Victory from pole in the season-opening Diriyah E-Prix boosted the 2019 FIA Formula 2 champion to the top of the standings, and he retook the lead after scoring an unlikely win in the first Valencia race following the critical energy levels suffered by much of grid. But the Dutch racer has now scored just two points from the last five races, a drop off he blamed on the Formula E qualifying format rather than a decline in Mercedes pace. When asked whether he was worried about the low-scoring form following the first New York City E-Prix in which he finished 13th,
“It's just a set of circumstantial situations caused by the game. Of course, we make mistakes, and we are responsible for our mistakes which we do. But ultimately, the biggest problem is the qualifying format.” “If you if you're in group one, the best possible qualifying position was P11 on Saturday. Normally in group 1, apparently, the disadvantage is so big that it's just tough to be inside top 10. You're in the back of the grid & in all this mess. 3 races like that, what can you do? Of course we have our responsibilities, & we need to always do better as a team. But I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong on our side. It's just part of the game. If you look at the championship standings, there are almost 12 drivers within 19 points. You can say it's exciting but for me, it's artificial.