Paris ePrix: Presentation and Stakes

Vergne floats but doesn’t sink

The Parisian Jean-Éric Vergne will arrive in Paris still as the leader of the drivers’ championship, but with a slightly weakened status. Indeed, after an underperformance in qualifying on the streets of Rome and a fifth-place finish in the race, he saw his closest pursuer Sam Bird close the gap to 17 points.

The leader of DS Virgin simultaneously claimed victory in the city of seven hills. There is no doubt that both men will be highly motivated to continue their epic duel that began as teammates two years ago. However, the Frenchman might have a slight advantage in front of his home crowd.

Third in the championship after a few races, Felix Rosenqvist is now somewhat adrift from the leading duo with a deficit of 19 points. Yet, the Mahindra Swede was well on his way to closing in on the lead by securing pole position and managing to lead the race in Rome. But that was without accounting for a fragility issue with one of his suspensions, forcing him to a heartbreaking retirement. The Nordic driver will therefore have a fierce determination in the streets of the capital.

Behind, the battle will continue to rage for the fourth to seventh place in the championship, with less than 20 points between Sébastien Buemi, Daniel Abt, Nelson Piquet, and Mitch Evans. It will also be necessary to watch the incredible climb of Lucas Di Grassi and the performances of the other local of the event, Nicolas Prost, who has been struggling since the start of the season.

The race cars will drive at full speed around Napoleon’s.

For the third consecutive year, Formula E will continue to use exactly the same layout as since the first Paris ePrix. The circuit still features 14 turns over a total distance of 1.9 km. The cars will circle around Boulevard des Invalides, passing through the square of the same name before skirting the Rodin Museum. The drivers will then head to Place Vauban (where the pit lane is also located) before turning right to complete the lap of the boulevard.

The challenge for the drivers will be to manage the differences in grip between the sections covered with temporary asphalt and those usually driven on by motorists. The track also forces the drivers to make bold and well-thought-out overtakes.

Everything you need to know for the #ParisEprix!#ABBFormulaE #TECHEETAH #PowerFocusBalance pic.twitter.com/Ogh2KLJRkj

— TECHEETAH (@TecheetahFE) 24 avril 2018

The latest information to remember

Ma Quing Hua replaces Luca Filippi at NIO at least for the Paris ePrix:

The Chinese driver will replace Luca Filippi in the NIO team for the Paris race. However, there is no indication whether this replacement will be temporary or not. It seems that the Sino-British team has given in to pressure from the country with five provinces. Ma already competed in his first race in the discipline during the first Paris ePrix in 2016. He was then lined up for the next three races, still with the Aguri team. He also took part in the beginning of last season with Techeetah (having acquired Aguri’s license) for the first three races before being replaced. The NIO reserve driver, who has never scored points in the discipline, will replace Luca Filippi, who is last in the championship with one point, until further notice.

The second test session took place in Calafat:

The second session of collective testing for the second-generation single-seaters took place at the Calafat circuit in Spain with the presence of the nine manufacturers scheduled for season five. In fact, BMW and NIO were not present during the first session organized at Montblanco on March 26 and 28. These tests were spread over three days, including a day dedicated to working on the cars in the garages without any driving. The cars drove on Tuesday, April 17, and Thursday, April 19.

Although this session was once again marked by discretion, it seems that Audi and DS were the most diligent and the most successful during the two days. Daniel Abt replaced Lucas Di Grassi at Audi for these tests, and Stéphane Sarrazin continued to provide feedback on behalf of DS Performance. The comments gathered from the drivers were still very positive and enthusiastic. According to them, it is a significant leap forward compared to the current generation of single-seaters.

The first video footage of the new Audi e-tron FE05 in action with @Daniel_Abt testing at @CircuitCalafat in Spain. Enjoy! Read more -> https://t.co/94g2FN88M6 @audiformulae @FIAFormulaE #ABBFormulaE #FormulaE #etron #ProgressFeelsElectric #LeagueofPerformance pic.twitter.com/MEQUi0UkGM

— Audi Sport (@audisport) 20 avril 2018

The other drivers present were: Arthur Leclerc and Tom Dillmann for Venturi, Nick Heidfeld and Felix Rosenqvist for Mahindra, Bruno Spengler for BMW, José Maria Lopez and Maximilian Günther for Dragon, Mitch Evans for Jaguar, Nicolas Prost for Nissan, and finally Oliver Turvey for NIO. Notably, there was a significant presence of ZF employees at Venturi and a large contingent of employees from BMW and NIO.

Now that this second session of collective testing has concluded, the teams are now entitled to 15 days of testing to be completed before October 1. They each also have 6 days of promotional days limited to 50 km per day to allocate until December 31. Finally, manufacturers supplying multiple teams will be granted seven additional test days.

BMW will be the title sponsor of the Berlin ePrix:

The Bavarian brand will be the main sponsor of the Berlin race, which will be named the BMW ePrix of Berlin. The manufacturer, already providing safety cars since the championship’s inception, will join it next year in partnership with Team Andretti. Additionally, be aware that alongside a demonstration of the new generation of cars, the Jaguar I Pace eTrophy will also make its debut during an ePrix for the first time. This car is intended to be used in a single-make championship that will take place during the Formula E weekends starting next year.

A charity karting race organized to support disabled drivers:

Several star drivers of the discipline gathered this weekend at the RKC circuit owned by Jean-Éric Vergne’s parents in the Paris suburbs to compete in a charity race benefiting the Spinal Track association. The funds raised help disabled drivers to compete. This initiative is in its second edition, with the first organized to support young British driver Billy Monger, who had both legs amputated following an accident in British F4. The young man was present this weekend to support the initiative, having competed in the first round of the 2018 British F3 in an adapted single-seater.

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