FIA FORMULA E CHAMPIONSHIP RACE REPORT ROUND EIGHT BERLIN
2015-05-24 09:03:13
FORMULA-E - 8th Round – Berlin
23rd May 2015
Following the first Formula E race in Europe which took place in Monaco on 9 May, at the top of the driver standings a fierce rivalry has emerged as just 10 points separate the top three championship title chasers.
Just four races of the season remained as the world’s first fully all-electric racing series headed to Berlin, Germany for Round 8.
Sebastien Buemi’s victory in Monaco made him the first championship contender to claim two race victories, and also claimed the crown as the first driver to win the race having started in pole position. The Swiss driver found himself just 10 points adrift from championship leader, Lucas di Grassi.
After seven races, the driver’s standings look like this:
Driver Standings
Lucas di Grassi - 93
Nelson Piquet Jr - 89
Sébastien Buemi - 83
Nicolas Prost - 77
Sam Bird - 64
Jerome D’Ambrosio - 52
Antonio Felix da Costa - 45
Jean-Eric Vergne - 34
Jaime Alguersuari - 30
Bruno Senna - 28
In the teams’ classification, e.dams-Renault has made a significant step forward, the French team now has a 45 point lead over Audi Sport ABT (160 to 115) while Virgin Racing has closed up even further to NEXTEV TCR (94 to 93.) The full team standings is provided in the table below:
Team Standings
e.dams-Renault - 160
Audi Sport ABT - 115
Virgin Racing - 94
NEXTEV TCR - 93
Andretti - 82
Dragon Racing - 76
Amlin Aguri - 48
Mahindra Racing - 46
Venturi - 16
Trulli - 12
Just three races will remain after the showdown in Berlin: Moscow and then a double-header in London at the end of June in Battersea Park.
So as we headed towards the start of the race, qualifying earlier on in the day went on to prove that the oldest driver on the track, Jarno Trulli, would sit on pole with di Grassi sitting in second, followed by Heidfeld, d’Ambrosio, Prost and Sarazin completing the top 3 grid rows.
For those below the top two Brazilian drivers, there are just 100 championship points available from the next four races. Therefore, podium finishes are going to be essential in order to stay in contention. In addition, there are an additional 20 points available for pole position and fastest lap.
As usual the Fan Boost vote outcome was announced just before the race started: Charles Pic, Nelson Piquet Jr and Sébastien Buemi were the lucky recipients which meant they secured an extra 30kW of power for five seconds in each of their cars.
So as we went green in Berlin, di Grassi had a good start and had the inside line on the run down into the first corner. But he wasn’t able to get close enough to challenge Trulli for the lead on the first bend.
Daniel Abt took a spin and ended up facing the wrong way at T3 but meanwhile di Grassi finally took the opportunity to lead the race.
By the start of lap 4, out front, di Grassi had opened up a lead of over four-and-a-half seconds – a phenomenal achievement.
On lap 6, Buemi used his Fan Boost to get himself into second over Trulli. Heidfeld saw that as an opportunity to try and challenge Trulli too on the start of the seventh lap. D’Ambrosio saw that particular challenge as the perfect opportunity to force himself up the inside of Trulli as well, pushing Trulli down into P5. It was going to prove an exceptional failure from being on Pole to finishing nearly last.
Meanwhile, in T6 of lap 12, Sarrazin managed to jump Piquet Jr to take P7 – not what Nelson needed when his championship rival was out in P1, and who needed to score as many points as he could to limit the damage.
At the same time, the Dragon Car of d’Ambrosio had successfully challenged Heidfeld for P3 and would be looking to capitalise on this as he chased down Buemi.
On lap 18, it became a very busy time in the pit lane as everyone except Piquet Jr came in to swap over their cars.
D’Ambrosio came out again just in front of Buemi putting him into P2. As for Piquet Jr, although he eventually didn’t gain any position during the late pit stop, the fact that his car would need to travel one lap less than the rest means he would be able to theoretically push his car harder. Time would tell whether this would give him the advantage he would need.
In the battle for P9, Sam Bird made a challenge on Jean-Eric Vergne on lap 19 having started in P15. The two collided but managed to stay intact.
Ant Felix da Costa and Salvador Duran both got hit with a drive-through penalty for being a second too fast in the pit lane.
Heidfeld tried to challenge Buemi on lap 21 to secure the final podium position in front of his home crowd but failed to make it stick as Buemi fought back. Great racing for the final podium position as Heidfeld demonstrated how much he wanted this P3.
On lap 28, Piquet Jr used his Fan Boost to secure a jump over Sarrazin, but from the looks of things, could have done so without the extra 30kW.
On lap 29, instead of holding the inside line, Heidfeld stayed wide, allowing Duval to jump ahead and secure P4. A great lunge up the inside followed late braking. On T10, Piquet also took comfort in Duval’s move and made a bid of his own, pushing Heidfeld down into P6.
So as they came over the line, the top 10 looked like this:
Provisional Berlin Formula-e Prix race outcome:
- 1.Lucas di Grassi
- 2.Jéröme d’Ambrosio
- 3.Sébastien Buemi
- 4.Loic Duval
- 5.Nelson Piquet Jr
- 6.Nick Heidfeld
- 7.Stéphane Sarrazin
- 8.Jean-Eric Vergne
- 9.Sam Bird
- 10.Vitantonio Liuzzi
But little did we know that there was to be more drama. At 20:38, a press announcement was released by FIA officials saying that Race winner Lucas di Grassi had been excluded from the DHL Berlin ePrix after his Audi Sport ABT car was found to have been running with a modified front wing.
The race-winning car failed post-race scrutineering where it was discovered that the front wing fairings had been modified to include internal metal reinforcing rods. In addition the stewards found that six of the eight holes in the front wing had been sealed. The remaining two holes were found to have had helicoil inserts and chamfers made and that the front flap and gurney LH 220 has a filler layer added and chamfer made.
The team argued that these changes were made as a result of repairs and that they offered no competitive advantage, however, they were deemed to be in breach of Article 3.1 of 2014/2015 FIA Formula E Technical Regulations and the exclusion was made.
Audi Sport ABT has decided not to appeal the decision.
The decision means that Jerome D’Ambrosio is now the winner of the race and Nelson Piquet Jr is now in the lead of the championship, 10 points ahead of di Grassi.
FIA Formula E Championship – DHL Berlin ePrix (Rd 8) – Race results:
1. Jerome D’Ambrosio - Dragon Racing = 48:26.566
2. Sébastien Buemi - e.dams-Renault = +2.433
3. Loïc Duval - Dragon Racing = +3.508
4. Nelson Piquet Jr - NEXTEV TCR = +3.975
5. Nick Heidfeld - Venturi = +13.046
6. Stéphane Sarrazin - Venturi = +13.335
7. Jean-Eric Vergne - Andretti = +13.678
8. Sam Bird - Virgin Racing = +14.055
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Trulli = +15.636
10. Nicolas Prost - e.dams-Renault = +16.602
Driver Standings
Nelson Piquet Jr - 103
Sébastien Buemi - 101
Lucas di Grassi - 93
Nicolas Prost - 78
Jerome D’Ambrosio - 77
Sam Bird - 68
Antonio Felix da Costa - 45
Jean-Eric Vergne - 40
Jaime Alguersuari - 30
Bruno Senna - 28
Team Standings
e.dams-Renault - 179
Dragon Racing - 116
Audi Sport ABT - 115
NEXTEV TCR - 107
Virgin Racing - 98
Andretti - 88
Amlin Aguri - 48
Mahindra Racing - 46
Venturi - 34
Trulli - 17
So, Russia beckons on 6 June for Round 9 of the Formula E Championship. Of course, we will be there, so remember to join us as we bring you an assessment of all the action.
Reported By
Andrew Merritt-Morling
Chief Editor and Electric Motorsport Editor
Associate Member of the Guild of Motoring Writers
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