Posted on 20th May 2017
This afternoon saw Sebastien Buemi claim his eleventh Formula E victory of his career and also his fifth victory of the season at Renault e.Dams home race; the Paris ePrix ahead of Jose Maria Lopez and Nick Heidfeld in a race that was full of surprises, incidents and drama straight from the off especially for Lucas Di Grassi.
Both Sebastien Buemi and Jean-Eric Vergne got brilliant starts off line; with Buemi leading Vergne into the first corner despite Vergne attempting to get past him as Lucas Di Grassi lost a few places. But there was contact between Oliver Turvey and Daniel Abt further down the grid but both drivers were able to continue in the race.
In the opening stages of the race, it would seem that Vergne is holding up the rest of the grid behind up and still running close together as Buemi built up a lead of over 1.4 seconds respectively. At this stage of the race, Jerome D'Ambrosio had a brilliant start to the race and by Lap 4; he was up to final points-paying position (which is tenth place) ahead of Mike Conway who is standing in for Loic Duval this weekend as Duval had DTM commitments.
There was a heart-in-the-mouth moment for Di Grassi on Lap 5 as he went to take the apex into the final stages of the lap and nearly lost the back end into the barriers but he was able to continue on in the race as Buemi out in front lead second placed driver Vergne and third place driver Lopez.
Within the first half of the Paris ePrix, Felix Rosenqvist in a brilliant move in the second half of Lap 9 passes Esteban Gutierrez and moves up to fifth place as Gutierrez appears to be struggling to get to grips with managing his energy in the Techeetah car. But that would appear to be the case with all the drivers however; with most of the drivers of the grid being advised by their respective teams how their electrical energy levels are and what their rivals are doing as well.
It was then announced to the television viewers that the winners of the 2017 Paris ePrix Fanboost are Di Grassi, Buemi and Abt that they can use in the second half of the ePrix at their own choosing. There was also a moment for Jose Maria Lopez on Lap 11 when at Turns 6 and 7; he managed to hold his DS Virgin Racing together after the back end slipped away from him while exiting the corners.
On Lap 15, Nelson Piquet Jr appeared to have gone too deep on the brakes and this enabled Di Grassi to gain a position on him and his team mate Oliver Turvey to close the gap behind him. One lap later, MS Amlin-Andretti driver Antonio Felix Da Costa in a brave and bold move pass Di Grassi in the second half of the lap and putting a stop to Di Grassi's comeback through the field.
But within the next few laps, the battle between Da Costa and Di Grassi continued; with the latter driver getting more and frustrated with not being able to get past Da Costa as Buemi remained in control of the race at the front of the grid. But it all came to a head on Lap 16, when Di Grassi tried to pass Da Costa in a fairly ambitious move which was done until Di Grassi did not leave enough room for Da Costa to get back into behind him.
The incident then forced Da Costa into an early retirement that wasn't of his own making. This then brought out the yellow flag and then a full course yellow with a range of drivers such as Mitch Evans, Lucas Di Grassi, Daniel Abt, Sebastien Buemi and Nelson Piquet Jr.
It then came to light that Lucas Di Grassi and Adam Carroll could have their pit stops time 10 seconds too early and therefore both drivers could receive penalties from the stewards for this. As this situation is ongoing, it was also revealed by Jack Nicholls live on Channel 5 that Turvey and Vergne could also be investigated after Vergne exiting the pitlane under the yellow flag may have got in the way of Turvey.
As the racing resumed on Lap 23, Mike Conway led the race ahead of Buemi and Vergne by 3.4 seconds separating all three drivers after opting not to pit under the full course yellow a few laps previously. By Lap 26, Conway pitted and handed the lead back to Buemi by 1.2 seconds ahead of Vergne.
It was then announced on Lap 29 that Di Grassi and Carroll will both receive a drive through penalty for being under the minimum pit stop time just as Robin Frijns passes Esteban Gutierrez for sixth position on the circuit and Gutierrez then is passed fairly quickly by Nico Prost for seventh place.
The second half of the Paris ePrix saw Buemi leading the field once again with Vergne fairly close behind him in second place and is slowly starting to gain on the current Formula E World Champion lap by lap until Buemi decided to activate his Fanboost.
On Lap 34, Vergne going through the final turn of the circuit hit the inside kerb on the left which unsettled the car and therefore ended his participation in his home race after a brilliant performance throughout the weekend. This then brought out the Safety Car as the Techeetah car could be safely recovered from the circuit.
Four laps later and we were back racing once again in Paris. Buemi led the field ahead of Lopez and Heidfeld who has had a strong yet quiet rise through the field to be in a provisional podium position. At this stage of the ePrix, Formula E debutante Tom Dillmann is provisionally in ninth place and keeping Piquet Jr behind him.
In the closing stages of the race, Mitch Evans in a brilliant move passed Turvey for twelfth place and trying everything to score some more points for the Panasonic Jaguar Racing Team after a brilliant weekend last weekend in Monaco where both their drivers scored solid points.
Piquet Jr is also trying everything to get past Dillmann for ninth place as the rest of the field is close together behind Gutierrez in eighth place who has struggled with his energy management throughout the race after a promising weekend and then receiving a five second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane.
In the final laps of the Paris ePrix, with both Frijns and Gutierrez receiving time penalties, we will see the final order change potentially with Frijns ending the race in eighth place and Gutierrez just dropping out of the points. While many were trying to work out what would happen between Frijns and Gutierrez; the battle between Renault and Citroen; Buemi and Lopez was still ongoing at the front of the grid.
However, two laps from the finish, Di Grassi had his second accident in the race when he locked up the right front of his car and hit the barrier with some considerable force. The race then finished under the safety car as the Abt car of Di Grassi would not be recovered from the circuit before the chequered flag flew to signal the end of the race.
But that wasn't all- we had one last surprise. Abt ran into trouble and while Gutierrez was trying not to run into him, he then managed to close up the rest of the field behind him from eighth onwards in order to try and keep his position on the track after his penalty would applied at the end of the race.
But it was Sebastien Buemi who claimed victory at the Paris ePrix with a stunning drive at the front on the grid. Buemi finished ahead of Jose Maria Lopez in second place who was 0.707 seconds behind and ahead of Nick Heidfeld in a surprising third place who was 2.043 seconds behind Buemi.
Felix Rosenqvist ended the ePrix in fourth place ahead of Nico Prost in fifth place, Robert Frijns in sixth place, Nelson Piquet Jr in seventh place, Tom Dillmann in eighth place who scored his first ever points in the series at his first ever race, Mitch Evans in ninth place and Stephane Sarrazin in tenth place.
Oliver Turvey finished the race just out of the top ten in eleventh place ahead of Esteban Gutierrez in twelfth place, Daniel Abt in thirteenth place, Mike Conway in fourteenth place and Adam Carroll in fifteenth place.
As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Sam Bird ended the ePrix in sixteenth place. Lucas Di Grassi, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Jean-Eric Vergne, Antonio Felix Da Costa did not finish the ePrix.
Here's the classification of the 2017 Paris ePrix as follows:-
1. Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.Dams, 49 laps
2. Jose Maria Lopez, DS Virgin Racing, +0.707s
3. Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +2.043s
4. Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, +2.621s
5. Nicolas Prost, Renault e.Dams, +3.521s
6. Robin Frijns, Andretti, +7.999s
7. Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV NIO, +32.420s
8. Tom Dillmann, Venturi, +32.929s
9. Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, +33.369s
10. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, +34.051s
11. Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV NIO, +35.082s
12. Esteban Gutierrez, Techeetah, +36.197s
13. Daniel Abt, ABT Shaeffler Audi Sport, 1 lap
14. Mike Conway, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, 1 lap
15. Adam Carroll, Jaguar Racing, 1 lap
16. Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, 2 laps
17. Lucas di Grassi, Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport, Not Classified
18. Jerome D'Ambrosio, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, Not Classified
19. Jean-Eric Vergne, Techeetah, Not Classified
20. Antonio Felix Da Costa, Andretti, Not Classified
Sebastien Buemi leads the Formula E Drivers Championship with 132 points ahead of Lucas di Grassi in second with 89 points, Nicolas Prost in third with 58 points, Nick Heidfeld in fourth with 47 points, Jean-Eric Vergne in fifth with 40 points, Felix Rosenqvist in sixth with 40 points, Sam Bird in seventh with 35 points, Nelson Piquet Jr in eighth with 33 points, Jose Maria Lopez is ninth with 28 points, Daniel Abt is in tenth with 26 points , Robert Frijns is eleventh with 16 points, Oliver Turvey is in twelfth place with 15 points, Mitch Evans is thirteenth with 15 points, Maro Engel is fourteenth with10 points, Jerome D'Ambrosio is fifteenth with 10 points, Antonio Felix Da Costa is sixteenth with 10 points, Loic Duval is seventeenth with 9 points, Esteban Gutierrez is eighteenth with 5 points, Adam Carroll is nineteenth with 4 points, Tom Dillmann is twentieth with 4 points and Stephane Sarrazin is twenty first with 2 points.
Renault e.dams leads the Formula E Constructors Championship with 152 points, Abt Schaffler Audi Sport are second with 115 points, Mahindra Racing are third with 60 points, Techeetah are fourth with 45 points, DS Virgin Racing are fifth with 44 points, NEXTEV NIO are sixth with 42 points, Faraday Future Dragon Racing are seventh with 19 points, Andretti are eighth with 18 points, Jaguar Racing are ninth with 17 points and Venturi are tenth with 13 points.
Driving for Pleasure will be producing reports on every session of every ePrix the 2016/2017 FIA Formula E Championship as well as covering the latest news as it breaks in the paddock.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
