Sam Bird broke his hand in an accident in the Formula E race in London – but still managed to finish his Jaguar in eighth place
Sam Bird really gritted his teeth: The Briton was involved in an accident at the start of the second Formula E race in London and broke his hand. But instead of giving up, the Jaguar driver finished in eighth place after about an hour of racing and thus in the points. Whether he will be able to compete in the season finale is still written in the stars.
Although Bird had a crash on the first lap and injured himself, he was able to contest all the laps of the second round of the British double-header. Later, the Formula E veteran caused another collision – with Pascal Wehrlein in the Porsche – and received a five-second penalty for it.
The Briton was nevertheless classified eighth despite the incident at turn 16, as he had a large lead over Sergio Sette Camara in ninth position. After the race, Bird was taken to a doctor who examined his hand. This revealed a fracture in his left hand, which he had been driving with for the entire race. According to Jaguar, Bird is now being treated by a specialist.
JEEZ! @sambirdofficial had been taken to hospital after the race where docs confirmed he broke his hand on L1 of the LondonEPrix Sunday race.
Incredible he brought the thing home in P8 for @JaguarRacing DifferentBreed ABBFormulaE pic.twitter.com/3eULwajlsk
– Tobi Bluhm (@TobiTweetings) July 31, 2022
The specialist is also expected to decide whether the racing driver will be able to compete in the Formula E final in Seoul, South Korea. The title fight will be decided there in two more races. The two races will take place on 13 and 14 August 2022. Bird has no shares in the title fight and his team-mate Mitch Evans also had to virtually bury his chances of winning the championship in London.
The New Zealander finished fifth in the first race and crashed out in the second. This gives Stoffel Vandoorne a 36-point lead ahead of the final two races for Mercedes in Formula E, with a maximum of 58 points still up for grabs. A solid result in South Korea would be enough for the Belgian to gild Mercedes’ farewell to the championship with the title.
While Evans wants to keep his minimal chances alive, Bird could be replaced by Norman Nato should he not get clearance from doctors because of the fracture in his left hand. The Frenchman is Jaguars’ back-up rider and is already in place should the worst happen. Last season, Nato competed for Venturi in Formula E and even won the last race in Berlin. However, he lost his cockpit to Lucas di Grassi.
Jaguar has another potential replacement for Bird in Tom Dillmann, but the Frenchman is nowhere near as experienced in Formula E as Nato. Two races remain in the Gen2 era of the electric world championship. The signs point to a championship win for Vandoorne, but mathematically Evans, Edoardo Mortara and also Jean-Eric Vergne are still in a position to take the title – even if the chances are slim.
