We all know motorsport's golden and unwritten rule is 'don't hit your teammate'. However, sometimes it just can't be helped but accidents do happen. With Jaguar TCS Racing's Sam Bird taking himself and Mitch Evans out of the inaugural Hyderabad E-Prix the latest in a long line, here are some other awkward moments where teammates get a bit too close for comfort.
Taken out of the lead
In 2019, Antonio Felix da Costa won the first round of Season 5, and all seemed great at BMW i Andretti Motorsport. The famous German manufacturer, BMW, had joined Formula E and partnered with Andretti Autosport for the season but things came crashing down - literally - when da Costa and teammate Alexander Sims made contact while battling for the lead in the second race of the season.
In the race's closing stages, Sims made a move around the outside for first place. Both drivers came together and locked up, sending da Costa straight into the barriers and out of the race. Sims could continue and would finish in fourth, but there's no denying the mistake cost the team a guaranteed one-two result.
A bump in the road
Things could have been smoother for Mercedes-EQ on their way to their first Teams' title in Formula E. During race one of the double header at Rome in Season 7, Stoffel Vandoorne stuck his Silver Arrow 01 on Julius Baer Pole Position. Contact from the TAG Heuer Porsche of Andre Lotterer sent him spiralling down the order to 13th during the race, but Vandoorne recovered well to battle for fifth at the flag.
However, his race soon took a turn as the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler of Lucas di Grassi began to slow on track due to a mechanical failure. Despite his quick reaction time to avoid di Grassi, Vandoorne hit a manhole cover and spun into the wall. Unfortunately for him, his teammate Nyck de Vries was right behind and ploughed into the side of him, taking them both out of the race.
Problems in Paris
We knew this would be an exciting race when the DS Virgin duo of Jean-Eric Vergne and Sam Bird made contact at Turn 2 on the opening lap. Bird, who had started on pole, didn't get the best start, and as Vergne tried to pass Bird, they had a slight tap which resulted in a small amount of damage to Bird's car.
It didn't stop there, as later on in the race, Bird tried to get the position back. However, Vergne wouldn't let a podium at his home race slip from his grasp, and the two made contact again! At Turn 3 and 4 in the first stage of the race, they clashed, damaging Vergne's sidepod and Bird's front wing.
Vergne would finish second, with Bird in sixth after a mistake when in third saw him go down an escape road laps from the chequered flag.
Making Formula E history
In 2018, Techeetah and their drivers Vergne and Andre Lotterer made ABB FIA Formula E history. The teammate pairing became the first to achieve a one-two result for a team in the championship's 37-race history.
Yet, it almost didn't happen after the two drivers made heavy contact during the Santiago E-Prix. With Lotterer behind JEV, the German driver locked up in the braking zone and drove into the back of Vergne! The two drivers even touched on three occasions, but all worked well in the end.
Mahindra madness in Mexico
Mahindra's newest signing, Felix Rosenqvist, got caught up in an incident involving his teammate at the 2017 Mexico City E-Prix. During the race's final stages, the Renault e.dams of Nicolas Prost and Mahindra's Nick Heidfeld came together in the iconic stadium section.
The stewards never took any further action on their crash, but Heidfeld was sent into a spin from their impact. Facing the oncoming traffic, his teammate Rosenqvist had nowhere to go, and the two collided. The Mahindra duo went from both being in the points to Rosenqvist being forced to retire with two laps to go and Heidfeld eventually finishing 12th.
Teammate clashes in Formula E are more common than you might think! Whether that's Vergne and Da Costa, who came to blows on several occasions as teammates, or the embarrassing blunder that almost caused both Mahindra machines to crash during a mandatory pit stop at the 2017 Berlin E-Prix.