Tag: James Matthews

The calendar is now in June, and that means the 2016–17 Formula E championship has reached its halfway point. Having passed through Hong Kong, Marrakesh, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Monaco and Paris, there remain only three more rounds and six more races, in the form of double headers in Berlin, New York and Montreal.

Last year, the Berlin ePrix represented a massive swing in the championship stakes, as Sébastien Buemi put a halt to Lucas di Grassi’s streak of wins and closed up to one point behind the Brazilian going into the final round in London.

With Buemi’s win tally almost perfect this season, it’s hard to imagine the championship leader doing anything other than repeating that result again this weekend, perhaps even in both races. What makes things even more ominous for the rest of the field is that Buemi also comes to Berlin off the back of two pole positions in Monaco and Paris.

However, even with the level at which Buemi is currently performing, his and Renault’s rivals can draw some inspiration from the fact that the championship leader will be under supreme pressure to win this weekend. After Berlin the calendar moves to the infamous WEC-clashing round in New York, from which Buemi will be absent and leaving a considerable open goal so late in the title race.

And although Buemi’s buffer to di Grassi in the standings is currently the largest it’s been all season, at 43 points it’s still not enough to cover off the possibility of di Grassi taking away a maximum points haul in New York.

That makes it imperative for the championship leader to win at least one, if not both, of the races in Berlin—but as we’ve seen many times before, when the pressure mounts Buemi often becomes overwhelmed, allowing his more collected rivals to land some heavy blows amidst his distraction.

But of course, it’s not all about Buemi and di Grassi this weekend, and of the eighteen other drivers heading to Tempelhof Airport, Stéphane Sarrazin will certainly be one to watch. The Frenchman has scored points only twice this season and sits last of the full-time drivers in the standings, but this weekend his chances of a top ten finish will be vastly improved as he moves up from Venturi to Techeetah, taking over the former car of Esteban Gutiérrez as the Mexican leaves Formula E to join the IndyCar series.

Sarrazin’s move means rookie Tom Dillmann gets another chance to show his abilities following his eighth-place finish substituting for Maro Engel at the last race in Paris. Dillmann had been eyeing up a full-time drive in Formula E for season four, and with Sarrazin on the move it looks like his future at Venturi is secure for now.

Also worth keeping an eye on both in Berlin and for the rest of the season are those drivers in and around the top ten in the standings. Mahindra’s Nick Heidfeld and Felix Rosenqvist are matched closely with Jean-Éric Vergne in the battle for fourth place, whilst two points separate Sam Bird and Nelson Piquet in seventh and eighth respectively. Bird’s teammate José María López has launched himself into the top ten at last after taking his first podium in Paris, and is just two points clear of a consistent Daniel Abt.

Below them, Robin Frijns and Oliver Turvey are in a fight to head the second page of the standings with Jaguar’s Mitch Evans. Although the British marque has had a slow start to Formula E, neither Evans nor Adam Carroll can be discounted from the points anymore now that Jaguar appears to have settled into the demands of the series and is hunting Andretti for seventh in the Teams’ Championship.

James Matthews, Deputy Editor

Defending teams’ champions Renault could be set to exit Formula E at the end of the current season, leaving the e.Dams team to be rebranded as a works Nissan outfit for season four.

This is according to information from German news site Motorsport-Total.com, which reported earlier this week that Nissan has been preparing itself to enter the series since the winter of 2016.

Talk of Nissan competing in Formula E is nothing new. During season two, the Japanese company was one of many automotive giants alongside BMW and Mercedes said to be investigating an entry in the all-electric series—it was even reported by Autosport that Nissan was in talks to join in the current 2016–17 season as a powertrain supplier, most likely with Techeetah.

But such a move would have required the approval of Renault, with whom Nissan has been in a commercial alliance since 1999. It is understood the two companies were concerned about the negative impact of competing against their own sister brand on the same stage, in a scenario similar to Audi and Porsche in the WEC, and so Nissan’s participation in Formula E was put on hold.

But since then, the Renault-Nissan Alliance has reportedly been planning a restructure of its respective motorsport involvements. On the one hand, Renault Sport has redoubled its involvement in Formula One, and as it targets its first Grand Prix win as a marque since 2008 is said to be eyeing any resources that could freed up from its other commitments.

Nissan, meanwhile, currently competes in numerous touring car championships including Super GT and VASC, but has been without a global “top tier” programme since the collapse of its LMP1 outfit in 2015. As the company expands its range into electric vehicles with models such as the Leaf and the e-NV200, and especially as the Asian market grows increasingly lucrative for EV manufacturers, it is believed Nissan views Formula E as the ideal way to return its NISMO division to the world stage.

If Renault e.Dams were to become a factory Nissan team for next season, it is unclear how far-reaching those changes may be. It’s likely that, given the timing of the change, Nissan would simply rebadge Renault’s developed season four powertrain and concentrate through the year on producing its own bespoke unit for 2018–19; likewise, the e.Dams race operation team will also probably remain largely in place, albeit with new NISMO branding.

As for the team’s drivers, if Renault brand ambassador Alain Prost departs along with the French marque, that could put his son Nico Prost into a difficult position. The Frenchman has driven well for e.Dams, taking three ePrix victories and supporting the team’s title success, but Nissan may prefer to instal a driver of its own choosing in his place.

It also remains to be see how Renault’s exit as a works team would affect the supply of customer team Techeetah, although its possible the Nissan rebranding may involve that deal too.

James Matthews, Deputy Editor

Sébastien Buemi has extended his championship lead yet further with pole position and a commanding victory on his Renault team’s home soil in Paris.

The Swiss driver became this season’s first repeat polesitter earlier on Saturday, narrowly seeing off the challenge of Jean-Éric Vergne by just six-thousandths of a second. Behind them a resurgent José María López qualified third for DS Virgin ahead of Super Pole first-timer Esteban Gutiérrez, who started from the second row thanks to a motor change penalty that demoted Oliver Turvey from fourth to fourteenth on the grid.

At the race start Buemi used his pole advantage to hold the inside line against Vergne, as the Frenchman tried to seize the lead around the outside of Turn 1 but was forced to back off and settle into second.

With the momentum lost so early, Vergne then seemed to stall—as Buemi streaked off into a three second lead, Vergne was unable to keep check and appeared to even be holding up López and Nick Heidfeld, who had taken fourth from Gutiérrez off the line.

Further back, Daniel Abt made heady progress from sixteenth on the grid to twelfth despite picking up some slight contact damage in the first corner, whilst Felix Rosenqvist looked to follow in the tracks of his teammate as he put pressure on Gutiérrez for fifth.

In the early stages the race settled into something of a procession, as the four more laps than last year’s Paris ePrix put energy saving on the teams’ minds.

But on lap 20 there was heavy contact between Lucas di Grassi and António Félix da Costa at Turn 7. Di Grassi—fighting in the lower points after a poor qualifying performance—was closing an out-braking move on da Costa for thirteenth, but when he moved across to claim the apex of the corner, da Costa’s nose was still alongside and the two entangled cars dragged each other into the barriers.

Although di Grassi was able to keep going, da Costa’s race was over and his beached Andretti triggered a full-course yellow.

So close to the halfway mark, most drivers opted to pit during the neutralised period to change cars. Initially the timing appeared to be a boon for di Grassi, with the stop negating any damage suffered in the crash with da Costa, but instead it only added to his troubles—after leaving the pits almost ten seconds below the minimum stop time, race control shortly handed di Grassi a drive-through penalty.

When racing resumed on lap 23, Buemi found his gap to Vergne had been slashed to under two seconds in the pits and, with a series of fast laps, the Frenchman rapidly set about reeling in the race leader.

But on lap 34 an apparent steering issue left Vergne’s Techeetah unable to make the exit of Turn 13, and for the second race in succession he found himself exiting the car early as the safety car was deployed.

Vergne’s retirement left second place to be inherited by López, improving what was already his best-ever Formula E result, and brought Heidfeld into position to repeat his podium finish from Monaco last week.

But as far as the race lead was concerned, neither driver was close enough to assume Vergne’s pursuit of Buemi, and so when the chequered flag fell on lap 49 the podium positions remained unchanged.

There was more drama late in the race when di Grassi crashed out, bringing his unusually below-par weekend to a premature end. With his drive-through penalty already putting pay to any major points haul, the ABT team elected to call di Grassi back into the pits and retune his car for a fastest lap attempt—only for the Brazilian to put it in the barrier at Turn 8 just two laps from the end.

The resulting safety car meant the race result was sealed, and by taking pole and the win whilst his rival failed to finish Buemi extended his title lead to 43 points over di Grassi, the largest it’s been all season.

Renault e.Dams also extended its lead over ABT Schaeffler Audi to 75 points: with Nico Prost’s fifth place contributing to Renault’s biggest total points haul of the season, the gulf was widened even more when seventh-placed Daniel Abt broke down on the final lap and dropped out of the points altogether.

Mahindra also took a solid team finish with Felix Rosenqvist following Heidfeld home in fourth, which now puts them within 27 points of ABT in the teams’ standings. Robin Frijns took Andretti’s first points since Hong Kong in sixth, and Nelson Piquet claimed more valuable points for NextEV in seventh.

Gutiérrez had been on course to claim at least a few consolatory points for Techeetah despite losing several places early in the race, but a five-second time penalty for speeding under full-course yellow meant the Mexican was classified in twelfth place instead.

But Techeetah’s pain meant pleasure for the teams at the bottom of the championship. After a strong home race in Monaco, Venturi logged a double points finish with Stéphane Sarrazin in tenth and Tom Dillmann, making his series debut standing in for Maro Engel, taking his first Formula E points in eighth. Mitch Evans finished in ninth place between them—his and Jaguar’s third points finish in a row, which elevates the British marque to eighth in the teams’ standings above Dragon Racing.

James Matthews, Deputy Editor

Sébastien Buemi has extended his championship lead by taking a commanding victory from pole in the 2017 Monaco ePrix.

The Swiss driver came into the event with much to prove, following a difficult last round in Mexico City, and immediately reestablished himself by topping both practice sessions before becoming the season’s fifth different polesitter in as many races.

From there, he rarely had cause to look back—a good start off the line saw off any challenge into Sainte Devote from front row rival Lucas di Grassi, and over the course of the opening stint he set about building up a five-second gap back to the rest of the pack.

Behind Buemi, Mexico City winner di Grassi settled into a rhythm in second place, whilst third became a hotly-contested duel between Nelson Piquet and Jean-Éric Vergne. Maro Engel, who qualified an impressive fifth in Venturi’s home ePrix, lost out to Nick Heidfeld at the start, as did Heidfeld’s teammate Felix Rosenqvist. Further back, Stéphane Sarrazin stalled on the grid and fell to the back of the field.

Piquet and Vergne continued to fight for position right from the off, but as the race approached its halfway mark their battle was brought to an abrupt halt.

Vergne had been making several attempts to pass Piquet around the outside of the Nouvelle Hairpin and appeared to finally make the move stick on lap 21, only to make contact with the NextEV on the exit of the corner and be forced into the barriers.

Piquet was able to continue on back to the pits, albeit after losing third place to Heidfeld, but Vergne’s race was over—to make matters worse, the Frenchman also picked up an injury to his right hand, which could hurt his chances in next weekend’s Paris ePrix.

Their accident triggered a safety car, which in turn caused a flurry of action in the pits as the entire field stopped within the first few neutralised laps.

On lap 26 the race resumed, and Buemi launched into a second’s advantage over di Grassi almost straight away. But this time, the Renault driver was unable to leave his main rival completely in his mirrors, and in the closing laps di Grassi managed to slash the gap down to mere tenths.

However, despite forcing Buemi to defend through the Swimming Pool complex on the final lap, di Grassi was unable to find a way through and prevent Buemi taking his fourth victory in five races.

Nick Heidfeld finished some thirteen seconds behind in the third place he inherited from Nelson Piquet, taking his second podium of the season, whilst Piquet himself recovered from his contact with Vergne to take fourth.

Maro Engel fought off a resolute challenge from Felix Rosenqvist to cross the line in fifth, his best result in Formula E so far. Daniel Abt battled his way into the top ten after a disappointing qualifying to finish seventh, and Esteban Gutiérrez continued his profitable start in Formula E by taking four points in eighth, somewhat consoling Techeetah for Vergne’s retirement.

António Félix da Costa originally returned Andretti to the points for the first time since Hong Kong by finishing ninth, but was penalised for an unsafe release and dropped back to eleventh in the final classification. This promoted Nico Prost to ninth, and gifted the final point to Jaguar’s Mitch Evans.

Dragon and DS Virgin both endured torrid afternoons with both of their respective duos joining Vergne in retirement, although Sam Bird did manage to bring home a single point for his team by setting the fastest lap.

https://youtu.be/w7qIpKL5Vao

James Matthews, Deputy Editor

Six weeks ago in Mexico City the Formula E Championship was treated to one of the most enthralling races in its brief history. NextEV’s Oliver Turvey led the field away after the stewards sent original polesitter Daniel Abt to the back of the grid, only to break down early on and surrender the lead to José María López; but when the pit stops came around it was Lucas di Grassi in front, having leapfrogged the field with a remarkably brave early strategy call, and the Brazilian eventually came home to take his first win of the season.

Now the 2016–17 championship begins its European leg, a four-race stretch beginning this weekend on the streets of Monte Carlo.

This will be the second running of the Monaco ePrix—the event not featuring last season after forming part of the sport’s inaugural calendar in 2015. Of the twenty drivers who contested that first race around the principality, twelve are returning in 2017, including ten of the eleven previous points scorers.

One such driver who will be hoping to repeat his previous Monaco ePrix result is Sébastien Buemi. Up until the chequered flag fell in Mexico City, Buemi had been known as “runaway championship leader”, but an off-colour fourteenth-place finish for the Swiss driver saw his title lead slashed to just five points by di Grassi’s win.

It will be a boon, then, for Buemi to reset and return to an event he not only won last time around, but dominated from pole position. Another such win on Saturday would be the perfect way for the defending champion to put his difficult Mexico weekend behind him and reassert his authority over the title race.

Also on the lookout for a strong finish in Monaco will be Nico Prost and Daniel Abt. With their respective teammates contesting the Formula E title, both drivers have been left somewhat in the shadow this season, but with consistent results in the four races so far neither should be discounted from the sharp end of the grid this weekend.

So too will Jaguar be hoping for another visit to top ten on Saturday after securing its first points in Formula E last time out. Admittedly the competition from NextEV, Andretti and Dragon will be tough to overcome a second time running, but the British marque can take some hope from the success its two drivers have had around the principality—one win and three podiums between them—throughout their respective junior formula careers.

At the other end of the spectrum are Mahindra and DS Virgin. Although both teams have taken two podiums each from the opening four races, their overall results have been variable at best; a double points haul on Saturday—and another podium if possible—will be crucial for either outfit if they are to close the gap to the front and avoid being overhauled for third by Techeetah.

However, DS Virgin may already be on the back foot this weekend—after sustaining vertebrae damage in a heavy crash during the 6 Hours of Silverstone, López may be forced to sit out the Monaco ePrix on medical grounds. The team does have reserve driver Alex Lynn on standby, but any late substitution is far from ideal at a circuit such as Monte Carlo.

Similarly, there could well be another fresh face in the Andretti garage as well, as a knee injury for Robin Frijns has brought the possibility that the Dutchman’s car could instead be piloted by BMW GT and Andretti development driver Alexander Sims. However, Frijns has insisted that his plan is still to race on Saturday, providing his injury does not hamper him changing into his second car.

And finally, if any team is hungrier than the rest for a solid performance in Monaco this weekend, it has to be Venturi. Coming into their home event, the team currently sits well adrift at the bottom of the standings on just three points, thirteen behind ninth-placed Jaguar.

Various mechanical and electrical problems have so far blighted Venturi’s running in season three—contributing to retirements for Maro Engel in each of the last three races in succession—but with a little luck on home soil both he and Stéphane Sarrazin are more than capable of bringing home a top ten finish for the Monegasque team.

James Matthews, Deputy Editor

All images courtesy of FIA Formula E

Venturi has confirmed that Tom Dillmann will make his Formula E race debut standing in for Maro Engel at the Paris ePrix, as their regular driver contests a clashing DTM round at the Lausitzring.

This follows Dillmann, the reigning Formula V8 3.5 champion, getting his first taste of Formula E machinery during the Mexico City ePrix weekend, when he deputised in shakedown for Stephane Sarrazin whilst the latter attended the WEC Prologue.

Furthermore, Venturi will continue Dillmann’s acclimatisation to Formula E ahead of his race debut by running him in one of the team’s in-season filming days.

Speaking about the announcement to Motorsport.com, Dillmann called his ePrix debut a “great opportunity…to race on the streets of my capital city.

“After I was in contact with Venturi the first step was getting some running at Mexico although it was very short. But really in Mexico I learnt more from seeing how things operate in the race and how a race is run, this was really useful to experience.”

Dillmann also acknowledged that it will be difficult making his debut against “drivers [with] two full seasons’ racing” in the series, but added “for me the aim is to do a good job for the team” and “look towards season four because I want to race full-time in the championship then”.

James Matthews, Formula E editor