Stoffel Vandoorne was forced to start the Valencia E-Prix from 24th on the grid, having qualified on pole position after a stellar lap at the end of the Superpole shootout. An hour prior to the start, race stewards stripped Vandoorne of pole due to a technical error made by Mercedes regarding the tyres the Belgian driver had used in the session. "Over the course of a weekend, we have to put in something called a technical passport," explained team boss Ian James. "And that involves putting a huge number of numbers into a document. "Now, unfortunately, in our case, one of those numbers, basically a tire serial number one digit, in fact, that serial number was entered incorrectly. So an honest mistake. Now, whether the punishment fits the crime, there's a big question mark over that. The key thing is now we need to refocus and make sure that we can salvage something from the situation we're in and then reset again tomorrow."
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