Cassidy disagrees with New York FE battery change penalty
Nick Cassidy felt that his 30-place New York City E-Prix grid penalty for changing his Formula E spec battery was wrong, denying him a chance to employ his "unbelievable" pace.
The New Zealander won the first of the two Brooklyn races, following the red flagging of the race as torrential rain enveloped the circuit, which caught Cassidy in an aquaplane moment and sent him into the Turn 6 barrier.
Lucas di Grassi and Stoffel Vandoorne followed Cassidy into the wall, both hitting the stranded Envision car and causing significant damage - requiring a completely new car to be built up for the Kiwi to take to the second race.
Cassidy rewarded his mechanics for a late rebuild job with pole for race two, but was handed a 30-place grid penalty after taking a new battery and associated cooling components - sending him to the back of the grid.
As the full penalty could not be served, Cassidy had to complete it with a drive-through and thus ended any hopes of a recovery drive through the field - which left him feeling frustrated.
"I don't agree with the penalty," Cassidy told Motorsport.com.
"If you change battery due to a fault of your own, you get a whatever penalty. I mean, I was in a wall, front on and I've been hit by two other cars through no fault of my own, damaged my battery and I've been penalised for it.
"And those two other cars, one's had a podium today - so that really sucks. And then to make it worse, my car today was unbelievable. I was so fast.
"So you don't always get those weekends in Formula E, the drivers here are really top quality and I think the order changes weekend to weekend because for the teams, sometimes some tracks suit you, sometimes they don't.
"And to have a car like I had today and not being able to start where we should have done, it's pretty frustrating."
The damaged car of Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing, Audi e-tron FE07, in the garage
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Cassidy explained that he and his Envision team treated the race as normal, and wanted to compare his pace in free air to that of race winner Antonio Felix da Costa - whom he had beaten to pole.
He added that as a whole, he was proud of the weekend and the team's pace was encouraging for the upcoming London E-Prix.
"I still look at today because I'm super proud and I'm super happy of the weekend," Cassidy reflected.
"To do two poles the way we did, the first race the way we managed it I think before the rain hit we were we were home easy anyway. And then our pace and today's race was unbelievable.
"We treated it seriously; we didn't try to save energy, we wanted to see what our pace was versus da Costa because he was in clean air and I was in clean air.
"And I had unbelievable speed in today's race, so it's really nice to see, to show, I guess. It gives everyone a bit of confidence for London as well."
Evans: De Vries's New York FE Turn 10 pass a "stupid move"
Sims: New York FE fourth place a "reward" for Mahindra
The fans that offer a ray of light in an increasingly partisan F1
The fans that offer a ray of light in an increasingly partisan F1 The fans that offer a ray of light in an increasingly partisan F1
How Verstappen’s crushing Japanese GP win showed Singapore was a blip
How Verstappen’s crushing Japanese GP win showed Singapore was a blip How Verstappen’s crushing Japanese GP win showed Singapore was a blip
Verstappen explains "tight" McLaren battle into F1 Japanese GP first corner
Verstappen explains "tight" McLaren battle into F1 Japanese GP first corner Verstappen explains "tight" McLaren battle into F1 Japanese GP first corner
Maserati GT2 racer to make competition debut at Paul Ricard
Maserati GT2 racer to make competition debut at Paul Ricard Maserati GT2 racer to make competition debut at Paul Ricard
Kawasaki signs Bassani to replace Yamaha-bound Rea in WSBK
Kawasaki signs Bassani to replace Yamaha-bound Rea in WSBK Kawasaki signs Bassani to replace Yamaha-bound Rea in WSBK
Inside the adaptations needed to realise NASCAR's Le Mans return
Inside the adaptations needed to realise NASCAR's Le Mans return Inside the adaptations needed to realise NASCAR's Le Mans return
Aston Martin: 2026 gearbox “a golden opportunity” for F1 to cut costs
Aston Martin: 2026 gearbox “a golden opportunity” for F1 to cut costs Aston Martin: 2026 gearbox “a golden opportunity” for F1 to cut costs
How a "complete reset" helped Dennis deliver Andretti's Formula E title
How a "complete reset" helped Dennis deliver Andretti's Formula E title How a "complete reset" helped Dennis deliver Andretti's Formula E title
How Dennis navigated Formula E finale chaos to be crowned champion at home
How Dennis navigated Formula E finale chaos to be crowned champion at home How Dennis navigated Formula E finale chaos to be crowned champion at home
How Dennis conquered Rome to lay siege to the Formula E title
How Dennis conquered Rome to lay siege to the Formula E title How Dennis conquered Rome to lay siege to the Formula E title
How Cassidy emerged triumphant from "mayhem" in Portland FE slow-burner
How Cassidy emerged triumphant from "mayhem" in Portland FE slow-burner How Cassidy emerged triumphant from "mayhem" in Portland FE slow-burner
How Wehrlein turned the tables to move back ahead in Formula E title tussle
How Wehrlein turned the tables to move back ahead in Formula E title tussle How Wehrlein turned the tables to move back ahead in Formula E title tussle
How Cassidy earned 'Big Cat' bragging rights in tight Monaco duel
How Cassidy earned 'Big Cat' bragging rights in tight Monaco duel How Cassidy earned 'Big Cat' bragging rights in tight Monaco duel
How Kiwis stormed Berlin to put Porsche under pressure
How Kiwis stormed Berlin to put Porsche under pressure How Kiwis stormed Berlin to put Porsche under pressure
How Evans pounced for Jaguar in Sao Paulo slipstreaming chess match
How Evans pounced for Jaguar in Sao Paulo slipstreaming chess match How Evans pounced for Jaguar in Sao Paulo slipstreaming chess match
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.