Buemi victorious, Lopez first, Heidfeld regular: a look back at the Paris trifecta!
The French teams had a date with their home ePrix. Sébastien Buemi was at the top of the bill for Renault e.Dams. José Maria Lopez took his first podium at the wheel of the DS Virgin Racing. Nick Heidfeld once again proved his consistency, rounding off the podium.
Buemi: « they deserve this victory more than I do! »
Sébastien Buemi leaves his mark even more on Formula E. Fifth victory of the season and eleventh personally! But this Saturday – perhaps more than on other occasions – this Paris ePrix was a major objective for Renault e.Dams, racing at home.
The start of the race was eventful with Jean-Eric Vergne by his side, determined to take the first position at the first corner.
« The most important thing for me was to get a good start and maintain the same position. The brakes were cold for all of us. Jean-Eric (Vergne) was very aggressive (at the first corner) and braked as late as possible. Then I was a bit faster than him but not by much. He kept the pressure on after the safety car. »
The Swiss reflects on the withdrawal of the one who could have challenged his victory yesterday: « After the restart, when he ended his race in the barriers, I thought ‘oh no’. It was good for me because it took the pressure off, but he was having a good race, very fast. After that, I pushed very hard until the end to widen the gap. »
Despite securing pole position and the victory, a small hitch has persisted for several races. It involves a difference in feel between his two cars, which he had complained about over the radio during the race:
« Unfortunately, that was still somewhat the case. The team worked hard after Monaco to bring the car back to the benches and ensure that we hadn’t lost power. »
But this victory would not have been possible at home without the colossal work of his team. Even more than usual, the outgoing Champion made it a point to thank them: « Honestly, it was very important for us to shine here and we did everything we could. Being rewarded with the victory, I can only thank my team who worked until very late. They deserve this victory more than I do. »
What an amazing day! Fifth Win of the season 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆here in Paris for the #pariseprix . Thanks to my amazing team @RENAULTedams pic.twitter.com/d8NibVpkZ4
— Sébastien Buemi (@Sebastien_buemi) 20 mai 2017
José Maria Lopez tastes the champagne!
The Argentine driver clinches the first podium of his Formula E career. He enables his team, DS Virgin Racing, which races under the British flag, to shine in Paris.
The three-time WTCC Champion reflects on his race: « It’s my first good weekend in six races. For me, this podium is really important. I think we started to show our pace from Mexico and Monaco. We couldn’t manage a weekend without issues. »
The DS Virgin driver did not hide his satisfaction during the press conference. He took the opportunity to thank his team for the result: « It was a very important race for the team. It was also our home race. I must congratulate everyone for making this podium possible. I’m really happy to be part of Formula E and to share this moment with these fantastic drivers. »
Nonetheless, José Maria Lopez remained clear-headed about his ability to dislodge Buemi and his Renault e.dams during the 49 laps around Les Invalides: « I tried to give him some trouble but not enough. He was too fast. »
P2 and a podium finish for @pechito37 in the #ParisePrix #FormulaE #DSVirginRacing 😁🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/EQMK8Lhi9U
— DS Virgin Racing (@DSVirginRacing) 20 mai 2017
Nick Heidfeld on the podium again
Repeat performance for Nick Heidfeld! He shows consistency with this new podium finish, following the one in Monaco. The Indian team seems on the right track to finally reach the top step of the podium by the end of the season.
In the meantime, the German was delighted with this new performance. An encouraging performance in terms of pace and energy management, as the Mahindra tends to consume more than it should compared to its competitors.
« It’s great to have back-to-back podiums. The most important thing is that we seem more competitive here than in Monaco. In Monaco, I couldn’t keep up with the top two. Here, it was different, I was able to follow the leaders’ pace and have more energy. Even though it was difficult to catch up with them because I had traffic in front of me. But at least there’s something positive. We’ve made progress. »
The Mahindra driver has a double reason to rejoice as he climbs to fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship: « It’s fantastic as a team result! Everything is going in the right direction, and we can fight for points and podiums. »
The team also scored maximum points with Felix Rosenqvist’s fourth place yesterday. This allows Mahindra Racing to consolidate its position as the third force and slightly close the gap on ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport.
