Category: Open Wheel Racing

So far in the 2016–17 Formula E championship, events have been following a fairly simple pattern: first, the weekend will start with one team emerging as definite favourites in practice; then, said favourites will be trumped in qualifying by an unexpected maiden polesitter; and finally, the race itself will turn all that form on its head as Sébastien Buemi cruises to yet another victory.

But this Saturday, all that could be about to change, as Buemi heads to Mexico City somewhat on the back foot—well, at least as much on the back foot as a defending champion in a class-of-the-field car can be.

In case you’ve not been following the saga of 2017’s Formula E–WEC schedule clashes, Buemi will be starting his Mexico City ePrix weekend some six thousand miles away from the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, as he attends the WEC Prologue in Monza as part of Toyota’s LMP1 lineup.

And although Buemi will not have to forego the Mexico race altogether, he will be a late arrival to the event after hotfooting across the Atlantic on an overnight flight.

Such serendipity—and not to mention the resulting jet lag—could provide Buemi’s rivals with an opportunity to finally get one over on the runaway championship leader. It goes without saying that foremost in that list of potential winners is Lucas di Grassi, who finished first on the road in last year’s Mexico City ePrix before being disqualified for a technical infringement, and desperately needs a win this season if he is to truly challenge Buemi for the title again.

Also in the mix will be Jean-Éric Vergne and Sam Bird, both of whom will be perhaps even hungrier for the win than di Grassi given the as-yet-untapped promise of their respective cars. Nor should Felix Rosenqvist be discounted—despite enduring a forgettable race in Buenos Aires—or indeed Buemi’s Renault teammate and three-time ePrix winner Nico Prost.

Beneath the podium, it will again be a close fight between the likes of Andretti, NextEV, Venturi and Dragon for the lesser points positions. So far, NextEV has been the only member of that particular group to score in every race, owing to some consistently gutsy qualifying performances from Piquet and Turvey.

Nevertheless, a solid double points haul for Duval and d’Ambrosio at the last event could prove the springboard Dragon needs for further success in Mexico—although a repeat of d’Ambrosio’s eventual 2016 victory here would be a shock even by Formula E’s standards.

But a new factor in that top ten scrap this Saturday could well be Esteban Gutiérrez. The Mexican will be making his series debut replacing Ma Qinghua at Techeetah, and although he was shown up by Romain Grosjean in his recent F1 tenure, Gutiérrez remains a driver with clear innate speed, which paired with Techeetah-Renault machinery ought to be enough to put on a good show for his home fans.

The 2017 Mexico City ePrix begins at 23:00 UK time, with full text coverage available via our Twitter account and updates on our Facebook and Instagram feeds.

James Matthews, Formula E editor

Former F1 driver Esteban Gutiérrez will make his Formula E debut with Techeetah, taking over Ma Qinghua’s seat for both next month’s Mexico City ePrix and the remaining rounds of season three.

Ma, who joined Techeetah’s forerunner Team Aguri last year, is yet to score any points in his Formula E career, and it is understood his disappointing results relative to Jean-Éric Vergne are the reason he is being stood down before the season’s end.

Although Techeetah has yet to officially confirm its revised lineup, it is expected that the team will announce Gutiérrez as Vergne’s new teammate shortly, as well as Ma’s retention in a reserve driver role.

Gutiérrez had previously looked set to replace Loïc Duval at Dragon but his management was unable to finalise a deal, and so settled instead on Techeetah following a visit to the team’s simulator.

The Mexican is also reported to have held talks with Renault e.Dams and DS Virgin after losing his F1 drive at the end of 2016, specifically to deputise should any of their respective drivers have to miss the Mexico City race for the WEC Prologue in Monza—an opportunity now unavailable, with Sébastien Buemi and José María López flying overnight from the Prologue to Mexico, and Sam Bird granted leave by Ferrari to skip the WEC launch event altogether.

But with Gutiérrez now off the Formula E market, Renault and DS Virgin are still searching for a stand-in apiece when July’s New York ePrix clashes with the 6 Hours of the Nürburgring. It is believed Renault would prefer to draft in a member of its driver development academy, although the top drivers from that pool have schedule clashes of their own in junior formulae; whilst DS Virgin has so far given no updates on who is in the frame to join its current reserve driver Alex Lynn to cover Bird and Lopez in Brooklyn.

James Matthews, Formula E editor

Header photo credit: Haas F1 Team

With crashes in practice, qualifying laps both heroic and scruffy, and a mixed-up grid fighting all through the race, no one could deny the 2017 Buenos Aires ePrix was full of surprises—and yet, for all that the result was still all too familiar.

The Puerto Madero street race began like every other round this season, with the grid headed by a driver sitting on their maiden pole position. This time it was the turn of Lucas di Grassi, who saw off Super Pole challenges from Jean-Éric Vergne and Sébastien Buemi by holding a lap together in the dusty conditions despite not having the fastest car.

But although he made a good getaway off the line, di Grassi could not hold on to the lead for long. Driving a chassis that had undergone repairs for a practice crash earlier in the morning, the Brazilian struggled with his setup and lacked the grip to fend off the Renault power of Vergne and Buemi.

On lap three Vergne moved his Techeetah into the lead, though the Frenchman remained there little longer than di Grassi before Buemi breezed through the inside of the turn one hairpin.

Once in front, the championship leader stretched his legs into a five-second lead over Vergne by the time of his pit stop on lap eighteen. Vergne gradually ate into that margin during the second stint of the race, but even with Renault power of his own he was unable to prevent Buemi from cruising home to a third straight victory and another 25 championship points.

Vergne followed Buemi across the line in second to collect the Techeetah team’s first podium, whilst di Grassi came through behind to complete the rostrum.

The podium had looked unlikely for the di Grassi as he struggled early in the race, and was passed by both Oliver Turvey and Nico Prost. But in his more stable second car, the polesitter’s confidence improved—and with Turvey dropping to sixth after being forced into an early pit stop, a comfortable pass on Prost’s inside was all di Grassi needed to take his second podium of the season.

Prost remained where di Grassi left him to take a third consecutive fourth place ahead of Nelson Piquet, who finished where he started after another strong qualifying performance saw both NextEV drivers round out the Super Pole shootout.

Dragon Racing bounced back from a poor outing in Marrakesh with Loïc Duval and Jérôme d’Ambrosio finishing sixth and eighth respectively; the two were split by Daniel Abt, the German putting in a solid recovery drive from fourteenth on the grid. Turvey dropped to ninth in the end as he struggled with energy conservation throughout the race, and home favourite Lopez put his qualifying crash and resulting back row start behind him to take tenth place.

Mitch Evans narrowly missed out on claiming Jaguar’s first Formula E points on Saturday—one of the stars of qualifying, Evans started from seventh and ran within the top ten for most of the race, but through energy saving and a five-second penalty for speeding under a full course yellow dropped to thirteenth in the end.

Also unlucky were Buemi’s Marrakesh podium-mates, Felix Rosenqvist and Sam Bird—the former scuppered when his second M3Electro refused to start in the pits, and the latter retiring early after being sandwiched between d’Ambrosio and the wall.

The 2016–17 Formula E season resumes in six weeks time in Mexico City. With his win in Buenos Aires, Sébastien Buemi will enter round four with a 29-point buffer to di Grassi, whilst his Renault e.Dams team continue to rule the teams’ standings on a mighty 111 points.

James Matthews, Formula E editor

At long last Formula E’s winter break is over, and this weekend the 2016–17 season will resume on the streets of Buenos Aires.

This will be the series’ third visit to the Argentine capital and the first race of the season to take place on a returning circuit. After the opening two rounds in Hong Kong and Marrakesh saw the likes of Felix Rosenqvist make a meteoric rise to the fore, the familiarity of the Puerto Madero Street Circuit may hand the advantage back to Formula E’s established stars for now.

That ought to make this weekend’s ePrix a very welcome event for the likes of Lucas di Grassi and Sam Bird, whose respective championship challenges have so far got off to a mixed start—a strong showing here at a track with which they are well accustomed could bring them right back into the mix.

Bird in particular seems to have a certain flair for the Puerto Madero track. The Briton has already notched up one victory, pole position and fastest lap from Formula E’s last two trips to Argentina, and in his lighter, single-motor DSV02 his chances of adding to that tally in 2017 are theoretically as high as ever.

Di Grassi, on the other hand, may not be able to directly challenge for the win on pace alone—his new ABT Schaeffler powertrain once again seems to favour consistency over raw speed, which could leave the Brazilian wanting on Formula E’s fastest circuit. But all the same di Grassi can never be truly discounted as a contender, thanks to his canny ability to put himself in a position to profit should his rivals come to any grief.

Nevertheless, even after just two of twelve rounds, it’s beginning to look like Bird and di Grassi will have to dig deeper than ever if they are to mount any assault on Sébastien Buemi.

The reigning champion has been bulletproof so far this season, able to marry his natural ability with a newfound serenity behind the wheel, and boosted by a Renault that appears to be both quicker than di Grassi’s ABT and more robust than Bird’s Virgin. Provided he can still tap into the momentum of his Hong Kong and Marrakesh wins after so long a break, it’s hard to see how anyone but the racing gods can stop Buemi on Saturday.

Behind those three you can expect to see Mahindra’s Rosenqvist and Nick Heidfeld once again contesting for another plucky podium position, and most likely battling with Nico Prost, who is making quiet fourth place finishes his habit this season. But also watch for José María López—the Argentinian may have had a scrappy start to his rookie season, but that rapid DSV02 and a probable FanBoost from his home crowd could really set his fortunes alight at last.

Lower down the order, this looks to be another trying weekend for NextEV. As was the case in Hong Kong and Marrakesh, the multiple long straights of the Puerto Madero circuit will be punishing for the team’s long-running energy efficiency problems, and even with a good qualifying position points may not be a possibility once the likes of Andretti, Dragon and Venturi come into play in the race.

Nor is there much likelihood of seeing Jaguar’s two rookies scoring their first points of the season, as both they and the team enter this weekend considerably on the back foot compared to their more experienced opponents.

That said, what checks out on paper is rarely what plays out on track, and the Puerto Madero race has not been without its upsets in the past—in 2015, for example, when António Félix da Costa sailed through the attrition of the pack to take his and Team Aguri’s maiden series victory. With such a strong field ready to pounce on the slightest opportunity, it would not take much of an incident on Saturday for the Buenos Aires ePrix to produce another result out of left field.

James Matthews, Formula E editor

The German city of Hamburg has emerged as a late contender to host a round of Formula E’s European leg later this year, as the 2016–17 calendar faces the chance of losing both the Brussels and Berlin ePrix.

This is according to Hamburg politician Dennis Thering, who in an interview with e-formel.de confirmed that a proposal for the Hamburg ePrix will be put to the local government on 15th February, and if successful will be followed by a formal application to the FIA to host the race.

Thering also spoke of two possible locations for the race—Hamburg’s business district, the City Nord, or the HafenCity beside the River Elbe: “The City Nord would definitely be [on the list] because there is quite a lot of business area and only a few residents.

“The HafenCity would, of course, be very attractive and definitely an option, but in the choice of locations we want to leave the city all freedoms.”

The news of Hamburg’s bid comes as Formula E is now faced with the possibility of losing two of its major European races. The maiden Brussels ePrix has been left in search of a new venue after local government vetoed the proposed Elisabeth Park circuit this week, following protests from citizens similar to those that caused the cancellation of London’s Battersea Park race.

Meanwhile, the Berlin ePrix has been placed under similar doubt by a request from Berlin mayor Michael Muller—prompted by objections from the city’s green party—to move the event from last year’s Alexanderplatz circuit. Discussions are currently underway for the ePrix to return to its season one setting at Templehof Airport, although the switch has yet to be confirmed.

With Formula E still keen to retain its twelve-round calendar despite the setbacks, Hamburg’s ePrix bid has become a credible alternative for either of the threatened races.

However, it is understood that the preferable option if Brussels is lost from the calendar is to stage the Berlin event as a double-header at Templehof, rather than fast-tracking an unsuitable new circuit elsewhere.

James Matthews, Formula E editor

It feels like forever since the chequered flag fell at the Marrakesh ePrix, closing out the first act of the 2016–17 Formula E championship. But at long last the calendar has turned, and with just three weeks to go until the Buenos Aires ePrix, it’s time to take a quick look ahead to what’s next for Formula E in 2017.

When last we saw it, Formula E’s third season was firmly in the grasp of defending champion Sébastien Buemi. Having won both of the opening rounds in Hong Kong and Marrakesh Buemi is sitting atop the standings a mighty 22 points clear of Lucas di Grassi, and with the might of the Renault e.Dams ZE16 beneath him, he’s already looking like a difficult man to catch.

However, when it comes to Formula E, anything can happen—and indeed, it probably will. If the last two ePrix are anything to go by, as the Formula E championship progresses along its longest-ever calendar, Buemi will have to fend off some stiff opposition if he wants to defend his title.

If Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist doesn’t already factor in Buemi’s calculations, he should do. The Swedish rookie made a serious impression on his debut in Hong Kong before taking pole position and almost the victory the next time out in Marrakesh, and at fourth place in the standings can hardly be ignored by the traditional frontrunners. With his street-fighting pedigree and Mahindra’s rapid M3Electro, a maiden ePrix victory shouldn’t be too long in the coming—whether Rosenqvist can convert that into a credible title bid still remains to be seen, but he at least has the potential to deprive Buemi of some major points hauls.

Also likely to be a thorn in Buemi’s side is Sam Bird. The Briton goes into the next round in Buenos Aires as the defending race winner, and has a good chance of retaining that particular trophy in a Virgin DSV02 that is considerably quicker, if perhaps more fragile, than its predecessor. Nor can Buemi afford to discount the ever-tenacious Lucas di Grassi, despite a lacklustre last race for the Brazilian—if anyone can consistently pick points off the champion’s lead, it’s di Grassi.

2016/2017 FIA Formula E Championship. Marrakesh ePrix, Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan, Marrakesh, Morocco. Saturday 12 November 2016. Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Mahindra Racing, Spark-Mahindra, Mahindra M3ELECTRO. Photo: Andrew Ferraro/LAT/Formula E ref: Digital Image _79P4894

2016/2017 FIA Formula E Championship. Marrakesh ePrix, Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan, Marrakesh, Morocco. Saturday 12 November 2016. Photo: Zak Mauger/LAT/Formula E ref: Digital Image _X0W5885

But rivals aside, Buemi may face another obstacle in his title defence this year when June’s penultimate ePrix meet in New York clashes with his duties driving for Toyota in the Nürburgring round of the WEC. If, as Buemi and Toyota have suggested, his LMP1 role holds contractual priority, it will mean the reigning champion is set to miss out on a maximum 58 points across the weekend, and with only the Montreal finale to make up the difference—a boon for di Grassi, who is now clear to race in New York after Audi’s withdrawal from the WEC last year.

Devastating as that blow will be for Buemi’s campaign, the silver lining for spectators is that it not only paves the way for a more open title fight, but also opens several doors for new drivers to make their Formula E debuts deputising for the likes of Bird, Lopez, Piquet and Prost.

FIA Formula E Second Pre-Season Testing Event. Donington Park Racecourse, Derby, United Kingdom. Wednesday 7 September 2016. Photo: Adam Warner / LAT ref: Digital Image _14P4080

DS Virgin has already taken steps to cover the absence of both of its drivers in signing 2014 GP3 champion Alex Lynn to a reserve driver role, no doubt to acclimatise him within the team before making his ePrix debut later in the season. Expect similar announcements to come from the likes of Renault and NextEV in the coming months—especially as names like Pastor Maldonado and Marvin Kirchhöfer have been linked with Formula E over the winter.

One name already signed on for the New York ePrix is ex-Haas F1 driver, Esteban Gutiérrez. The Mexican announced earlier this month that he would be making his Formula E debut sometime in 2017 ahead of a full campaign in season four, with a programme which includes both the New York double header and his home race in Mexico City. Although no team has yet been announced as his employer, Gutiérrez has been strongly linked with replacing Loïc Duval at Dragon, deputising for the Frenchman when his Audi DTM drive clashes with the summer’s Paris and Brussels ePrix.

James Matthews, Formula E editor

Sébastien Buemi has continued his winning start to the 2016-17 Formula E season with victory in the Marrakesh ePrix, but it was Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist who stole the spotlight on race day.

Building on his promising Hong Kong debut, Rosenqvist hit the ground running in round two by fending off the likes of Buemi and Sam Bird as he flew to a maiden pole position in only his second ePrix. This put the Swede in the prime seat to command the race, and after seeing off Bird long before the braking zone for the first corner, Rosenqvist looked set to disappear into the Moroccan sunset.

But even after gathering a gap of several seconds in the opening laps, Rosenqvist’s lead was far from safe. Behind him, Buemi was making rapid progress as he sought to overcome the grid penalty that relegated him from second to seventh, and was clearly not prepared to bank on attrition helping him to the lead as it did in Hong Kong.

After taking a gifted position from teammate Prost, Buemi reeled in and passed Daniel Abt on lap 8 before joining the back of the battle for third between Nelson Piquet and Jean-Éric Vergne. Piquet then fell on lap 12 as Buemi’s Renault out-dragged the NextEV on the straight down to Turn 7.

Further up the road, Rosenqvist had opened up his lead to five seconds from Bird, who was forced to back off to defend from former teammate Vergne. Bird eventually yielded second easily as he conserved energy for a longer first stint – but by then their battle had allowed Buemi to draw up tight behind, and when the Swiss driver stayed out a lap later with Bird he was just close enough to pass the Briton and lead him into the pits on lap 17.

Now holding a net third, Buemi was restored to his original qualifying position of second when Vergne was hit with a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. With the road then clear ahead of him, the championship leader set his sights on the win.

Using the advantage of both his conservative first stint and his extra FanBoost power, Buemi cut down Rosenqvist’s lead with six laps to go – going around the outside at Turn 11, Buemi assumed the lead without contest and cruised home to take his second win in as many races.

But the pressure was still not off for Rosenqvist, as Bird took advantage of the Mahindra’s depleted energy reserves to steal second place with two laps remaining. Nevertheless, the Swede still had enough time in hand over fourth-placed Nico Prost to end the Marrakesh ePrix in third, his first Formula E podium.

Meanwhile, after serving his drive-through penalty Vergne emerged behind Prost and began a heated battle for fifth place with Lucas di Grassi. The Brazilian had been having a difficult race without the pace to challenge the leaders, but managed to pass Vergne’s Techeetah in the end.

The demands of fighting at the front on an aggressive energy strategy then hit Vergne as they did Rosenqvist, and before the chequered flag the Frenchman had fallen to eighth place behind Daniel Abt and Oliver Turvey. Nick Heidfeld, unable to match his teammate’s speed in Marrakesh, came home in a quiet ninth place, and DS Virgin’s José María López took his first Formula E point in tenth.

Andretti, Venturi Dragon and Jaguar ended the race with both cars outside of the top ten, though Dragon still picked up a solitary point with Loïc Duval, who finished three laps down in eighteenth place but set the fastest lap before the end.

James Matthews, Formula E editor

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