Reigning Formula E champion, Jean Eric Vergne felt he could have won the Santiago E-Prix, despite retiring from the race.

Vergne has had a difficult start to the season, having retired from two out of the three E-Prix so far, and the French driver had been in the fight for the lead in Santiago, before being forced1` to retire on lap 33 of 40, after his front wing broke following damage caused in the opening laps.

But, despite having another race where he failed to finish, the 29-year-old felt that he could have won the race had he not needed to retire his car due to the damage.

“Today I’m disappointed to not have won the race as I was in a position to do so.

“In the first three laps it’s always a bit of a bunch up of the cars and I damaged my front wing, and towards the end of the race it eventually broke when I was running in third so I had to retire the car.

“We had great pace and good energy, so I had a good shot at winning today.”

Although Vergne has had a difficult start to the season, his team-mate, Antonio Felix Da Costa had a much better race, finishing second after losing out to BMW driver Maximilian Gunther on the final lap of the race, and Vergne is happy with the pace both he and Da Costa had in Santiago.

“I’m very proud of my team because we were really quick today and I think that’s a positive to take with us.” added the 2019 champion.

“Only three races and four points but I have an amazing team around me, and the motivation is very high.

“The spirit of the race today is the spirit we’re going to have for the season, full attack.