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2015 Beijing ePrix

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2015 Beijing ePrix
Race 1 of 10 of the 2015–16 Formula E season
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Layout of the Beijing Olympic Green Circuit
Layout of the Beijing Olympic Green Circuit
Race details
Date 24 October 2015
Official name 2015 FIA Formula E SWUSP Beijing ePrix
Location Beijing Olympic Green Circuit,
Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
Course Street circuit
Course length 3.44 km (2.14 miles)
Distance 26 laps, 89.4 km (55.67 miles)
Pole position
Driver Renault e.Dams
Time 1:37.297
Fastest lap
Driver Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Renault e.Dams
Time 1:39.993 (lap record) on lap 24
Podium
First Renault e.Dams
Second ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport
Third Mahindra Racing
Lap leaders

The 2015 Beijing ePrix, formally the 2015 FIA Formula E SWUSP Beijing ePrix, was a Formula E motor race that was held on 24 October 2015 at the Beijing Olympic Green Circuit in Beijing, China. It was the second edition of the Beijing ePrix and the first race of the second season of the electrically powered racing car series. The race was dominated by Sébastien Buemi, who won starting from pole position. Since he also recorded the fastest lap, he became the first driver to score the maximum of 30 points from a single ePrix.[1]

Report

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Background

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The Beijing Olympic Green Circuit was slightly modified in comparison to the previous year. The first chicane, previously Turns 3, 4 and 5, has been removed with the second chicane taking a tighter profile than last year. Drivers believe that the modified layout offers increased chances of overtaking.[2]

Three drivers made their Formula E debut at this ePrix: Jacques Villeneuve (for Venturi), Robin Frijns (for Amlin Andretti) and Nathanaël Berthon (for Team Aguri).[3]

Trulli did not start the Beijing ePrix because of a failure to submit their car for scrutineering. The team claimed that key components had been held up in customs. They will be able to resubmit their car for scrutineering for the second race.[4]

The Fanboost was awarded to Nelson Piquet Jr., Sam Bird and Oliver Turvey.[1]

Qualifying

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Sébastien Buemi, Jean-Éric Vergne, Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld, and Lucas di Grassi advanced to the pole position shoot-out. Di Grassi was first on track, however he had a big lock up into turn 1, and therefore was unable to set a competitive time. Heidfeld then set a solid but unspectacular time, before Prost went and lapped eight-tenths faster than the German. Then Vergne went out, only to have such a big lock up at turn 1 he went straight down the escape road, and gave up. That left Buemi to try to beat 2014's polesitter, and a poor middle sector made that look unlikely, but he then superbly negotiated the final sector to take pole position.[5]

Race

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Buemi got a good start from pole, while Heidfeld was quick off the line, passing Prost round the outside of turn 1 in a similar move to the one he did in the previous year's race, before attacking race leader Buemi, unsuccessfully. Buemi then pulled away. On lap 2, prost locked up and ran deep, gifting Di Grassi third place. Simona de Silvestro then went straight into the wall on lap 3, bringing out a full course yellow. Meanwhile, a battle for 5th place at the time developed between Vergne and Bruno Senna, Loïc Duval and Sam Bird. Bird then lost out when he locked up and went down the escape road, but he caught back up by lap 11, and was in the ever changing battle again. Most people pitted at the end of lap 13, and a slow stop for Heidfeld dropped him from 2nd to 4th. Heidfeld did overtake Prost for a podium again. Crucially, both Dragon cars stayed out, giving them more usable energy at the end of the race. Jacques Villeneuve and António Félix da Costa collided, putting the Portuguese driver out of the race and bringing out a full course yellow, giving even more of the advantage to the Dragon cars who lost less time. Prost was more alert than Heidfeld off the restart and went through. His rear wing then broke on lap 20, although it made no difference to performance, but he was forced to retire. This left the Dragon cars with more usable energy, having already caught Heidfeld, to fight the Mahindra driver for the final spot on the podium. Jérôme d'Ambrosio locked up and was lucky to avoid his teammate. On the final lap, Heidfeld had to park the bus, and however hard the Frenchman tried, Duval simply couldn't find a way past the Mahindra in a battle that went right to the final corner. Buemi crossed the line to dominantly win, while Di Grassi, having been very quiet throughout the race, finished 2nd. Heidfeld just managed to keep his podium. The reigning champion Nelson Piquet Jr. finished, albeit two laps down in the last classified position.[6]

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos. No. Driver Team Time Gap Grid
1 9 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Renault e.Dams 1:37.488 11
2 25 France Jean-Éric Vergne DS Virgin Racing 1:38.028 +0.540 51
3 8 France Nicolas Prost Renault e.Dams 1:38.206 +0.718 21
4 23 Germany Nick Heidfeld Mahindra Racing 1:38.512 +1.024 31
5 11 Brazil Lucas di Grassi ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 1:38.519 +1.031 41
6 4 France Stéphane Sarrazin Venturi 1:38.645 +1.157 6
7 21 Brazil Bruno Senna Mahindra Racing 1:38.761 +1.273 7
8 6 France Loïc Duval Dragon Racing 1:38.859 +1.371 8
9 2 United Kingdom Sam Bird DS Virgin Racing 1:38.884 +1.396 9
10 7 Belgium Jérôme d'Ambrosio Dragon Racing 1:39.058 +1.570 10
11 66 Germany Daniel Abt ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 1:39.220 +1.732 11
12 12 Canada Jacques Villeneuve Venturi 1:39.665 +2.177 12
13 27 Netherlands Robin Frijns Amlin Andretti 1:39.672 +2.184 13
14 28 Switzerland Simona de Silvestro Amlin Andretti 1:39.681 +2.193 14
15 88 United Kingdom Oliver Turvey NEXTEV TCR 1:39.734 +2.246 15
16 55 Portugal António Félix da Costa Team Aguri 1:40.295 +2.807 16
17 77 France Nathanaël Berthon Team Aguri 1:40.386 +2.898 17
18 1 Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr. NEXTEV TCR 1:40.638 +3.150 18
Source:[7]

Notes:

  • ^1 – Final grid position of top five qualifiers determined by Super Pole shootout.

Super Pole

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Pos. No. Driver Team Time Gap Grid
1 9 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Renault e.Dams 1:37.297 1
2 8 France Nicolas Prost Renault e.Dams 1:37.581 +0.284 2
3 23 Germany Nick Heidfeld Mahindra Racing 1:38.339 +1.042 3
4 11 Brazil Lucas di Grassi ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 1:39.539 +2.242 4
5 25 France Jean-Éric Vergne DS Virgin Racing 2:21.284 +43.987 5
Source:[7]

Race

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Pos. No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 9 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Renault e.Dams 26 50:08.835 1 25+3+22
2 11 Brazil Lucas di Grassi ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 26 +11.006 4 18
3 23 Germany Nick Heidfeld Mahindra Racing 26 +15.681 3 15
4 6 France Loïc Duval Dragon Racing 26 +16.009 8 12
5 7 Belgium Jérôme d'Ambrosio Dragon Racing 26 +16.514 10 10
6 88 United Kingdom Oliver Turvey NEXTEV TCR 26 +39.466 15 8
7 2 United Kingdom Sam Bird DS Virgin Racing 26 +47.531 9 6
8 77 France Nathanaël Berthon Team Aguri 26 +58.620 17 4
9 4 France Stéphane Sarrazin Venturi 26 +1:07.814 6 2
10 27 Netherlands Robin Frijns Amlin Andretti 26 +1:09.260 13 1
11 66 Germany Daniel Abt ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 26 +1:13.3513 11
12 25 France Jean-Éric Vergne DS Virgin Racing 26 +1:31.040 5
13 21 Brazil Bruno Senna Mahindra Racing 26 +1:50.833 7
14 12 Canada Jacques Villeneuve Venturi 25 +1 Lap 12
15 1 Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr. NEXTEV TCR 24 +2 Laps 18
Ret 8 France Nicolas Prost Renault e.dams 22 Rear wing 2
Ret 55 Portugal António Félix da Costa Team Aguri 13 Collision 16
Ret 28 Switzerland Simona de Silvestro Amlin Andretti 2 Accident 14
DNP 10 Mexico Salvador Durán Trulli 0 Failed Scrutineering -
DNP 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Trulli 0 Failed Scrutineering -

Notes:

  • ^2 – Three points for pole position and two points for fastest lap.
  • ^3 - Daniel Abt received a 10-seconds time penalty for an unsafe pit stop release.

Standings after the race

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  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Buemi to the max in Beijing". .fiaformulae.com. 24 October 2015. Archived from the original on 26 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  2. ^ "Drivers hail Beijing track changes a success". fiaformulae.com. 24 October 2015. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Formula E - 2015 Beijing ePrix Preview". FIA. 20 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Trulli to miss Beijing ePrix". fiaformulae.com. 23 October 2015. Archived from the original on 25 October 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Beijing ePrix: Buemi edges Prost for season opener pole". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  6. ^ "Formula E news: Beijing Formula E: Sebastien Buemi dominates season opener". AUTOSPORT.com. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  7. ^ a b "BEIJING EPRIX — Official FIA Formula E Championship". fiaformulae.com. FIA. Archived from the original on 8 November 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
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