FIA Formula E Hong Kong e-Prix. First Practice Session. Ma Qing Hua (CHN), Team Aguri – Spark SRT_01E Hong Kong Harbour, Hong Kong, Asia. Sunday 9 October 2016. Photo: Adam Warner / FE / LAT ref: Digital Image _L5R7421
After a frantic start to the 2016-17 Formula E season in Hong Kong, the championship heads westward now to Morocco for the second of its five new season three races, the inaugural Marrakesh ePrix.
The battleground for round two of the championship is the Marrakesh Street Circuit. Located just outside the walls of the Jardins de l’Agdal, the track begins with a short straight and two long left handers in Turns 1 and 3. With a chicane at Turns 4 and 5 and a snap right hander at Turn 6, maintaining a good exit from this section will be crucial for drivers who want to avoid getting mugged on the long straight down to Turn 7.
Braking suddenly for Turn 10 after the fast and wide half-moon of Turn 9, the field faces the final angular section of the track, with a long back straight down to the alternating right angles at Turns 11 and 12 providing the last opportunity of the lap to effect a slipstream pass.
Reigning champion Sébastien Buemi won October’s Hong Kong opener in his usual comfortable fashion, but neither he nor his Renault e.Dams team appeared to have as much in hand as they hoped over their rivals across the weekend.
DS Virgin in particular should be a threat to Renault in Marrakesh. The Citroën-powered team was unlucky to leave Hong Kong with no points after being struck with technical and mechanical problems for both cars, but the pace that allowed them to lock out the second row ahead of Buemi bodes well for this weekend – especially if José María López can marry that up with his experience of three WTCC wins around the Marrakesh Street Circuit.
The Audi-aligned ABT team will also be buoyed by Lucas di Grassi’s surge from the back of the grid to second, and will be hoping Daniel Abt can also reap the rewards of his FE-02 instead of suffering another first lap retirement. Currently ABT stands joint with Andretti in the standings, and will want a good run this weekend to pull clear of second and keep touch with Renault ahead.
Finally, Techeetah will similarly be heading to Marrakesh with better fortunes in mind. After suffering a bitter double retirement in Hong Kong, the new Chinese outfit still has a lot to prove about its headline testing pace, and Marrakesh could prove an auspicious outing for them – like López, Techeetah’s Ma Qinghua has raced the Moroccan streets before in the WTCC, finishing second in the first of the 2015 races.
The 2016 Marrakesh ePrix gets underway this Saturday at 16:00 UK time, with full race coverage available on our Twitter feed.
Although Formula One’s annual trip through the Americas appears to have restored Lewis Hamilton to the crushing form he enjoyed in the summer, the Briton arrives at the penultimate round of the championship in Sao Paulo with something of a mountain to climb if he is to win his fourth World Drivers’ Championship.
The defending champion utterly dominated the last round in Mexico and crossed the line with a full eight seconds in hand, in a race Nico Rosberg needed himself to win and Hamilton effectively not to finish if the German was to wrap up the championship early.
But by maintaining a crucial second place behind Hamilton Mexico, Rosberg has ensured that victory in this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix will be enough to make him Formula One’s 33rd World Champion, regardless of where Hamilton finishes behind him. Such is his points margin that even if Mercedes has a disastrous race, Rosberg could finish as low as seventh and still become champion, providing Hamilton does not score at all.
“[Nico] has it in his hands,” Toto Wolff said ahead of the race. “All this talk of just needing to finish second in order to make it to the end is over. If he wins the race in Brazil, he is champion.”
Wolff also added that “Lewis knows what he must do to keep his title hopes alive. He will never back down and that’s what makes him one of the great ones.”
But not only will Hamilton have to finish ahead of Rosberg on Sunday if he plans to take the title fight on to Abu Dhabi, he will have to do so at a circuit that has never been a particular favourite of his.
Besides Baku, Interlagos remains the only track on the current calendar at which Hamilton has never won, and arguably the only one in which he has been consistently outshone by Rosberg in their time together – Rosberg has comfortably beaten Hamilton to victory in each of the last two Brazilian Grands Prix, and in 2013 finished fifth where the Briton could only manage ninth.
Outside of the Mercedes turbo era, Hamilton’s only other visit to the Sao Paulo podium was back in 2009 with McLaren.
Nevertheless, the past does not always translate into the future in Formula One, and while Nico Rosberg may look to have every advantage in Brazil, you can never afford to discount a driver like Lewis Hamilton when the margins start to narrow.
Despite losing points to Lewis Hamilton in last weekend’s United States Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg arrives in Mexico City with his first chance of claiming the 2016 World Drivers’ Championship.
With twenty-six points in hand over his teammate, Rosberg could mathematically clinch the title providing he wins the race with Hamilton finishing tenth or lower. The odds of the German wrapping up the championship on Sunday are admittedly slim considering Hamilton hasn’t finished a race outside the points since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, but the possibility nevertheless highlights the impressive work Rosberg has done to come within touching distance of the crown with three races to spare.
For Hamilton, it also underlines the importance of every point, as the Briton has insisted that he will not concede defeat until the title is mathematically decided:
“The moment you give up is the moment you lose. I’ve never been one to give up and I don’t plan on starting now. There are still plenty of points available and anything is possible.”
Hamilton’s main advantage coming into this final stretch of races – aside from any potential momentum gained from his Austin win – will be that he has plenty of past experience of tight championship battles on which to draw.
By comparison, this will be the first time Rosberg has been in such a position. Given his past propensity for faltering in high-pressure situations, this first true shot at the title will be a real test of Rosberg’s new, more relaxed approach to racing – an approach which ironically surfaced at this same event last year.
“To be in a championship battle at the end of the year is awesome,” the German said, “but my approach is to keep it simple. There are many things that can happen during a race weekend which are out of your control, so it’s best to just block all that out and focus on the job at hand.
“That’s what’s worked best for me and how I feel at my strongest.”
Lewis Hamilton has ended a win drought stretching back to July with an unassailable performance at the Circuit of the Americas. Starting from his first pole position at the Austin track, Hamilton led the field away cleanly and settled into a race of his own from the first corner onwards, leading almost every lap to take victory by four and a half seconds.
For Hamilton, who is fighting just to stay in contention of what many feel is already Nico Rosberg’s championship, his fiftieth career win was a crucial one. As the season approaches a string of races dominated by Rosberg last year, it was vital Hamilton assert himself at the US Grand Prix and turn the pressure back around onto his teammate.
But Hamilton was unable to do too much damage to Rosberg’s championship lead, as the German recovered from a bad start to finish second.
Having secured a front row start, Rosberg was aiming to do as his teammate had done to him before and jump Hamilton into Turn 1. But when Hamilton reached the apex first Rosberg was forced to try around the outside – only to find he’d left too inviting a gap for Daniel Ricciardo, who edged up the inside into second position.
But despite pulling away from Rosberg early on, Ricciardo’s race was compromised when Max Verstappen stopped beside the track with a gearbox problem and triggered a virtual safety car. With an effectively free pit stop in hand, Rosberg was easily able to regain second place from Ricciardo and then pull away on fresher tyres to a buffer of fifteen seconds.
The Silver Arrows’ respective results means the title battle closes up to twenty-six points in Rosberg’s favour – still a big enough advantage for the German to take the crown without winning again this season, but close enough for one DNF to open things right back up again.
There’s no doubt about it – Nico Rosberg is on a roll. After taking his ninth win of the season and fourth in five races at the last round in Japan, the championship leader is enjoying his greatest run of form to date as he closes on his maiden F1 World Drivers’ Championship.
With such momentum behind him, Rosberg could easily be considered the favourite for victory in the United States Grand Prix this weekend, with the anxiety of challenging at a Hamilton heartland considerably assuaged by his recent dominant performances in Singapore and Suzuka.
But in reality, Rosberg doesn’t need to win in Austin to win the championship – in fact, he doesn’t need to take a single victory for the rest of the season. With his Japanese Grand Prix win giving him a thirty-three point lead over Lewis Hamilton, Rosberg could finish second to his teammate for each of the remaining four rounds and still claim the title by five points. As much as Rosberg insists he is still looking at each race in isolation, it would be naïve to think that he hasn’t at least passingly considered laying back and letting the inherent pace of his W07 Hybrid carry him this final mile.
But on the other hand, the significance of laying down another emphatic win at one of his teammate’s favoured circuits will surely figure strongly in Rosberg’s mind this weekend – as will, no doubt, the prospect of settling a few scores with Hamilton regarding last year’s controversial first corner contact.
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see how Hamilton approaches this final leg of the 2016 season. It’s simply not in the defending champion’s mindset to back down and concede this hasn’t been his year – but at the same time, he will be all too aware that doing his best might not be enough to prevail this time.
Hamilton’s best hopes arguably lie with Rosberg suffering a Malaysia-style DNF, or at the least some qualifying trouble to drop him down the order for Sunday. But those odds are far too long to bet a world championship on, and if Hamilton is still aiming to come out the victor in November he will have to race strategically from here on out.
He will know from past experience that he has the edge over Rosberg in wheel-to-wheel combat; and will also know that if he asserts himself from the start – as in last year’s Japanese Grand Prix, for example – he has a good chance of seeing the German get swallowed up by the chasing pack.
Such tactics are not without their risk, of course – one overly aggressive defence could easily see the Briton losing out instead, and potentially incurring the ire of both the stewards and the Mercedes team. But at this late stage of the championship and with the odds stacked so resolutely against him, what has Hamilton got to lose?
As journalists, we’re not supposed to have favourite teams or drivers – and if we do, we’re certainly not meant to very open about it. But I challenge anyone to have their introduction to Formula One at the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, and not emerge with a considerable soft spot for Jenson Button.
Growing up in Somerset in the early 2000s, it was impossible not to have at least some awareness of who Jenson Button was. His success and charm had long earned him a place alongside the likes of Michael Eavis and Banksy in modern West Country folklore. But beyond the local pride, I didn’t know much about Jenson then – for whatever reason, my parents’ passing interest in F1 had not managed to impress itself on me, and so I was wholly ignorant of his stellar debut at Williams, his first win in Hungary, or his fairytale 2009 championship.
But all that changed on 12th June, 2011. My sister, an ardent Red Bull Racing fan, had come home from university that weekend to watch a certain Canadian Grand Prix, and in the spirit of family togetherness I sat down to join her. I had no idea I was about to watch the longest and one of the greatest races in F1 history, nor could I have guessed the impact that afternoon was to have on my life since then. All I wanted was a good show.
2011 Canadian Grand Prix – Sunday Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Canada 12th June 2011 Jenson Button, McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes. World Copyright:Steve Etherington/LAT Photographic ref: Digital Image SNE21284
For all that was to come, Button’s 2011 Canadian Grand Prix got off to a terrible start. Unable to challenge the Red Bulls and Ferraris in qualifying, he lined up only seventh on the grid; then, after losing several places on the rain-soaked opening laps, almost saw his race end in a cloud of carbon fibre as a misjudged move by Hamilton on lap eight ended in the two McLarens colliding on the pit straight.
Button luckily came out unscathed, but the incident turned out to just be the beginning of his troubles. As the safety car was deployed, McLaren called Button into the pits to try a set of intermediates, but his chances of making the alternative strategy work were seemingly scuppered when he was given a drive-through penalty for speeding behind the safety car.
Rejoining the track down in fifteenth, Button then found himself on the wrong tyres as a rain storm descended on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, forcing him and the other inter-shod drivers back to the pits for more full wets. Then to make matters worse, after losing several places with his third trip through the pitlane Button was unable to use the better grip of his wet tyres to recover when the torrential rain triggered first another safety car, then a full race suspension on lap 25.
2011 Canadian Grand Prix – Sunday Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Canada 12th June 2011 A busy grid in the poring rain World Copyright:Steven Tee/LAT Photographic ref: Digital Image _A8C3676
As the red flags came out, and as the horrendous weather made a restart look increasingly unlikely, it’s not hard to imagine Button hoping that that would be it for the day. For myself at home, I was thoroughly enjoying my first incident-packed experience of Formula One; but for Button, the first half of the Canadian Grand Prix had been an utterly dismal affair – his only consolation was that with a flurry of late stops for wet tyres mixing up the field, Button had managed to find himself in tenth place when the race was neutralised, just three places behind his original starting spot.
When the race finally did resume some two hours later, things picked up where they left off for Jenson – with another trip to the pits on lap 36 as the track dried out enough for intermediates again. But that fourth stop was far from his last, as a move on Alonso for tenth place ended in contact, beaching the Ferrari at Turn 3, puncturing Button’s right front tyre, and beginning the fifth safety car period of the day.
Had the race ended then, I might have been forgiven for not thinking much of Jenson’s performance. But as he left the pits for the fifth time and rejoined at the very back of the field, something seemed to change in the cockpit of that McLaren – with fresh tyres and in the changeable conditions he so loves, Button’s race came alive, and in less than ten laps after the safety period ended, he had already managed to slice back through the field to tenth.
From then on, Button simply could not be stopped. As his rivals struggled to manage slicks on a still-drying track, Button kept cool and sailed past them all in turn, and with fifteen laps to go was running fourth – and much faster than race leader Vettel.
A sixth and final safety car on lap 57, deployed after Heidfeld hit the back of Kobayashi through Turn 2, brought Button right up to the back of the leaders. He then exploited the neutralisation to perfection, passing both Webber and Schumacher shortly after the restart to give himself five laps in which to reel in Sebastian Vettel.
What followed next has since become F1 legend. Having led every lap so far, Vettel continued to keep Button just outside the DRS range and looked set to cling on until the flag; but with the McLaren punching out fastest lap after fastest lap behind him the pressure finally became too much, and halfway through the final lap, Vettel ran wide and let Button through for the win.
2011 Canadian Grand Prix – Sunday Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Canada 12th June 2011 Jenson Button, McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes. World Copyright:Glenn Dunbar/LAT Photographic ref: Digital Image _G7C4663
In my years of watching Formula One since, it’s hard to recall a battle for the lead in which I’ve felt so personally invested as Button’s unbelievable pursuit of Vettel. Perhaps it was just plain old sibling rivalry: as my sister’s favoured Vettel clung to an ever-decreasing lead, it’s only natural I should cheer on the man hunting him down.
But to leave it at that would be to do a gross disservice to Jenson Button. Put in its simplest terms, his drive to the victory in Montreal that day was nothing less than that of a true champion. From the back of the grid to the top of the podium is a phenomenal achievement under any circumstances, but Jenson’s win was made all the more outstanding by the constant adversity, the perilous conditions, and the supreme class of the field he had had to overcome along the way. Watching him command his way to the result he knew he deserved was like watching something elemental, determination incarnate.
Very few drivers would have had either the talent or the heart to do what he did in Montreal on 12th June, 2011 – for Jenson Button was, on that day at least, the very best there was.
James Matthews
2011 Canadian Grand Prix – Sunday Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Canada 12th June 2011 Jenson Button, McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes. World Copyright:Lorenzo Bellanca/LAT Photographic ref: Digital Image GU5G7063
One of the most obvious takeaways from the Hong Kong ePrix was the remarkable job done by Formula E’s five rookie drivers in establishing themselves amongst an already impressive grid. José María López in particular showed his potential pace in qualifying third, as did Felix Rosenqvist by starting sixth and setting the fastest lap of the race; and not to mention Maro Engel, who was not only the highest rookie finisher in ninth but also consistently outperformed his more experienced teammate Sarrazin through qualifying and the race.
The series’ two rookie teams also made strong impressions on their respective debuts. Although Techeetah’s day ended with a double DNF brought on by technical issues and a first lap collision, the Chinese team displayed considerable speed all weekend, suggesting even that Jean-Éric Vergne might have been a contender for pole had qualifying run uninterrupted. Jaguar also ran well despite lacking the pace to challenge the front, and it was a shame that their strategic dare of a long first stint could only net them twelfth.
Track layouts are still an issue
Formula E’s logistical side once again came under scrutiny in Hong Kong, after the profile of the Turn 3-4 chicane was controversially altered prior to qualifying. With the change contributing to heavy crashes from di Grassi, Frijns and Lopez across the day, it was no wonder the decision came under heavy fire from the teams and drivers, who reportedly were only notified of it a few minutes before qualifying.
Last-minute alterations such as this have unfortunately become a by-product of the “pop-up” nature of Formula E’s street tracks. But although these problems may always present themselves, the disorganised way in which they are solved does not likewise need to remain a fixture – if Formula E is to truly become a top-line series, it must remove these clumsy incidents from its DNA.
HONG KONG, CHINA – OCTOBER 9: In this handout image supplied by Formula E, during the FIA Formula E Championship Hong Kong ePrix at the Central Harbourfront Circuit on October 9, 2016 in Hong Kong, China. (Photo by LAT Photographic / Formula E via Getty Images)
Reliability will be key
Managing reliability emerged as one of the critical tasks for teams in Hong Kong, with mechanical or technical trouble contributing to at least three of the five retirements, and afflicting many more drivers besides.
With several teams incorporating new powertrain designs this season, a few technical gremlins are only to be expected, especially from the two new teams. But as Formula E is now reaching a level where it is attracting big name marques like Audi and Mercedes, it can’t be good to see its existing outfits still suffering from niggling technological troubles after three seasons of development.
The field is as close as ever
Although on paper another Buemi/ di Grassi podium looked to be all too predictable, the Hong Kong ePrix proved that Formula E’s third season will be every bit as varied as its predecessors.
Sam Bird looks set to be a true contender for the title this season, if his qualifying and early race pace are anything to go by. The improvements made by stalwart midfielders Andretti and Mahindra showed enough give the top three teams something to think about, whilst Dragon and Techeetah should also have the ability to mix it at the front if they can overcome their various reliability issues. According to Hong Kong, there is not a single team on the 2016-17 grid that could not be considered a regular challenger for points – and at least six of them should be targeting the podium from here on out, if not the occasional race win too.
FIA Formula E Hong Kong e-Prix. First Practice Session. Sebastien Buemi (SUI), Renault e.Dams, Spark-Renault, Renault Z.E 16. Hong Kong Harbour, Hong Kong, Asia. Sunday 9 October 2016. Photo: Adam Warner / FE / LAT ref: Digital Image _L5R7464
Over the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, rumours of Nico Hülkenberg making a surprise switch to Renault for 2017 ramped up a notch after reports in German media claimed the deal was all but done.
Logistically, a move to Renault is entirely possible: although Hülkenberg is signed to Force India for next year, his contract reportedly contains a buyout clause if a manufacturer comes knocking. But would the German really want to sacrifice his secure position in a podium contending team for a works drive at the back of the field?
Harsh though it may sound, Renault could well be Hülkenberg’s only remaining chance at a top team drive. Both Mercedes and Red Bull are committed to a future of promoting from within their own junior ranks; and despite interest in the past, Ferrari has made it plain that its affections have moved on from Hülkenberg to the likes of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez.
If Hülkenberg is still serious about driving for a manufacturer team in Formula 1 – and he insists that he is – that only leaves Renault or McLaren-Honda. And although neither team are particularly desirable at the moment, Hülkenberg will no doubt keep his missed shots at Ferrari in the back of his mind as he weighs up an offer from Renault.
At 29 and approaching his eighth season in F1, Hülkenberg’s career stands at a critical point. In all that time, he has never progressed beyond the midfield and many observers believe that his chance to do so has passed. Add to that his arguable overshadowing alongside Pérez in recent years, and it wouldn’t be too astonishing to see Hülkenberg seize the chance with Renault whilst it’s there.
As for Renault, the appeal of Nico Hülkenberg is obvious. Leaving aside his reputation and glittering CV for the moment, one of the best arrows in Hülkenberg’s quiver is his ability to lift a lower-midfield car up above its station. Take, for example, his pole position with Williams at the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix, or the 29 laps spent leading the same race two years later with Force India.
But perhaps of most significance to Renault will be Hülkenberg’s year with Sauber in 2013, in which he helped lead the team from scrapping over tenth and eleventh to scoring several solid top six finishes by the end of the season. It’s this ability to move a poor car forward that Renault so sorely needs right now, and it’s this that would make Nico Hülkenberg an invaluable asset to the French marque in 2017.
Unfortunately, the flipside of this move is that it would mean the loss of either Kevin Magnussen or Jolyon Palmer – or even both of them, if Esteban Ocon takes the second Renault seat as many expect.
At present, there are still some eleven seats available for 2017, though only a handful of them could actually be considered viable havens for the two current Renault drivers. Magnussen arguably has the greater pool of options should he leave Renault, and would certainly not be unwelcome at Haas after the American team marked him down as their second choice last year if they couldn’t tempt over Romain Grosjean.
For Palmer, his best bet is likely Manor, as the backmarker team looks set to yield up Pascal Wehrlein to Hülkenberg’s vacant Force India seat, even if Ocon doesn’t move to Renault as well.
HONG KONG, CHINA – OCTOBER 9: In this handout image supplied by Formula E, during the FIA Formula E Championship Hong Kong ePrix at the Central Harbourfront Circuit on October 9, 2016 in Hong Kong, China. (Photo by LAT Photographic / Formula E via Getty Images)
Reigning Formula E champions Sébastien Buemi and Renault e.Dams got their respective title defences off to a perfect start, by taking the victory in Hong Kong as misfortunes carried their rivals out of contention.
In typical Formula E style, the 2016 Hong Kong ePrix began with a vastly mixed grid. Pole position was claimed by Nelson Piquet Jr in one half of a surprising NextEV front row lockout, and was decided without the usual Super Pole session as a heavy crash by Robin Frijns meant the track needed to be closed down for lengthy barrier repairs.
Frijns was joined at the back of the grid by title contender Lucas di Grassi, who crashed himself in an earlier group session after being caught out by a late change to the layout of the Turn 3-4 chicane.
But whilst Formula E’s more experienced drivers struggled on their first weekend back, its rookies shone in qualifying, with DS Virgin’s José María López and Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist particularly impressive in third and sixth respectively.
But if qualifying was frenzied, the race was even more so.
Piquet made a good getaway from pole, and managed to make the most of the clean air to avoid getting swallowed by the quicker DS Virgins on row two of the grid. But as he and teammate Oliver Turvey settled cleanly into formation at the front, it was anything but behind as the rest of the field barrelled into the opening corners.
The two Virgins of López and Sam Bird were the first to come together at the Turn 1 hairpin, and though the pair escaped without any visible damage, the contact appeared to leave López with some internal damage, and sent the Argentine plummeting straight down the order.
Then at Turn 2, Ma Qing Hua was caught out under braking and hit the back of Nico Prost, and was in turn hit from behind by a trapped di Grassi, who managed to continue albeit after taking on a new nose in the pits.
As the order changed rapidly on the opening lap, several drivers who qualified outside the top ten benefited from the attrition to get into the points, with Nick Heidfeld making the biggest jump from eleventh to fifth ahead of his rookie teammate Rosenqvist.
But Mahindra’s shot at a solid double points finish was was soured when Rosenqvist lost the rear through Turn 5 and dropped it into the wall. The Swede managed to limp back to the pits and return briefly in his second car, and scored a single consolatory point by setting the fastest lap before retiring.
At the front, Bird and Buemi brought themselves up onto the podium after passing first the stricken López and then Oliver Turvey, and set about cutting down Piquet’s two-second lead.
For a while the Brazilian looked comfortably ahead, but disaster struck on lap 17 when he came up to lap López and found the DS Virgin beached in the chicane wall – taking avoiding action, Piquet moved to the escape road and was forced to watch as Bird and Buemi both went past.
Bird appeared to have the race in hand from then on, opening a gap to Buemi and pitting later to conserve energy for the final stint; but his own stint as race leader was even shorter than Piquet’s, with a gearbox issue on his second car leaving him stranded in the garage during his stop.
Buemi then inherited the lead, and found himself heading off a surprise challenge from Lucas di Grassi. The ABT driver’s race looked to be run after the energy demands of his climb from the back row of the grid forced an early stop, but the safety car brought out by López’s crash allowed di Grassi to conserve power without losing touch with the pack.
The two season two rivals then continued to trade lap times throughout the closing stages of the race, although Buemi was ultimately able to hold off di Grassi and cross the line with over two seconds to spare.
Heidfeld completed the podium, having just enough useable power on the final lap to see off Nico Prost.
Andretti also had a remarkable race after managing a best of just thirteenth in qualifying. Both da Costa and Frijns conserved energy in the first stint ahead of a late charge, and brought home fifth and sixth place respectively to tie Andretti with ABT for second in the standings.
Jérôme d’Ambrosio ended a disappointing day for Dragon Racing in seventh ahead of front row starter Oliver Turvey, whilst the points were rounded out by Venturi, with rookie Maro Engel edging out his experienced teammate to score his first Formula E points.
Jaguar Racing had a respectable debut with Adam Carroll finishing twelfth and fighting for points early on, though their result was soured by Mitch Evans suffering a technical DNF.
The British marque’s fellow debutants Techeetah endured a torrid first ePrix, failing to capitalise on their testing pace as Ma’s first lap crash and technical troubles for Jean-Éric Vergne ended in a double non-finish.
FIA Formula E Season 3 Testing – Day Two. Donington Park Racecourse, Derby, United Kingdom. Photo: Alastair Staley / LAT / FE. ref: Digital Image 580A8238
It’s finally here – after a three-month off season, the start of the 2016-17 FIA Formula E Championship is just a few days away.
With an all-new calendar for season three, the championship will begin in Hong Kong instead of the traditional Beijing, and will also be the first single-header Formula E race to take place on a Sunday, as the e-Touring Car Challenge takes centre stage on Saturday. Formula E’s track action begins with practice at 10:30 local time and qualifying at midday, with the race following at 16:00 or 09:00 UK time.
As well as a new circuit and schedule, the opening round of season three will also feature two new teams and five new drivers, all of whom will no doubt be the focus of much attention this weekend.
Jaguar will be especially in the limelight as the latest marque to join the Formula E paddock, although the team is expecting to have a fairly low-key debut whilst its two rookie drivers Adam Carroll and Mitch Evans find their feet in the series.
Also joining the paddock for the first time will be Techeetah, the Chinese-funded outfit taking over the defunct Team Aguri entry. While the Techeetah name may not carry the same weight as Jaguar’s, the team is on course for a strong race in Hong Kong after new signing Jean-Éric Vergne took his new Renault-powered car to the top of the testing times on three of the six days.
But if either team is to score points on its debut, they will undoubtably have their work cut out for them as Formula E looks set for its closest field yet.
Renault e.Dams certainly left testing as the team to beat once again, both on qualifying and long run pace, but the battle at the front looks to be much tighter as DS Virgin and Dragon Racing both have made great improvements on their season two machinery.
Dragon in particular emerged as a challenger for race wins this season, with a new partnership with Faraday Future boosting their prospects, whilst DS Virgin’s hopes will be bolstered by their acquisition of three-time WTCC champion José María López.
Behind them, MS Amlin Andretti look on course for their strongest season to date as they pair the highly-rated Robin Frijns with season one race winner and BMW protege António Félix da Costa. Mahindra’s new M3Electro also appeared in testing to have the pace for podium contention, particularly in the hands of rookie Felix Rosenqvist.
All in all, the 2016 Hong Kong ePrix is set to give a fascinating first glimpse at the shape of the 2016-17 championship, with absolutely no guarantee we’ll see the usual suspects filling out the podium again on Sunday.
The rookies shone
