Review of the Beijing ePrix: A Thunderous Start to the Season for Sébastien Buemi!

From Friday afternoon, the tone was already set around the Olympic site in Beijing, which once again hosts the inaugural edition of the Formula E season. During the shakedown, Nico Prost in his Renault e.Dams already set the reference time at 1:37.291, which is four seconds faster than the Pole position time in 2014.

The French team was already setting the tone with Sébastien Buemi in 2nd position and, notably, a gap of more than two seconds over the first pursuer, Jean-Eric Vergne for DS Virgin!

However, this rapid improvement is mainly due to the changes made to the circuit: a chicane has been removed while turns 7 and 14 have been slowed down. Robin Frinjs, driver for Andretti team, presents here a remodeled circuit, 4.439 kilometers long, whose main challenge is this series of right-angle turns, coupled with some straight lines and tight chicanes:

Saturday morning, we take the same approach and start again for the first real Free Practice session, held from 8:15 to 9:00 a.m. (local time).

Renault e.Dams continued to impress, although the gap with the rest of the competition was now only about a second. Sébastien Buemi was ahead of Nico Prost and Loic Duval (Dragon Racing). At the other end of the standings, troubles were just beginning for Nelson Piquet. The reigning Drivers’ champion had indeed crashed into the wall at the pit exit due to a faulty speed limiter.

The second Free Practice session, lasting half an hour, saw the end of Renault e.Dams’ monopoly, with Lucas di Grassi (ABT Schaeffler) managing to come out on top of the session.

But the good performance predicted for the Renault e.Dams indeed materialized during the Qualifications. Divided into 4 groups of 5 drivers, the goal was first to make it into the Top 5 of the standings in order to compete in the Super-Pole.

In this little game, Sébastien Buemi and his teammate Nico Prost, Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Virgin), Nick Heidfeld (Mahindra), and Lucas Di Grassi (Abt Schaeffler) fared the best.

Among the eliminated, Stéphane Sarrazin (Venturi, 6th), was out for a modest tenth of a second. However, Nelson Piquet still could not legitimately defend his chances, due mainly to significant oversteer in his Nextev. The Brazilian therefore started 18th in the race and last, given the withdrawal of the two Trulli drivers. In the middle of the field, there was Jacques Villeneuve, who qualified 12th for his first meeting.

But all eyes were on this unprecedented Super-Pole that gives drivers only one clear lap to set their reference time. That’s why the five drivers in contention took all the risks, sometimes beyond the limit, like Jean-Eric Vergne who aborted his attempt right at the first corner after locking his wheels. This Super-Pole came down to a duel of Renault e.Dams, with Sébastien Buemi getting the upper hand over Nico Prost despite a complicated start to the lap. The former Toro Rosso driver had to produce a stunning end of the lap to clinch the first Pole-Position of the season. His first words on the radio perfectly summarized the situation: “Yes! I messed up in the second sector but I didn’t give up!”

The Top 5 of this Qualifying session was as follows:

1. S. Buemi (Renault e.Dams) 1:37.297

2. N. Prost (Renault e.Dams) 1:37:581

3. N. Heidfeld (Mahindra Racing) 1:38.339

4. L. di Grassi (ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport) 1:39.539

5. J-E. Vergne (DS Virgin Racing) 2:21:284

Besides the two Renaults, the pleasant surprise came from Nick Heidfeld, whom few people expected to rank so high.

Further down the standings, the two remaining French drivers were found: Loic Duval in 8th and Nathanel Berthon in 17th.

At the time of the grid formation, the main question was whether the Renault-e.Dams team would prove to be as strong in race pace?

Very quickly, there wasn’t a shadow of a doubt about the answer, at least for Sébastien Buemi.

After a good start, the Swiss driver cruised in the lead for all 26 laps of the circuit.

Despite a Safety Car coming out on the track on the 3rd lap after Simona de Silvestro’s (Amlin-Andretti) accident, Buemi was already building a colossal lead: over 10 seconds ahead of his pursuers after 10 laps!

Note here that this accident allowed for the use of the system: the Full Car Yellow, which requires all drivers to drive at a maximum speed of 50 kilometers per hour as long as the race director demands it. A system similar to the Virtual Safety Car in Formula 1 but applied here to the entire circuit and not just the area of the accident.

Sébastien Buemi ultimately only relinquished the lead on lap 14 during his car change. Loic Duval (Dragon Racing) therefore had the honor of temporarily sharing the spotlight before handing the reins to an imperial driver.

Sébastien Buemi finally crossed the finish line as the winner with an 11-second lead over Lucas di Grassi! He didn’t slow down until the end of the race, setting the fastest lap at 1:39.993, remaining the only driver to break the symbolic 1:40 mark. This first weekend will thus remain very satisfying for Sébastien Buemi, who takes the maximum score of 30 points.

« It was a very beautiful race for me: it’s a somewhat strange feeling because I felt quite alone in front, but it’s still very good to win with such a wide margin! »

Behind this untouchable winner, a beautiful show took place for the acquisition of the places of honor.

It involved particularly Sébastien Buemi’s teammate. Starting 2nd, Nico Prost was overtaken by Nick Heidfeld and then by Lucas di Grassi. This trio of drivers battled wheel-to-wheel until the car change. At that point, di Grassi and Prost passed the German veteran: The podium thus seemed set behind Buemi.

But it was then that the rear wing of Nicolas Prost sagged following a slight contact with the wall in a chicane. After a few laps of uncertainty, the son of the four-time World Champion had to return to the pits to retire: a terrible blow considering his teammate’s clean sweep!

That being said, some people’s happiness leads to others’ misfortune: Nick Heidfeld finds himself on the podium once again. He now has to battle with the two Dragon Racing cars of Loic Duval and Jérôme d’Ambrosio. Loic Duval was close to placing a French representative on the podium. Starting 8th, the Audi endurance driver in WEC made a brave comeback, overtaking Jean-Eric Vergne among others. Lying in wait, and with his teammate Jérôme d’Ambrosio close on his heels, he attempts to pass Heidfeld without success, who eventually secures a nice podium finish, a year after the spectacular collision he was a victim of.

Behind this Top 5, it’s worth acknowledging Oliver Turvey’s impressive climb for Nextev. Despite a car still struggling with its setup, the English driver skillfully managed his energy to climb up the rankings, moving from an initial 15th place to a 7th place. He minimizes the damage while his teammate Nelson Piquet never emerged from the depths of the rankings. He finished last classified, two laps down! Nonetheless, the economical management of both Nextev cars remains a good reason for satisfaction ahead of the upcoming races.

Quite the opposite for the two DS Virgin Racing cars, which still seemed to be in a testing phase with their particular settings: a gearbox with only one gear. Two powertrains, one at the front, one at the rear. A bold choice that has yet to pay off: Sam Bird only finishing 7th while Jean-Eric Vergne finishes outside the points.

Finally, a word on Jacques Villeneuve who did not have an easy first ePrix: the 44-year-old rookie finished 14th, one lap down, after a collision with Portuguese driver Antonio Felix da Costa.

Here’s the final ranking of this race:

1. S. Buemi (Renault e.Dams): 50:08:835 / 25 pts

2. L. di Grassi (ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport): +11.006 / 18 pts

3. N. Heidfeld (Mahindra Racing): +15.681 / 15 pts

4. L. Duval (Dragon Racing): + 16.009 / 12 pts

5. J. d’Ambrosio (Dragon Racing): +16.514 / 10 pts

6. O. Turvey (Nextev): +39.466 / 8 pts

7. S. Bird (DS Virgin Racing): + 47.531 / 6 pts

8. N. Berthon (Team Aguri): +58.620 / 4 pts

9. D. Abt (ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport): +1:03:351 / 2 pts

10. S. Sarrazin (Venturi): +1:07.814 / 1 pt

11. R. Frijns (Andretti): +1:09.260

12. J.E Vergne (DS Virgin Racing): +1:31.040

13. B. Senna (Mahindra Racing): +1:50.833

14. J. Villeneuve (Venturi): +1 Lap

15. N. Piquet Jr (Nextev): + 2 Laps

Abandonments:

N. Prost (Renault e.Dams)

A. da Costa (Team Aguri)

S. de Silvestro (Andretti)

Next appointment with Formula E: Saturday, November 7 in Malaysia at Putrajaya!