Formula E Prix – 5th Round: Miami, USA
2015-03-15 11:19:12
- Formula E Prix – 5th Round: Miami
Miami, Florida was the stunning setting for Round 5 of the Formula E Championship – a market that Formula 1 has found exceptionally difficult to crack. Here was a big test to see if Formula E could succeed where F1 couldn’t – and once and for all put to bed the criticisms that some people still level at Formula E – that it is not exciting enough. 
- The crowd certainly came out to support it and organisers said that tickets for the grandstands were sold out and those looking for them were finding it difficult to come by any on the second-hand market. So the omens were good. Would the racing once again give us another winner? Thus far we had seen four winners in four races – something that certainly cannot be said of the procession of the same cars and drivers that seems to be F1.
- Lucas di Grassi was the man who entered Miami as the leader of the Championship. But as it turned out, he had had a bit of a difficult time in qualifying. But he was sporting a new design of racing helmet, painted by his friend, which he hope would improve his chances. As it was, he would be starting from sixth place on the grid.
With fifteen minutes before the start of the race, Jean-Eric Vergne, Salvador Duran and Bruno Senna were selected by the fans to be the lucky recipients of the fan boost bonus. This means they were in-line to receive a 30kW boost which is equivalent to about 40bhp for a number of seconds, in both cars – which they were free to use whenever they wanted, except off the start/finish line. Vergne was obviously a very popular man with the fans, since this it proved to be the third time in a row that he had been selected.
So as we were about to enter the 5th Round Championship race in Miami, the drivers standings were:- 1. Lucas di Grassi - 58 points
- 2. Sam Bird - 48
- 3. Sebastien Buemi - 43
- 4. Nicolas Prost - 42
- 5. Nelson Piquet Jr - 37
- 6. Antonia Felix da Costa - 29
- 7. Jaimie Alguersuari - 26
- 8. Jéròme d’Ambrosio - 22
- 9. Karun Chandhok - 18
- 10. Bruno Senna - 18
- 1. e-Dams Renault - 85
- 2. Virgin Racing - 74
- 3. Audi Sport ABT - 62
- 4. Andretti Autosport - 44
- 5. Dragon Racing - 38
- 6. China Racing - 37
- 7. Mahindra Racing - 36
- 8. Amlin Aguri - 31
- 9. Trulli Formula E Team - 12
- 10. Venturi - 8
- 1. Prost 39 laps
- 2. Speed +0.433
- 3. Abt +5.518
- 4. D’Ambrosio +5.941
- 5. Piquet Jr +6.426
- 6. Da Costa +8.754
- 1. Nicolas Prost - 67
- 2. Lucas di Grassi - 60
- 3. Sam Bird - 52
- 4. Nelson Piquet Jr - 49
- 5. Sebastien Buemi - 43
- 6. Antonio Felix da Costa - 37
- 7. Jerome D’Ambrosio - 34
- 8. Jaime Alguersuari - 26
- 9. Daniel Abt - 19
- 10. Franck Montagny - 18
- 1. e.dams-Renault - 110
- 2. Audi Sport ABT - 79
- 3. Virgin Racing - 78
- 4. Andretti Autosport - 62
- 5. Dragon Racing - 56
- 6. China Racing - 49
- 7. Amlin Aguri - 40
- 8. Mahindra Racing - 36
- 9. Trulli - 12
- 10. Venturi - 8
We were about to start 39 laps around what was a 2.2km circuit. So as the grandstands were sold out and the banking and other spaces available to watch the race quickly filled up, we were on the edge of the seats, as was the teams for the first Formula E race that was about to start in the US.
Energy saving would be critical.
As the red lights turned to green, there was a good start from Vergne. Sam Bird looked down the inside as they headed into the first corner. For a moment it didn’t look like Vergne would be able to get his car stopped in time to take the first bend. On T5, Sam Bird took second position from Nico Prost.
Nothing of significance happened for a while as the drivers settled down into a pace, with a few changes of position happening further down the field. In lap 4 Nico Prost set the fastest lap time of the race so far but to put that into context, by that point in the race, only 1.5 seconds separated the top three places anyway.
With everyone having got into their rhythm by lap 7, Vergne was leading the racing, half-a-second ahead of Bird in second positon. Bruno Senna was having a battle further down the grid in P13 as he posted the fastest lap of the race thus far as he battled to get past Buemi.
At the start of the 12th lap, Buemi took a position from Liuzzi, hot on the heels of a failed attempt by Duval to get past Senna at the end of the 11th lap. It stayed pretty quiet again until Bruno managed to get past Duran to take P11. By this point, the top 9 cars were separated by just six seconds. Duval lunged for and secured P13 from Liuzzi on the final corner of lap 16 in what was a decisive move – something he had been considering for the last five laps.
At the same time, we were notified by race control that Chandhok was under investigation and went on to have to do a drive-through penalty in the second half for using maximum power. He was clearly not having a good day having started from the very last position on the grid.
Into lap 19 and Sam Bird took a couple of looks at Vergne, but Vergne managed to hold him off. But the attack continued and finally Vergne capitulated and let Bird through on the inside at the penultimate corner. Vergne saw that as his opportunity to pit and signalled the beginning of the mad dash for the second car at the half-way point.
But what looked a fabulous move turned into a disaster for Bird. The remaining energy on his car proved woeful, and whilst he had executed an undeniably beautiful pass on Vergne, Bird suddenly found his car crawling around the track. His team mate, Alguesuari had taken the opportunity of going into the pits, but it seemed like Bird had been so wrapped up in his battle for first with Vergne that he failed to pit.
Meanwhile, Piquet Jr stayed out with a remarkable 9% of his useable energy remaining. This potentially boded well for him since he would have less laps to do than anyone else in his second car, which meant he would be able to use some of the additional battery to do some hard racing in the second half.
So as the cars began to leave the pits it was Prost in between the two Abt cars followed by di Grassi, Vergne and Speed. So with Piquet Jr in the pits, the question was where he would re-enter the race. Would it be ahead of, or behind Daniel Abt? Piquet Jr joins in eighth place, but then is immediately challenged by Bird in ninth.
So whilst the first half of the race had been relatively quiet, the same couldn’t be said for the all-important second half of the race.
By lap 24 Scott Speed had decided to start looking down the sides of his team mates’ car to see if there were any opportunities for him. Suddenly, he made his move on Vergne his team-mate and somehow made it stick, to take fourth place.
During lap 29, d’Ambrosio took P5 from Vergne whilst Piquet Jr leap-frogged over Bird to take P7. This was proving to be a very bad day for Bird as in this race he could have taken the lead of the Championship. In the closing stages of the race, on lap 32 Piquet Jr dived down the inside of Vergne whose day, it seems, continued to go from good, to bad to worse. Piquet Jr, it seems, was on a mission now.
On Lap 33, Buemi took Bird, pushing the British driver down to P9 – but even this position was short-lived as da Costa then successfully challenged Bird for position, pushing Bird down into P10 in lap 34.
It was to prove an eventful lap as into T5, as Speed, the Formula E rookie driver (in his first Formula E race), challenged di Grassi and took third position to secure him a podium position in his first race if he was able to hold it. It was a text-book and decisive move, confidently demonstrating how comfortable he was with the brakes.
With four laps to go with the race, Speed smelt success. He must have been thinking how great it would be to have an American finish the first US-based Formula E race in P1 and stand on the top step of the podium, because not content with P3, he quickly got onto the back end of Prost’s car that was holding P2.
On the penultimate lap of the race Prost took Abt for P1 but nearly collided with the wall on the way out. Abt looked to be fighting back on T1. But Abt backed off allowing Speed to snatch P2 from him. Things were heating up. Prosts frustration flowed over as he effectively told his team to ‘shut up’ on the radio. The pressure showed as he tapped the wall with the rear left wheel as he exited a bend on the final lap. Speed was looking for Prost to make another mistake, ready to pounce and take the podium.
But a double yellow flag on the last turn secured Prost his win and saved him from any final challenge Speed might have gone for. The flag man must have been watching the TV screens since he wasn’t visible to wave the chequered flag.
So Nico Prost won the race with his first win of the year, making it his second win of the year for his E-Dams team. Scott Speed finished second on his debut race with Andretti, a truly brilliant result for the American.
The final top six driver results then at the end of the Miami e-Prix:
1. Prost 39 laps
2. Speed +0.433
3. Abt +5.518
4. D’Ambrosio +5.941
5. Piquet Jr +6.426
6. Da Costa +8.754
Driver Standings (After Rd 5)
1. Nicolas Prost - 67
2. Lucas di Grassi - 60
3. Sam Bird - 52
4. Nelson Piquet Jr - 49
5. Sebastien Buemi - 43
6. Antonio Felix da Costa - 37
[7. Jerome D’Ambrosio - 34
8. Jaime Alguersuari - 26
9. Daniel Abt - 19
10. Franck Montagny - 18
Team Standings (After Rd 5)
1. e.dams-Renault - 110
2. Audi Sport ABT - 79
3. Virgin Racing - 78
4. Andretti Autosport - 62
5. Dragon Racing - 56
6. China Racing - 49
7. Amlin Aguri - 40
8. Mahindra Racing - 36
9. Trulli - 12
10. Venturi - 8
And once again, five race winners in five different races. Surely, there is no-one left who can complain about any lack of excitement with Formula E.
Di Grassi thus lost the lead of the championship, handing it to today’s race winner, now out in front on 67 points, seven clear of the Brazilian. Bird, who crossed the line eighth, is now third in the general classification (52 points,) while Buemi, who failed to score today, is fourth on 43. Moving further ahead in the Team classification is e.dams-Renault: the French team now has 31 points in hand over Audi Sport ABT, which has Andretti hot on its heels, just one point behind.
There was a noteworthy performance from another newcomer, Frenchman Loïc Duval who, having started from the back row, finished seventh, while Nelson Piquet Jr. was fifth at the flag and took the two points that go with setting the fastest race lap.
After the excitement of Miami, Formula E continues its American journey. The sixth e-Prix of the season will take place on 4 April at Long Beach, California.
The Miami Formula e highlights are below:
Reported By
Andrew Merritt-Morling
Chief Electric MotorSport Editor
Associate Member of the Guild of Motoring Writers
