Stoffel Vandoorne mentions not ‘ideal’ setup for the Formula E Hyderabad ePrix 

Reigning Formula E champion Stoffel Vandoorne felt there could be a change made to the street circuit in terms of the layout, as he evaluated the circuit after the inaugural Hyderabad ePrix. He felt the circuit was quick and enjoyable to drive with its fast-flowing sections.

Asked by Sportskeeda about his evaluation of the Hyderabad circuit and the improvements that can be made, the former Porsche driver said:

“I mean the circuit is nice to drive, to be honest. It’s a nice flowing track, it’s quite fast actually. But I think the thing that needs to change is the Turn 1 to the chicane, there’s almost no track limits.

"It made the race director quite busy in the race with all these penalties and to be honest it doesn’t look good as well on TV, if everyone is going wide and everyone is getting penalties. So not ideal, so maybe that’s something we can probably change for next year.”

The Belgian driver feels the lack of track limits between Turn 1 and Chicane kept the race direction busy reviewing the penalties.

Overall, Stoffel Vandoorne enjoyed driving on the Hyderabad circuit and felt it was a good, speedy circuit on their calendar. The DS Penske team driver suggested that maybe some tweaks to the section after Turn 1 could be considered or made before they return to Hyderabad next year. His 2022 title rival Mitch Evans also made similar comments about the Turn 1 section when he spoke to Sportskeeda after the race.

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Stoffel Vandoorne believes his performance in the Hyderabad ePrix was encouraging

Admitting that he lacked a qualifying performance, Stoffel Vandoorne was content with the recovery they had during the race. As he crossed the finish line in sixth place, an unfortunate penalty dropped him to eighth.

The Belgian driver was pleased with the team’s overall result where his teammate Jean Eric Vergne won the race. The former Mercedes FE team driver believes the team's results were encouraging and their pace seems to have improved compared to their last three races.

Speaking to Sportskeeda after the race, the Belgian described his race, saying:

“The race was a challenging one, obviously qualifying was not the best performance again. We really seemed to struggle there in putting the laps together. But in general, the recovery in the race was quite good and finished sixth on track. Unfortunately had a penalty that dropped me back to eighth, so that’s a shame because I think we deserved a bit more today.

"But in general for the team, today was a good day, we enjoyed running the race. So yeah it’s a good place we are in compared to what we were a couple of races ago.”

After driving with a winning team like Mercedes EQ who won two championships in a row, Stoffel Vandoorne is in a new team and atmosphere since he clinched his last championship.

The Belgian driver has not had exceptional performances in the last three races and is currently 16th in the driver’s championship. His teammate Vergne is ninth in the championship, while DS Penske's team are sixth in the championship.