Rosenqvist doubted Marrakesh victory chance after struggles

Felix Rosenqvist doubted victory in Saturday's Marrakesh Formula E race was possible after struggling in practice and seeing his car undergo a last-minute battery change, only to fight through for his second straight win.

Rosenqvist struggled with under braking through second practice in cold conditions, and although he recovered to set the pace in the initial qualifying heats, the Swede was left third on the grid after an error on his Super Pole lap.

Rosenqvist battled past Sam Bird and Sebastien Buemi to take his third Formula E victory, making the decisive overtake with five laps remaining.

The Mahindra driver was fortunate to finish the race at all after a battery issue emerged 30 minutes before the start of the race, forcing the team to change the unit on one of his cars so he could complete the full distance.

"In the morning fog it was a bit of a dodgy second session, sliding around a lot and not having consistency in my braking and my car. I picked up where I left off in Hong Kong with my braking issues and tyre issues," Rosenqvist explained to Crash.net after the race.

"I think we really worked in that tight window between practice and qualifying to turn things around, and then I felt really good for qualy. I did a small mistake there in Super Pole but anyway, starting on the second row was the target.

"Then the race was all about managing, listening to the engineer, trying to keep calm and waste energy, trying to not go for the overtake as soon as possible. It worked out really well. I’m happy it worked out so well.

"I think I even had some margin in the end to cruise the last lap and enjoy winning this race for the first time after losing it last year in the same way as Seb did today. That was really cool."

Asked if he always felt confident of passing Buemi for victory, Rosenqvist said: "He wasn’t that much slower. I think if I didn’t surprise him, it wouldn’t have been possible.

"He came into a rhythm of knowing where my quick points were and then trying to block and waste energy. Soon your chance is gone, so it worked out really well.

"I’m not sure if it would have been so easy if he was a bit more awake."

Rosenqvist leads the Formula E drivers' championship after three races, sitting four points clear of DS Virgin Racing's Sam Bird in the standings.