Formula E 2015/2016 - Rounds 1 & 2

Round 1 - Beijing

Buemi dominated the even in Beijing

Formula E roared back into action on the 24th October in Beijing as the second season of the electric racing series got underway, and it got underway in emphatic style for the Renault e.dams team, as Sebastian Buemi took pole position and the win and won in dominant style. He won by 11 seconds and only lost the lead as drivers made their pitstops for their second cars. Behind him came Lucas Di Grassi, the Abt driver pleased with 2nd place despite the big gap to the winner, and 3rd was a very happy Nick Heidfeld for Mahindra racing, who had been running in 2nd place early on and benefited from problems for the other Renault e.dams. Di Grassi benefited early on from a mistake from Prost, who ran wide at turn 3 on the second lap, and was stuck in fourth for the first part of the race.

All the action happened behind Buemi as he pulled away from the rest of the field

Simona De Silvestro stuffed her Amlin Andretti car into the barriers at turn 3, where Prost made his earlier mistake. This brought out a full course yellow for a few laps, and when the race resumed, Buemi bolted from the rest of the pack and pulled away. Behind the leader Jean-Eric Vergne was having an almighty scrap with first Bruno Senna, then Loic Duval,the DS Virgin car ultimately losing out to the pair. Heidfeld's Mahindra nowhere near the pace of the Renault car. Buemi lead the charge into the pits for the car swap, and Di Grassi and Prost got the jump on Heidfeld, although Heidfeld managed to re-pass the Renault driver into turn 2, however Prost soon got him back, the pair having a fantastic scrap like they did last year. Another full course yellow then came out, this time for a collision between Jaques Villeneuve and Antonio Felix Da Costa. Jaques managed to continue but Da Cost was out on the spot. Back up front, after there scrap for the lead last year, it didn't end in tears for Nick Heidfeld this time round. However, it did for Nico Prost. Prost's rear wing decided to give up and collapsed, and even though the Frenchman race on for a few more laps, he was given the black and orange flag and had to retire the car.

Nico Prost surveys his damaged car, gutted at losing a potential podium

This elevated Di Grassi into 2nd place and Heidfeld back into 3rd, however Loic Duval soon closed up on him in the Dragon car and threw absolutely everything at him to try and get onto the podium. Determined to pass him was his team-mate Jerome d'Ambrosio, who had caught up to him and made a lunge for Duval's position but it was unsuccessful. Duval regrouped after his team-mates attack and threw caution into the wind at Heidfeld, lunging himself to try and grab the final position on the podium but id didn't pay off and the dragon driver had to settle four 4th place with d'Ambrosio behind. It was a very successful day nonetheless for the Dragon Racing team, and a great day for Mahindra, their first podium in the sport.

Sebastian Buemi celebrates an absolutely dominant win in China

No one though could come close to Sebastian Buemi. He had lead all but one of the racing laps and took the victory by just over 11 seconds from Di Grassi, who pushed hard to close the gap but to no avail. When the Formula E grid regrouped just two weeks later in Putrajaya for round two of the championship, it looked like it could be another Buemi walkover after the Swiss driver took pole position. In the end, no one could have predicted what happened in Malaysia.

Round 2 - Putrajaya

Things looked good for Renault in Putrajaya before the heat got to them...

In qualifying, Renault weren't quite as dominant as they had been in Beijing but Buemi still took his second consecutive pole position for the team. Stéphane Sarrazin took a brilliant 2nd place on the grid but an issue with his Venturi car at the start meant he was pushed off the grid and started from the pitlane. As the lights went out after the first aborted start, Buemi made the perfect start to lead into turn 1, Loic Duval grabbing 2nd and Antonio Felix Da Costa, who qualified an amazing 4th in an Aguri car running last years powertrain, was running in 3rd place. Turn 1 was a disaster for Nick Heidfeld and Jean-Eric Vergne. Vergne, Villeneuve and Heidfeld touched, Heidfeld spinning and Vergne's front right suspension being destroyed, taking him out of the race instantly. Apart from that, the first few laps were relatively incident free, until Oliver Turvey brought out the safety car after stuffing it into the wall on lap five. Buemi had edged clear of Duval during the period before the safety car, but now that gap was reduced to nothing.

Buemi pulled away from Duval once again after the safety car

At the restart Buemi pulled away from Duval, who was foccussed on keeping Da Costa at bay, as he had made a great restart and was pressuring the Dragon Racing machine. He was soon passed by Prost, who made an undercut on lap 9 into turn 4, and he was up into third place, and it was a Renault 1-3. Duval then managed to cut into Buemi's 2.5s lead when all of a sudden the Renault car slowed out of the hairpin and stopped on track, and dropped way down the order. At the same time, Prost dived into the pits as he was suffering with a temperature issue, and Buemi had managed to get going again and came into the pits as well to change cars. Both got back out on track fairly quickly, however they had to energy save like crazy stay in the race as they had both swapped cars a lot earlier than was originally planned.

Di Grassi closes in on Prost after the Renault car's issues

Things were now really starting to kick off.  With Buemi and Prost out of the picture, Duval now lead from Da Costa and Di Grassi and a few laps later the leading trio came into the pits with Robin Frijns an amazing fifth, the Amlin Andretti car running last years powertrain like the Aguri. He stayed out one more lap as the others went in, but it was disastrous stop for Duval. His pitstop was six seconds longer than Da Costa's and Di Grassi, and now Da Costa was in the net lead of the race, as Prost had somehow managed to come around and take the lead of the race after his force pitstop. His lead was however an illusion as he was saving so much energy just to stay in the race, and after quickly dispatching Da Costa, Di Grassi closed in for the kill.

After passing Prost, Di Grassi left all the carnage behind him

Within a few laps Di Grassi had passed Prost, and soon after Da Costa passed the struggling Frenchman. However shortly after, Da Costa locked up into turn 1 then, when rejoining the track, his car shut down, dropping him to 7th but he managed to get going again, only for the car to stop again and then carry on, this time he managed to keep going for the rest of the race. He was outside the top ten but would finish 6th, thanks to the carnage that was about to unfold upfront. Robin Frijns was now in 5th with Sam Bird ahead in 4th. Both cars then suddenly closed up onto the Dragon of Loic Duval who had ran straight on at turn 1 with a damper problem. Frijns passed him on the run up to the hairpin but carried to much speed into the corner and smacked into the wall, damaging the right rear suspension, and then knocking the front wing of the car slightly on the back of the limping Duval, as Sam Bird passed both and was up into 3rd. Frijns though incredibly carried on, ahead of Sarrazin who had stormed to 5th place. Then on the last lap, d'Ambrosio, who had passed Prost for 3rd earlier on, and then his team-mate after his damper issue, wacked his right rear suspension against the wall at turn 7, taking himself out of the race, elevating Bird to 2nd and Frijns to an incredible 3rd place!

Di Grassi celebrates the win after an incredibly crazy race

In all the carnage, Nico Prost ran straight on at turn five and Sebastian Buemi stopped on track AGAIN, to cap a horrible day for the Renault team. Ahead of it all, Lucas Di Grassi must have been incredibly relieved, as he took his second career victory in Formula E and moved to the top of the drivers standings comfortably, and Abt took a comfortable lead in the teams championship as well. By all rights, Di Grassi should have three wins to his name, after being excluded from a brilliant drive in Berlin last year due to an issue with the front wing of the car. Abt had the pace to challenge Renault in Malaysia, despite Di Grassi's 6th place on the grid in qualifying, Virgin got the podium there car is capable of getting after a tough Beijing and start to the race in Putrajaya, and Frijns crabbed his way to an amazing podium, in a car with a year old power train! A podium spot that by all rights however, should have been Da Costa',s but both put in stunning drives. The next round is in Punta Del Este in Uruguay on December the 19th. After two amazing opening rounds, what can Uruguay deliver? If only we didn't have to wait more than a month to find out...

Sam Bird, Lucas Di Grassi and Robin Frijns spray the champagne on the podium

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Formula E - The title decider

Piquet Jr became the first Formula E champion

As Formula E headed into London for the final race of the inaugural season, three men were in the fight for the championship: Lucas Di Grassi for the ABT team, Sebastien Buemi for eDams Renault, and Nelson Piquet Jr for the NEXTEV China Racing team. On Sunday,  after a thrilling finale, it was Piquet Jr who emerged as the series first ever champion, beating Buemi by just one, single, point, after starting way down the order.

Berlin

Di Grassi won in Berlin...for a while

The scene for a dramatic double-header finale was set back in May at Berlin, and earlier on this month in Mosocw. In Berlin, Jarno Trulli took a shock pole position, but Di Grassi took the lead on the opening lap, and then went on to dominate the race, to open up a big championship lead. Title rivals Buemi and Piquet Jr finished in 3rd and 5th, however things took a turn for the worse for Di Grassi, as he was excluded from the race results for a technical infringement, handing the victory to Jerome d'Amrbosio. This promoted Buemi to 2nd place and Piquet Jr to 4th, and left the latter at the top of the championship.

Moscow

Piquet Jr took a commanding win in Moscow

In Moscow, Jean-Eric Vergne took his third pole position of the year, but Piquet Jr jumped him at the start and never looked back , taking control of the race and dominating it, extending his championship lead even further as Di Grassi finished in 2nd place, and Buemi in 9th after being given a time penalty for an illegal overtake. As the Formula E paddock headed to Battersea Park in London, Piquet Jr lead Di Grassi by seventeen points, and lead Buemi by twenty three. No one knew at this stage, that at the end of the season, the difference would be one single point.

London-Race 1

Buemi dominated the race on Saturday

The first race in London, on the Saturday, started with Buemi on pole position, Di Grassi in P3 and Piquet Jr in P4. It started slightly embarrassingly for the organisers, as turn 1 was to narrow to accommodate standing start, so it had to start behind the safety car. This was rectified for the Sunday race, bu it wasn't exactly Formula E's best moment.

Vergne was the start of Saturday's race

Buemi dominated the race, leading nearly every lap and withstanding pressure from Jerome a'Ambrosio, who was in impressive form as the season reached its climax, but arguably the start of the race was Vergne. He started P5 but pulled off a great move on Pique Jr into turn 6/7, then round around the outside of Di Grassi in turn 13, locking up both front tyres but still pulling off an amazing pass. Vergne had nothing to lose, and just wanted to finish as high up as possible.

Prost almost got past Piquet Jr

The championship leader however, could not match the pace of the four guy's ahead of him, and started to drop back from Di Grassi. He did close up in the closing stages and almost made contact with the Brazilian, squirming under breaks at turn 14, but he then dropped back again, into the clutches of Nicolas Prost, who had been chasing him throughout the second stint of the race. Piquet held on, he had to. He couldn't afford to lose anymore points to Buemi and Di Grassi ahead.

Buemi closed in on Piquet Jr in the championship

Buemi then crossed the line to take a dominant victory in race 1, to close up to Piquet Jr in the championship and launch himself right back into the fight, after the penalty he received in Moscow. One round left, three men in the fight, with only one able to become champion.

London-Race 2

With turn 1 widened, the field launched from the grid, lead by Sarrazin

Sunday dawned and in qualifying alone, there was drama. Rain had resulted in a mixed up grid, with Stephane Sarrazin, Jerome d'Ambrosio, Loic Duval and Sam Bird the top four, with Buemi in 6th, Di Grassi 11th and Piquet Jr in 16th! With Di Grassi the outsider and Piquet Jr so far back, it looked like Buemi's to lose, and as the lights went out and the cars blasted down through the revised turn one, it all looked good for Buemi.

Piquet Jr went a lap longer than his rivals before pitting

Piquet Jr and China Racing went a lap longer than everyone else at the pitstops, allowing Piquet to have more energy in the second half of the race and thus provide him with more chances to attack. He had made a great start from 16th to 12th and was 10th after the pitstops, then Buemi spun on his out-lap and lost a place to Mahindra's Bruno Senna, and then the safety car came out, thanks to Fabio Leimer's Virgin hitting the wall at turn 6/7, the second crash of the day after Sakon Yamamoto speared into the back of Trulli. This was good news for Piquet Jr.

Bird took the fight to Sarrazin late on

The battle up at the front was getting just as intense as the battle for the title. Bird had got past Duval during the pitstops and then got past d'Ambrosio, and was now right with Sarrazin, and fighting for the lead at his home ePrix! However, as Bird and Sarrazin fought hard, Piquet Jr and Buemi were fighting even harder.

Buemi had to fight hard after spinning

Buemi was now pushing very hard to try and get past Senna, and things were unraveling for him. Piquet Jr's team-mate for the weekend, Oliver Turvey, stole fastest lap from Buemi, which deducted two points from his race result meaning the gap from himself to Piquet Jr was just two points. Turvey then let his team-mate through, meaning Buemi and he were level on points but it would still be Buemi's title thanks to three wins during the season compare to Piquet's two, but then Piquet found a way past Salvador Duran, bringing him into the lead of the championship again...by one point!

Piquet Jr became the first Formula E champion

Buemi got very aggressive with Senna. Nudging him and nudging him, desperate to find a way past but he couldn't do it, and as they crossed the line, it was Nelson Piquet Jr who was crowned the first ever Formula E drivers champion! At the front, Sarrazin had ran out of energy as he crossed the line and was given a time penalty, dropping him way down the order, handing Sam Bird the victory, followed by d'Ambrosio and Duval. The promotion of Buemi and Piquet Jr did not affect the championship results, and one hell of a debut season for the new electric racing series, was over.

Bird and d'Ambrossio celerbrate on the podium

Bird, d'Amrbosio, Duval and Piquet Jr all celebrated at the end of a championship fight that had gripped Motorsport fans all over the world. With new rules and many of the drivers returning, next season could be even better than this one! Can Piquet Jr defend the title? Will Buemi and Di Grassi get their revenge? I can't wait to find out! Until next time folks. Ciao.

Nelson Piquet Jr celebrates the title with his team

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Formula E - Buemi + Monaco + Victory = Championship Challenge

Sebastian Buemi flies through the swimming pool, heading towards the pits for his pitstop

Sorry this is such a late review folks, exams have sadly got in the way but anyway, here we go! Sebastian Buemi became the Formula E series' first repeat winner, after six different winners from the first six races of the all-electric series. He also became the first man in the series to convert a pole position into a race win.

Buemi holds of Lucas Di Grassi and Jerome D'ambrosio in the early stages of the race

Buemi was no doubt doubly happy about qualifying on pole after a huge pile-up at the first corner, caused by Daniel Abt hitting the barrier, sent Bruno Senna's Mahindra car over the ABT car of Abt (funny eh?), taking both men out and causing damage to other cars. After this chaos though Buemi effectively cruised to victory. However he very nearly lost the lead at the pit stops.

Di Grassi couldn't find a way past Buemi

Lucas Di Grassi pitted two laps before Buemi in the hope of getting the undercut on the eDams car. Di Grassi was comfortably ahead of 3rd palce man Nelson Piquet Jr as the Brazilian exited the pits in his China Racing machine, but Di Grassi was right alongside Buemi, who held on through turn 1 and placed his car on the inside going towards the hairpin. Di Grassi tried the impossible of going around the outside of the Swiss driver, but it was...well, impossible, and the Buemi held on and controlled the race until the end. It was probably one of the more subdued battles for the lead in Formula E this year.

Nelson Piquet Jr was on the podium again for China Racing

Piquet Jr put in a spirited attempt at getting past Di Grassi after the pit stops but he couldn't pass his country-man and had to settle for 3rd place. Piquet had passed Jerome D'ambrosio for 3rd place on lap 5 with the aid of the fan boost, but that was as good as it got for the Brazilian. In the end he was holding off an incredibly impressive Sam Bird, who had come through the first lap chaos from 11th place and was up to 4th, and so nearly made the podium.

Di Grassi waves to the crowd on the way to the podium at the end of the race

Di Grassi has now extended his championship lead to four points over Piquet Jr, but Buemi has catapulted himself right into the championship fight with his second victory of the season. You wouldn't want to discount any of the top 5 in the standings (Di Grassi, Piquet Jr, Buemi, Nicolas Prost and Sam Bird) but is looking increasingly like a three way battle for the title between Di Grassi, Buemi and Piquet Jr. But in such a closely fought championship, anything could change. Results from Monaco are below;

And here there the championship standings;

Its pretty damn close isn't it? Like I said, with it that close, anything can happen. Until next time folks. Ciao.

Di Grassi at speed on his way to 2nd place

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Formula E - A mid-season review

Lucas Di Grassi during practice in Beijing

You lot may all be wondering why on earth I haven't yet done an article on Formula E, and there is a very good reason for that...the season had started way before I decided to even set up a blog. So, now I'm all up and running and the season is at (roughly) the mid-way stage, lets have a look at where we are at. But before all that, here is a spotter guide to the teams and drivers, as well as the tracks for this season, just in case you aren't quite familiar with them. This is the grid as of the last round at Long Beach, so it should be quite accurate for the next race in Monaco. 

There have been quite a few driver changes along the way, compare the current line up to what it was just before the start of the season...

As you can see, plenty of changes. A bit confusing eh? Right then, now you've familiarized yourself with the current grid line up, and my blog is all up and running, lets take stock of where we are at with the series so far...

The start of race one in Beijing

Formula E roared (not engine sound wise) into life at Beijing last September with a frenetic and action packed race. Nicolas Prost, son of 4 time F1 world champion Alain, took pole position for e-Dams Renault and lead the race throughout, hounded by the Abt Audi cars of Daniel Abt and Lucas Di Grassi, until the late stages when Venturi and former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld fought him hard for the lead. 

Nick Heidfeld for Venturi in Beijing

The race ended dramatically for both drivers, Heidfeld and Prost tangling at the final corner of the last lap as Heidfeld went for the lead, both cars out and Heidfeld being launched over a kerb into the air, allowing Lucas Dis Grassi to win and take the lead in the championship. A lot of the critics had already been silenced as the race produced some great racing on a not very inspiring track. Everyone eagerly anticipated the second round in Malaysia to see if the trend would continue.

Sam Bird leads Nicolas Prost and Daniel Abt in Putrajaya

The second round at Putrajaya, in Malaysia, was completely dominated by Virgin Racings Sam Bird. Bird had been runner up in GP2 in 2013 for Russian Time, and clearly had some great talent and he showed just how good he was in Malaysia, leading almost every lap of the race and putting in a great drive. 

Podium finishers Sam Bird, Lucas Dis Grassi and Sebastian Buemi congratulate each other after the race in Putrajaya

Equally impressive drives were put in by Sebastian Buemi for eDams and Di Grassi, who charged to 2nd and 3rd respectively after starting at or near the back of the grid. The series was showing it had great potential, with great racing and some big name drivers. The fan boost was working well to. Three drivers are voted by fans of the sport to have the boost, and they are allowed to activate that boost once per car in the race (two cars are required due to battery life, the drivers switching at the pit stop). Essentially, it is like IndyCars push to pass, unleashing more power, although only twice in the race, unlike the ten available in IndyCar.

Vergne on his way to pole position in Punta Del Este

Punta Del Este in Uruguay served up yet another great race, but qualifying as well was equally brilliant. Jean- Eric Vergne, recently dumped by the Toro Rosso F1 team, took over one of the Andretti seats and took pole position for his first ever race in the series, ahead of an equally stunning effort for China Racings Nelson Piquet Jr. It was an impressive effort from Vergne, who had only started to drive and learn how to drive the Spark chassis in Free Practice for the race.

Piquet takes the lead at the start of the race in Punta Del Este

By all rights the race should have been Vergnes. Piquet got the lead at the start but he managed to find a way past just before his first pit stop. Unfortunately for him, a crash for Sam Bird brought out the safety car, meaning he dropped behind Buemi but maintained 2nd place. After more frenetic action down the field and another safety car, the green flag was waved again with two laps to go, but just as it looked like Vergne would take the lead again, his rear suspension failed, a cruel end to one hell of an impressive weekend, allowing Buemi to take the win.

Buemi on his way to the race win in Uruguay 

The weekend though effectively sealed a deal that will keep Vergne with Andretti at least until the end of the current season, and maybe into next season? Who knows. Vergne was obviously disappointed but he could take a lot of satisfaction away from the weekend. 

Buemi leads the charge into turn 1 in Buenos Aires

Next up was Buenos Aires and Argentina, and it was pole for Buemi this time. The race was a bit quiet for the first few laps but as it went on, the excitement started. First, Karun Chandok went off at the quick chicane before the finish line. Then, Buemi went off, handing Di Grassi the lead and unbelievably after that, Di Grassi hit the way as well thanks to suspension failure! All of this handed the lead to Nick Heidfeld but he was being hounded by a fast Sam Bird, who was aiming to be the first repeat winner of the series.

Sam Bird, Jaime Alguersuari, Nick Heidfeld and Antonio Felix Da Costa dice it out in Argentina

Bad luck though struck Bird to, as he was given a drive through penalty for driving out of the pits when a red light was on. It looked like Heidfeld would finally get some bad luck (his season had been awful up til now) and take his first win in the series, but no! Heidfeld was given a drive through for speeding in the pitlane, and all this mean that Antonio Felix Da Costa took his and Amlin Aguri's first win in the series! After a crazy scrap behind him, Nicolas Prost and Piquet Jr came home 2nd and 3rd to complete the podium with Da Costa.

Vergne leads the field into turn 1 in Miami

Next up was Miami, and Vergne took another fantastic pole position, two poles in the last three races! Bad luck hit him again though, he finished way down the order thanks to an overheating issue. The real star was his team mate for the weekend Scott Speed, who qualified lower down but fought his way up to 2nd place and took the fight to Nicolas Prost as the race reached its climax.

Scott Speed races on in Miami, a sensational debut in Formula E for the American

It initially looked like Sam Bird would be the one taking victory after taking the lead just before the pit stop, but a bad call strategy wise meant he had to crawl in on his in lap due to having virtually now power. That paved the way for the Prost vs Speed duel out front, Prost taking the win ahead of Speed and Daniel Abt.

Nelson Piquet Jr gets ready to take the lead from Daniel Abt at the start of the race in Long Beach

The last race before the upcoming Monaco ePrix in a weeks time was at Long Beach, and Nelson Piquet Jr took a commanding win, after jumping from 3rd on the grid to 1st at the first corner. Speed, who had stayed with Andretti but crashed into the wall at the turn 1/2 chicane early on, but there was joy for Andretti as Vergne finally had some good luck and took a fine 2nd place, behind Piquet and ahead of Di Grassi.

Nelson Piquet Jr races on to a dominant victory in Long Beach

After 6 of the 10 rounds, this how the championship looks;

Formula E has won over its critics with some great racing and a very close championship. Anyone in the top five could take it, and who knows what will happen in the final four races? Lets not forget as well, the finale, the British ePrix at Battersea Park, is a double header...who knows what will happen in Formula E's inaugural season. A season of drama and excitement. Roll on Monaco next week. Until next time folks. Ciao.

Jaime Alguersuari races on in Long Beach

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