That late-race shunt in the New York City E-Prix Round 11 explained

The rain held off for most of the race in Red Hook, Brooklyn, but the final 10 minutes saw torrential rain hit the New York City E-Prix Round 11, resulting in a late-race shunt involving a number of drivers - including the race leaders - which brought things to an early close under the Red Flag. In the drivers' own words, here's what they made of it. 

HIGHLIGHTS: The New York City E-Prix Round 11

Despite both race leader Nick Cassidy and ROKiT Venturi Racing's Lucas di Grassi ending their E-Prix in the barriers, the pair still found themselves on the podium alongside Robin Frijns in third. With the race ending under a Red Flag, article 41.9 of the race regulations states that if the race can't be resumed, the results are taken at the end of the penultimate lap prior to the lap during which the signal to suspend the race was given, which reinstated all three to the podium. 

Robin Frijns, Envision Racing

"The two guys in front, Nick and Lucas, both went straight on into Turn 6. They aquaplaned and spun - I don't know what happened behind me but I was the only one that survived the carnage.

"Obviously, it's very tricky to avoid doing the same because we are using the same tyres for three quarters of the race and the tread is going down. Then when the rain comes, you're basically driving with slicks.

LIVE HUB: Relive Round 11 from every angle in the Live Hub

"When we were heading to Turn 6, you saw a wall of rain, and I think everybody braked early, but as soon as Lucas drove into that rain wall in front of me, I couldn't see anything because of the spray that was coming out of his car. I braked really early, and the spray actually went away because he was at a ninety-degree angle, so he didn't have any spray left. I was also aquaplaning, my car was surging quite heavily, but I got on the straight line and was, basically, lucky to hit the apex."

Lucas di Grassi, ROKiT Venturi Racing 

"The crash today was the strongest crash of my Formula E career and one of the strongest crashes I've had in motorsport - it was well over 15G but I'm okay and it just shows that when you're aquaplaning, there's nothing you can do.

"The rain came, and you could see that the cars were sliding more and more every lap.Thankfully these cars are extremely safe.The car is pretty much destroyed, but that shows how safe these cars are. I crashed into Nick at at least 100kph in a totally standstill car, and then Stoffel crashed into me at a similar speed. I'm very happy with the safety of the car and I'm happy that all the other drivers are also 100%.

"I'm happy that they put the Red Flag out and they made the decision at the end of the race - I'm happy with the points but unhappy that the car is completely in pieces. The mechanics will have to work very, very hard to put the car together for tomorrow."

Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing

"It's such a rollercoaster of emotions. I was pretty calm after everything that happened and, obviously very disappointed initially - I felt like everything right today and felt like I had it in the in the bag with 10 minutes to go, even when it started raining a little bit. Initially, it was very disappointing considering all that but - although I'm biassed I think it was the right decision [by the Race Director]. 

"I was screaming in the garage, 'are you sure?' It's difficult for me to say say too much - I'm super happy but in terms of the race that we did, the team did a fantastic job. I had a fantastic car today and I'm just really pleased, especially after the last weekends we've had that we could come here and take the win today in New York."