Buemi revs up Renault in Paris
PARIS — Sebastien Buemi gave Renault e.dams its most important win of the year by producing a dominant display in front of the team’s home crowd in Saturday’s Qatar Airways Paris ePrix.
From pole position in round six of the FIA Formula E Championship, Buemi took his second straight checkered flag after fending off an early challenge by the charging Jean-Eric Vergne of China’s Team Techeetah.
The Swiss driver then established a small but comfortable lead after a steering problem prematurely ended Vergne’s race.
The field tightened after the safety car was deployed, giving DS Virgin Racing’s Jose Maria Lopez a shot at paring Beumi’s lead.
The Renault driver stayed ahead of the pack, however, and when the safety car came out again — this time after Lucas di Grassi slammed his ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport car into the barrier — for the second year running the Paris ePrix ended under caution.
More than 46,000 fans packed into the Les Invalides circuit, soaking up the amazing atmosphere in the Allianz eVillage, where live bands performed alongside interactive displays in fan zones, entertaining people of all ages.
The fun spilled over onto the track too, with a series of spectacular on-track displays, which included Formula E founder and CEO Alejandro Agag behind the wheel of the 1899 seminal electric land speed record breaker La Jamais Contente — the first car to break 100 kp/h and the spiritual grandfather of Formula E.
“The most important thing for me was to pull away after the grid position we got,” Buemi said afterwards.
“And you know, when the brakes are cold the first few corners are a bit of a guess for everyone.
“Jean-Eric Vergne was very aggressive and tried to pass me, so I tried to delay the braking as late as I could, just to stay ahead.
“I consumed maybe a little bit more energy than I was expecting to use, just to make up a little gap. I lost a bit of time under the full course yellow and obviously in the restart after the crash I was having a nice time.
“Then we had the safety car and Jose (Maria Lopez) made his move. He had a great race today; he was really, really quick and I had to push quite hard at the end of the race just to make sure I could build up a bit of a gap.”
After the disappointment of Mexico — where he spun while fighting for the win — and Monaco, where first-lap contact ended his race – Lopez was delighted to finally grab his first Formula E podium.
“You can see from the beginning of the year that we had a good car, but my experience was not enough to be competitive,” he said.
“But we worked hard in the race, it was a circuit I like, the city and everything — I think that played a part as well.”
Another sensational start from Nick Heidfeld moved the Mahindra driver past Esteban Gutierrez and into fourth place, which became third after Vergne’s retirement. With Felix Rosenqvist driving a strong race to take fourth, it was the best points haul in Mahindra’s history.
The FIA Formula E Championship returns with the Berlin ePrix — a doubleheader — at the German capital’s historic Tempel h of Airport on June 10-11.