ePrix de Monaco: Overview and challenges

The top of the championship in a close race

While Sébastien Buemi had secured three victories since the start of the season, the Mexico race saw the lead he had built over Lucas Di Grassi shrink significantly, as the Brazilian closed in to just 5 points behind the Swiss Renault e-Dams driver. Indeed, the Mexican race was disastrous for the defending Champion, who finished outside the points due to a strange spin caused by a braking that was too late. This poor performance, coupled with a strategic victory by Di Grassi, has completely reignited the championship. The Monaco race will be an opportunity for the two main championship rivals to determine whether the trend has reversed or if it was merely a blip.

It should be noted that unlike in Mexico, the drivers competing in the WEC will not be at a disadvantage, as a few weeks ago, a number of drivers participating in the World Endurance Championship had to make an express trip from Monza, where the WEC prologue took place. Besides our dynamic duo, Jean Éric Vergne should be closely watched, as he’s been securing second place for the last two races. It’s highly likely that the Frenchman will want to continue this positive momentum.

Another interesting driver to follow is Nicolas Prost, who is currently helping Renault e.dams stay at the top of the Constructors’ Championship with three consecutive fourth-place finishes. At the moment, this is what makes the difference between the French team and the German team ABT. Unfortunately, the latter cannot rely on similarly conclusive results from Daniel Abt to complement Di Grassi’s consistent performances.

Behind in the hierarchy, the race result could shake up the standings, as there are only ten points between Félix Rosenqvist in sixth place and Jérôme d’Ambrosio in fourteenth. This race Saturday could even claim some victims, as the Monaco circuit is known for being unforgiving in case of mistakes.

An identical circuit to the first edition

The track will make its return to the principality on a modified version of the world’s most famous urban circuit, part of the magical triptych alongside the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500. This version of the circuit, with a length equivalent to 1.7 kilometers, uses the classic start/finish line but turns immediately right towards the harbor, taking a chicane that leads directly back to the more familiar part of the track, notably passing by the tobacco shop and the swimming pool.

To be schematic, the first sector is sacrificed to bring the single-seaters more quickly to the port chicane. This shortening of the route is necessary because current technology does not allow single-seaters to tackle the elevation change of the Casino sector.

.@FIAFormulaE arrives in the Principality of Monaco for the 2017 #MonacoePrix this weekend> https://t.co/zgQuBt4VV3 pic.twitter.com/5eVLbV0QgR

— FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) 11 mai 2017

What’s new from Mexico?

An E-Prix in Rome

Formula E is about to add Rome to the 2017/2018 season calendar, as the authorities of the Italian capital have agreed to launch the project. The city’s mayor, Virginia Raggi, announced that the Rome assembly unanimously voted to allow Formula E to have a race. The provisionally chosen date on the calendar is April 28, 2018.

The vote in question includes an agreement in principle to organize the event for a duration of three years until 2020. This is not the first time a race in the Italian capital has been mentioned, as originally the inaugural season of the championship was supposed to include a race in the streets of Rome. However, it was not included in the calendar approved by the FIA’s automobile council. This announcement is part of a selection process for candidates to be included in next season’s calendar, which was launched last September. The other selected cities will be revealed next June.

Conway replaces Duval for Paris, Dilmman in place of Engel

Mike Conway will return to Formula E with Faraday Future Dragon Racing for the Paris E-Prix, replacing Loic Duval. The Frenchman is unfortunately unable to participate in the race due to a scheduling clash with a round of the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) that he is competing in this year with Audi. The Briton, also an endurance driver in WEC in the LMP1 category with Toyota, will team up with the other regular driver Jérôme D’Ambrosio. This is not Mike Conway’s first appearance in the discipline as he had already participated in collective tests during the inaugural season. Following this, he took part in part of season two for Venturi, replacing Jacques Villeneuve. It is also not excluded that he may work towards a full-time return for next season.

The other replacement for the Parisian leg will be carried out by Frenchman Tom Dillmann, who will take Maro Engel’s place in the Venturi. The German driver, like Loic Duval, is a DTM driver for Mercedes and therefore will not be able to attend the race. Dillmann, the reigning Formula V8 3.5 champion, already has extensive experience, particularly in endurance racing. The Monegasque team will thus field a very French duo since Stéphane Sarrazin is the other regular driver for the team.

Delighted to tell you I will make my Formula E debut in Paris! 🇫🇷 @VenturiGP pic.twitter.com/F3x3OrOVND

— Tom Dillmann (@TomDillmann) 24 avril 2017

Your TV program

As usual, Canal+ will broadcast the Monaco ePrix. Due to the Spanish Grand Prix being broadcast simultaneously this weekend, the qualifying session will not be aired. The race will be broadcast slightly delayed on Canal+ Sport starting at 3:55 PM on Saturday.