "positive start" to FE career despite race struggles

Despite having a very disappointing weekend in the first ePrix of his career, HWA driver Stoffel Vandoorne looks back positively on the weekend, as the Belgian explained that he and his team both learned a lot.

Vandoorne, who had ended first in free practice and started from fourth position, had a very poor outing in the race in Riyad. He dropped down the grid as the race went on, eventually finishing well outside of the points in P17. His teammate, DTM champion Gary Paffett, retired with mechanical issues.

“It still was a good day for us with a lot of positive discoveries we’ve done,” Vandoorne told Motorsport.com.

“For my first race we got hit with a lot of difficult circumstances, but we were quickest in practice and fourth in qualifying. That’s a very positive start, I was happy with the sessions.”

The race itself was difficult for the former McLaren F1 driver, though, as he got hindered by mechanical problems.

“The race was harder, we had a problem that we couldn’t get under control. That explains why we were slower, but it was good that we found the problem in the end. We have a lot of work to do as an operation, we can learn a lot as a team. Still, I’m happy with the weekend and I look forward to coming weekends.”