Tag: Formula E

Diriyah, 23 Nov 2019: Sims climbs onto the top step of the podium for the first time in his second season with BMW i Andretti Motorsport. His teammate Günther crosses the finish line in second, but is later penalised for overtaking under safety car and drops down to position eleven. Audi Sport Abt Schaefflers’s Lucas di Grassi is promoted to second place, while Mercedes-Benz EQ driver Stoffel Vandoorne claims 15 points for third.

With the lights out, it was pole setter Alexander Sims who pulled away in the lead after securing his second pole in a row on day two of the 2019 Diriyah E-Prix.

Leading the way with Nissan e.dams’ Sebastian Buemi in second and Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler’s Lucas di Grassi in third, the British driver maintained his position up front while DS Techeetah’s Antonio Felix Da Costa – who moved into fourth after Mahindra Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio retired from the race due to technical difficulties – was on the attack.

Making his way through the pack, Da Costa was eager to make the podium, attacking Buemi and nudging the back of his car while sending him spinning into oncoming traffic. The Nissan driver rejoined the field in 15th but came under investigation by the Stewards.

With more than 30 minutes left on the clock, Bird was tapped by Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans going through turn 4, before being tapped again by Mahindra Racing’s Pascal Wehrlein going through turn 5. The British driver – who clinched the win in the first race only a day before – met with the wall. With significant damage to his car, the Brit was out of the race.

After consideration by the Stewards, Da Costa was handed a 10-second drive through penalty for causing the incident with Buemi, while the Nissan driver was also handed the same punishment for his re-entry into the race that was deemed unsafe.

While his teammate was already out of the race, fellow Envision Virgin Racing driver Robin Frijns lost control of his Audi-powered car between turn 5 and 6, hitting the wall sideways on turn 7. Damaged and stranded in his car, the Yellow Flag was raised while his car was recovered.

With eight minutes left on the clock, Sims maintained his lead after the restart. Further down the pack, Jaguar’s Evans was handed a 10-second drive through penalty for the collision with Bird.

Taking his Attack Mode, di Grassi in third temporarily lost a position before blasting back past Mercedes-Benz EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne with 35kW of extra power. Not taking the Attack Mode, Sims’ teammate Maximilian Günther slipped into second as the two BMW’s led the way with only minutes left on the clock.

Stretching the lead to over three seconds with five minutes left on the clock, Günther defended hard against di Grassi, holding the Attack Mode-enabled Brazilian at bay.

While both BMWs crossed the line in tandem, Günther was handed a drive through penalty after the race for overtaking under safety car. With the penalty converted into a time penalty he ended up in eleventh position on the final result sheet. Audi’s di Grassi moved up to second and Vandoorne of Mercedes-Benz EQ to third place.

Edorado Mortara of Rokit Venturi Racing, Oliver Rowland of Nissan e.dams and Daniel Abt of Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler round out the top six.

Quotes

Alexander Sims, BMW i Andretti Motorsport

“That was pretty much a dream race! We executed everything really well and we made the right decisions at the right time. Crossing that line was an amazing feeling. We keep learning so many lessons and there are many more to come in the near future. The team have put a lot of effort in and to deliver a win now… it’s really cool.”

Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler Formula E Team

“It was the 60th race in Formula E and my 31st podium finish. I’m extremely happy. After a troubled weekend we’re back on top with this podium today. The fight for the title starts now! The team works non-stop, although we don’t have the tools now, we’re going to have them as the season wraps up. Now we need to work to be able to tackle the next phase of the season.”

Stoffel Vandoorne, Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team

“I moved up from eleventh on the grid to finish third, so that was an action-packed race that ended with a good result for me. I was patient initially at the start and then showed good pace. I even managed to save some energy and deploy Attack Mode once I had pulled out a gap on those behind me, and so, did not lose too many positions. Still, in view of the fact that this was only the team’s first race weekend, we can be satisfied with our points haul.”

Biggest grid in Formula E’s history will line up for the season opener

The 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship season will get underway with a double header this weekend (22 and 23 November). Following a successful debut in season five, Diriyah will again host the first race of a new season of electric street racing. Located on the north-western outskirts of the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, the E-Prix will take place in close proximity to the At-Turaif district, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The 2.494 km long track features 21 turns and winds its way through the historic area. The site also has huge grandstands that will accommodate tens of thousands of fans on race days, while the concert arena will provide entertainment for fans in the evenings.

Familiar faces and new challengers

Formula E welcomes two new teams to the paddock in season six, with TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team coming in as a new entity, while the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team graduated out of the HWA Racelab outfit and is now embarking on its first year as a full works team.

In addition to new teams come new drivers. Double FIA WEC World Champion, and former Formula One driver, Brendon Hartley makes his all-electric racing debut with Geox Dragon. The New Zealander is joined by fellow rookie Nico Müller, who steps up to a full-time drive in the American squad. After winning the FIA Formula 2 Championship Nyck de Vries moves up the single-seater ladder and takes a seat with the Mercedes team. Another rookie, James Calado, will get behind the wheel of the Panasonic Jaguar Racing car, while Neel Jani extends his cooperation with Porsche and joins its Formula E team. Returning to Formula E racing is Ma Qinghua, who already competed in several rounds in previous years and takes NIO 333’s single-seater out on the city streets this season.

With five of the teams retaining the same driver line-up as for the previous season – namely Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler (Daniel Abt and Lucas Di Grassi), Envision Virgin Racing (Sam Bird and Robin Frijns), Mahindra Racing (Jerome d’Ambrosio and Pascal Wehrlein), Nissan e.dams (Sebastien Buemi and Oliver Rowland) and Venturi (Felipe Massa and Edoardo Mortara) a lot of familiar faces will also be around.

Click here to view the full entry list for the Diriyah E-Prix.

Regulation changes for the upcoming season

Drivers will have an additional 10kW of power available when using Attack Mode, rising from 225kW to 235kW. Also, drivers won’t be able to activate the system under Full Course Yellow (FCY), or when the safety car is deployed – meaning the drivers will have to go off the racing line to activate Attack Mode under normal race conditions and run the risk of losing positions.

Furthermore, to enhance the effects of energy management, during safety car periods and under FCY, a fixed quantity of energy – equal to 1kWh per minute for the duration of the caution period – will be subtracted from the total energy remaining in each car.

This measure means that drivers will no longer be able to save energy by driving at lower speeds under FCY or behind the safety car, leading to more varied strategies and close racing to the finish line that fans have grown accustomed to seeing in Formula E. A further recent change will be that the timekeeping system pauses if the race is temporarily suspended – remaining at the discretion of the FIA Race Director – with the aim being to maximise the amount of race time.

More points will also be on offer in season six, with an additional point handed out to the fastest driver in the qualifying group stages. The driver who secures pole position still picks up three points – as well as one point being awarded to the driver who sets the fastest lap finishing in the top-10 of the final classification.

Girls on track

Following the successful Girls on Track – Dare To be Different campaign at the Mexico City and Berlin E-Prix’ earlier this year, FIA Girls on Track is heading to Saudi Arabia for a further event on 21 and 22 November. The campaign offers a unique opportunity to inspire and encourage girls between the ages of 8 and 18 years as well as to educate the general public on gender equality in motorsport.

The event will see girls participate in a number of innovative activities that includes media tutorials, technical challenges, educational environmental challenges, a health workshop, simulator sessions and a karting slalom course.

For more information and to register the participation of girls between the ages of 8-18 click here.

One race to run in season five with both drivers’ and teams’ championships still up for grabs

Sebastien Buemi has become the ninth different winner in the FIA Formula E Championship this season. He bags a maiden victory for Nissan e.dams with his first Formula E win in over two years. The points scored today keep his championship hopes alive, making him one of four drivers still in contention for the drivers’ championship title.

Buemi led from pole position, but it was far from comfortable for him to reach the chequered flag. Alex Lynn built up the pressure on the leader in the early stages of the race, but was forced to retire the car at the side of the track due to a technical problem. Mitch Evens took over second place from Lynn and tried to get past Buemi, but without avail.

The Nissan e.dams driver battled to the end and escaped any previous misfortune that prevented him from winning earlier in the season – crashing out of the lead in Santiago and suffering a puncture in Paris.

Reigning champion and favourite for the title coming into the race, Jean-Eric Vergne still holds a sizeable lead in the standings and sits 22-points clear of nearest rival Lucas di Grassi.

Starting down the order after struggling with a slippery track surface in the first qualifying group, Vergne was caught out in a mid-field melee causing him to pit early with a punctured tyre. Sam Bird sent Jose Maria Lopez into a spin at Turn 7 and left drivers behind taking avoiding action.

Vergne slowed to steer clear of stationary cars but was subsequently hit from behind by team-mate Andre Lotterer. Both DS TECHEETAH drivers were forced to pit and dropped to the back of the pack.

Despite the puncture, Vergne’s chances to wrap-up the title weren’t totally deflated, with a safety car to recovery Lynn’s stricken car helping to close the gap to the points-paying positions.-

Vergne vaulted up the leaderboard and looked set to score points, but collided with Felipe Massa on the final lap of the race. Vergne went wide into Turn 1 going wheel-to-wheel with Massa and ran out of road on the apex of the right-hander at Turn 2 – hitting the wall hard and ending up facing the wrong way.

With both, the drivers’ and also the teams’ championships, still up for graps, the final race of the 2018/2019 ABB FIA Formula E Championship season promises plenty of excitement. With Vergne, Buemi, di Grassi and Evans, four drivers are mathematically still in contention for the title. On the teams’ side, 24 points separate DS TECHEETAH from Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler also making the last race the title decider for the teams’ championship.

Quotes:

Sebastien Buemi, Nissan e.dams:

“It’s been difficult this year, because in many ways I feel like I was leading the races in Santiago and Paris, yet every time something seemed to happen. To finally be able to win is great and I’d like to dedicate the win to Jean-Paul [Driot], our team principal, who couldn’t be here today. Without him the team wouldn’t be the same. I’m really happy and looking better in the championship, and tomorrow everything is still open, so we’ll see what we can achieve. But it’s been a good day.”

Mitch, Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing:

“We really shuffled things around from Rome and since then the car has been very strong, so to capitalise on that pace is really nice. I’d like to mention that Alex [Lynn] deserves to be up here as well, he had a tough failure today. I’m not sure what happened, but it was good to see him fighting at the front. It’s nice to put at least one Jaguar on the podium. It’s going to be a good battle for second place as well between myself, Seb and Lucas, so hopefully a little bit less carnage tomorrow but hopefully a similar result.”

Antonio Felix da Costa, BMW i Andretti Motorsport:

“I’m not sure where to start! I started all the way down in eighth and then had the issue with being on the left-hand side of the track and losing places off the line. My car was pretty damaged and hard to drive but we still seemed to have some pace. JEV kept going forwards and I was able to save some energy in key moments of the race and use it afterwards on ATTACK MODE. We managed to have the speed to move up the order, do some moves and defend when we had to. I need to thank Alex [Sims] who let me pass in the end to keep chasing the championship. I’m really grateful to him and the team for allowing this.”

2019 New York City E-Prix (Rd 12)

Drivers standings

Team standings

Rome, 13 April 2019: New Zealander Evans managed to overtake pole-sitter Andre Lotterer in a hard-fought battle on the streets of Rome to earn his first victory in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship and a maiden win for Panasonic Jaguar Racing. He is the seventh driver in seven races to win a race this season. After seven races, Jerome D Ambrosio of Mahindra Racing, with 65 points, leads the championship by a slender one point.

Evans pursued Lotterer’s car in the opening phase of the race, with the DS TECHEETAH driver unable to pull a gap. With both teams and drivers evenly-matched on pace, it became a tactical battle about when to deploy ATTACK MODE.

Just after the halfway mark, it was Evans who activated ATTACK MODE first. Despite losing some time moving off the racing line, Evans stayed ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne in third and quickly closed the gap to Lotterer.

Lotterer chose not to mirror Evans and ran an alternate strategy, holding off on using the higher power mode and keeping the Jaguar behind – intending to reap the rewards later in the race and using track position to his advantage.

However, Evans had other ideas and made a lunge with only seconds to spare with ATTACK MODE running out. Staying in his slipstream, Evans brushed past Lotterer with a late-breaking move up the inside of Turn 11.

With the lead changing hands, Lotterer used ATTACK MODE twice in quick succession in a bid to counteract the advance of Evans. But despite his best efforts, he couldn’t get close enough and had to settle for second place.

Managing and closely monitoring his energy to the chequered flag, Evans punched the air as he crossed the finish-line – adding to the list of consecutive different winners so far this season and taking the tally to seven.

Vandoorne followed the top-two over the finish line and rounded-out the podium places. The result marks the first podium for the Belgian in his rookie season and the first for HWA RACELAB in Formula E.

Robin Frijns progressed through the field to fourth ahead of Sebastien Buemi – who picked-up an extra point for fastest lap – with his Nissan e.dams team-mate Oliver Rowland a place further back, in front of Lucas di Grassi in seventh.

Four points for Jerome D’Ambrosio in eighth was enough to vault him above Antonio Felix da Costa, returning to the top of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship standings with the top-nine drivers covered by a mere 13 points. Antonio Felix Da Costa of BMW i ANDRETTI MOTORSPORT and Pascal Wehrlein rounded out the top ten.

Reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne couldn’t replicate his form from Sanya, failing to score points after being caught-up in the first lap melee with Jose Maria Lopez and Gary Paffett that eventually brought out the red flag.

With the first race of the European leg coming to a close, Formula E heads to the French capital for the fourth edition of the Paris E-Prix on 27 April – round eight of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

Quotes:

Mitch Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing:

“It’s beautiful to be honest. I was getting excited with the race – the first few laps were tricky. Andre and I looked comfortable, but it was tricky. After the red flag I wanted to stay after him, as normally DS TECHEETAH are really strong in the race so I thought, let’s see what we’ve got behind them. Once the energy information came up I thought this is a nice surprise, I need to use it now so I was just trying to get close and attack. Obviously it was on the edge but it could be done, luckily for us. I want to thank everyone at Jaguar Racing for the hard work. It’s not been easy – we’ve been in the championship since season three – so I’m really delighted to be the first one for Jaguar.”

Andre Lotterer, DS TECHEETAH:

“I have mixed feelings obviously. I really wanted to win this one, we’ve been working really hard but Mitch was a lot quicker today so congratulations to him and his team. I need to check what happened because from the middle of the race I started to struggle with the tyres, and it looked like the pressure was getting higher. I tried to hold on to the lead thinking he would back off, but obviously he had his nose in it and tried to leap me. He left me space which I think was fair.”

Stoffel Vandoorne, HWA RACELAB:

“I’m very happy with the result today. We’ve had a really difficult start of the season and we haven’t always had a good pace. Anything is possible in Formula E considering what’s been happening in the past races. It’s unpredictable and we’ve made progress race after race and we’ve improved our pace. We ticked off a few boxes this weekend; it was a good learning for myself as well to get to the flag which I hadn’t managed this year.”

2019 Rome E-Prix (Rd 7)

Driver standing

Team standing