Review of the Paris ePrix: Frijns masters capricious weather and a bizarre scenario!
The eighth ePrix of the season rewards an unexpected winner: Robin Frijns! The Envision Virgin Racing driver kept his cool to claim victory on a track that constantly alternated between dry and wet conditions. The full story of a day of thrilling racing!
Almost no one saw it coming: Robin Frijns clinches the Paris ePrix after a wild day!
It all started at 7:30 in the morning: the 22 competitors were ready for the start of the first free practice session… on a track soaked by rain during the night! An external factor that continued to challenge the drivers throughout the day…
Right from the start, several drivers were caught out during their first laps this morning, including some big names! Defending champion Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah) spun around on the main straight without consequence. The same action but more damage for Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport), particularly on the front wing. Worse still, Sam Bird (Envision Virgin) ended up in the wall at the exit of the 14th turn, destroying the front-left of his car!
Absent from the second free practice session, the Englishman jeopardized the rest of his Saturday. From his garage, Bird watched his fellow competitors on a track that had dried up: an opportunity for Mitch Evans (Jaguar), winner in Rome and the fastest in FP2, with a time of 1’00”226, to set impressive times.
The pole for Wehrlein on the track, before the disqualification, in favor of Rowland!
As since the beginning of the season, these qualifications were divided into five phases: the four preliminary groups, determining the six spots for the next super pole. Arranged in championship order, the highest-ranked set off in the first group.
Among the big hitters, Jérôme d’Ambrosio (Mahindra) fared the best, with a time sufficient to be among the top six. Less success for André Lotterer (DS Techeetah), who finished in eighth place, less than a tenth off the cut! Further down, Lucas di Grassi in 11th in the final standings, Antonio Félix da Costa (BMW Andretti) 16th… and Mitch Evans, 20th on the grid, half a second from happiness.
In group 2, Robin Frijns (Envision Virgin), the future winner, moved into the top 6. Less on form, Jean-Eric Vergne completed an average lap, ultimately resulting in 14th place on the grid.
Group 3 was more competitive, with four fast drivers: Oliver Rowland and Sébastien Buemi, Nissan e.Dams teammates, Pascal Wehrlein (Mahindra), and Felipe Massa (Venturi). All these drivers entered the super pole, alongside Frijns and D’Ambrosio. The last group did not change the top 6.
On a track littered with leaves, the super-pole was claimed by Wehrlein, at least on the track. With a spectacular yet efficient driving style, the German achieved a lap time of 1:00.383, a tenth and a half ahead of Rowland. This duo was followed by the other Nissan e.Dams, driven by Buemi, who was ahead of Frijns, Massa, and d’Ambrosio.
But the ranking experienced an off-track twist: an hour and a half after the end of the qualifying session, the two Mahindras were disqualified for non-compliant tire pressure. Wehrlein and d’Ambrosio were relegated to the back of the grid, leaving the two Nissans of Rowland and Buemi on the front row. However, this Saturday was far from over…
More consistent in the race, Frijns tames the Paris downpour!
The X factor of this eighth ePrix was clearly the weather and its alternating rain and sunshine. The 45-minute race started under the sun, but on a still wet track, washed by a previous shower. Race management therefore decided on a rolling start rather than a standing start.
The start of the race was marked by Oliver Rowland’s mistake! The Briton came in too fast and hit the wall head-on at the 10th turn, after only two minutes. Sébastien Buemi took the lead. His domination lasted only ten minutes: suffering a slow puncture after contact with the wall, the Swiss driver entered the pits and fell to the back of the standings. Buemi left the lead to Frijns, who held it until the finish!
Behind Frijns, what chaos!
Untenable, André Lotterer left Felipe Massa behind to gain second place, thanks to a strong overtake in the third corner, wheel to wheel.
The race was seriously starting to heat up: in difficulty, the Brazilian was leading a small train composed of Daniel Abt, Maximilian Günther (Dragon Racing), di Grassi, and Oliver Turvey (NIO). But Abt quickly found an opening on Massa in the first corner. The race was on a knife’s edge, with the arrival of rain shortly after! A shower intense enough for the race management to impose the first Full Course Yellow. The race had been underway for 17 minutes.
Finally, in the 53rd race in Formula E history it’s the first ever wet race! #ABBFormulaE #ParisEPrix pic.twitter.com/dBwBgiM2Qm
— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 27, 2019
The race was then restarted, but very briefly. A multi-car pileup occurred in the first turn. Drifting during the braking, D’Ambrosio unintentionally pushed Bird against the wall. A few seconds later, Rowland also arrived in distress and took out Alexander Sims’ BMW Andretti and Gary Taffett’s HWA.
This incident prompted a second appearance of the Full Course Yellow, a temporary slowdown before the green flag, presented 15 minutes before the finish. Frijns held the lead, ahead of Lotterer and Abt. However, the Parisian rain decided to intensify: enough to shake up the standings a bit more, in the middle.
Then in seventh, Massa dropped out of the top 10: pushed out by Turvey. At the same time behind, Edoardo Mortara made a mistake and landed on Alex Lynn’s Jaguar, just before the second snail-shaped sequence. This incident neutralized the race with yet another Full Course Yellow and the deployment of the Safety Car.
This race is crazy! @AlexanderSims suffers heartbreak again after a race-ending incident involving a number of cars #ABBFormulaE #ParisEPrix pic.twitter.com/2e323jYoge
— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 27, 2019
Audaciously, the race direction released the competitors with just 2 minutes to the finish line, amid the water sprays caused by the drivers. The last madness of this completely crazy ePrix: d’Ambrosio in the fight, who skids and ends up in the wall at the first corner, before being hit at the rear by José Maria Lopez’s Dragon! This incident definitively locked the standings and crowned Robin Frijns, the winner of this 2019 Paris ePrix! The Envision Virgin Racing driver clinches the first victory of his Formula E career, after 30 races since his debut in 2015.
The Dutchman makes a double coup by taking the lead in the drivers’ championship with 81 points on the scoreboard. On the podium, Frijns
could savor his performance, with the Invalides as a backdrop. On the Parisian podium alongside him were two German drivers: André Lotterer, again second after the Rome ePrix, and Daniel Abt, for his second podium of the year, after the Santiago ePrix in Chile.
Here is the complete ranking of this Paris ePrix:
Your full results from the 2019 #ParisEPrix – which driver impressed you most today? #ABBFormulaE pic.twitter.com/LdyARVJkgl
— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 27 avril 2019
Among the French, the outcome is rather mixed: Jean-Eric Vergne made a brave comeback to take sixth place. Tom Dillmann retired midway through the meeting but secured the fastest lap on an almost dry track. Yes, the weather clearly tested the nerves of Formula E: this Paris ePrix will be remembered as the discipline’s first true wet race!
Long live the streak! 🎱 #ABBFormulaE #ParisEPrix pic.twitter.com/r5o1Mfji2Y
— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 27, 2019
From our special correspondent in Paris
