At home, Renault e-Dams didn’t win, but couldn’t have hoped for more
On home turf in Paris, Renault e-Dams was no match for Lucas di Grassi's dominance. However, the men of the yellow-and-blue team were satisfied to have more than limited the damage, with 3rd and 4th places for Sebastian Buemi and Nicolas Prost.
The first trials of the Paris e-Prix unfortunately made it clear to the Renault e-Dams leaders that it would be quite difficult for them to play the leading roles. Less in form than Lucas di Grassi’s ABT or the DS Virgin cars of Jean-Eric Vergne (2nd in the race) and Sam Bird (poleman, 6th in the race), the team still brought back 27 points from the Invalides. In the constructors’ standings, Renault e-Dams is now 7 points ahead of ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport.
Alain Prost, the prestigious co-owner of the team, therefore said he was quite pleased with the result obtained.
« Before the weekend, I thought we might not be able to do as well. Nevertheless, given the pressure we were under and the tire temperature issues during qualifying, it’s a good point to finish the race without losing points in the team standings. It’s great to be on the podium, even more so being at home, in France, and for Sébastien, who is still one of the favorites for the title. »
Prost father also had a few words on the microphone about his son’s race: « Nicolas comes away with a good performance which we can be pleased about ».
On the Dams side, Jean-Paul Driot is not jumping for joy either. He will nevertheless be content with the final performance of his team: « Today, the final result is good given our positions on the grid. »
But at the wheel of his Renault Z.E 15, did Sébastien Buemi see the glass as half full or half empty? Also mentioning these tire temperature issues, the Toyota Endurance driver still had some fun by treating us to a few nice maneuvers, on Oliver Turvey for example: « I enjoyed myself on this track, it’s always a great satisfaction to manage an overtake in such difficult spots. »
Fourth at the end of the first stint, he still had to overtake Sam Bird to step onto the last step of the podium. Despite the strong top speed of the DS Virgin cars and a misused Fan-Boost, the Swiss pressure paid off. On the 39th lap, Sam Bird gave up his place after running into the escape road at the first turn. Qing Hua Ma’s crash, however, deprived the spectators of a new duel with Jean-Eric Vergne for second place. Would that have even been possible? « It’s hard to say. In any case, I was in the rhythm at the end of the race. Good for JEV! » continues Buemi.
According to his own words, the evaluation of his Saturday will remain as acceptable. We have to be realistic, although we couldn’t move at our speed in the traffic; finishing third starting from eighth on this kind of track is a very good performance.
The ambition remains the same for Renault e-Dams: to triumph in both standings, drivers and constructors.
For sure, Sébastien Buemi is still very ambitious: “I’m disappointed to lose points to di Grassi again.”
But it’s not the end of the world, everything is still possible, we are still in the running for the end of the World Championship. We are working hard and we hope to come back stronger.
What a day! Racing in the centre of Paris.. Simply unforgettable.
3rd place for Seb, P4 for Nico. #ParisePrix: done! pic.twitter.com/UpIaIaSCLg— RENAULT e.dams (@RENAULTedams) April 23, 2016
