DS Virgin claims its first Formula E win in best race of season so far

Buemi said: “To be honest I’m a bit sorry for my team because I think today I had a great car and didn’t get the most out of it. But the race itself was great, it was hard because I think apart from da Costa who stopped, I had to overtake all the other guys. It’s good to be here and finish second. I was a bit lucky with the safety car, in fact a lot. Without that it would’ve been a bit more difficult.”

In front of 17,000 passionate fans, di Grassi was pleased to finish third, keeping up his record of taking a podium position in every race this season and ensuring that he’s just four points adrift of Buemi in the drivers’ standings. However, he felt it was the team’s weakest performance of the season and urged the team to take strides ahead of the next race, which takes place in Mexico City on March 12.

Di Grassi said: “We didn’t have a good car here; I think it was our worst race in terms of pure pace. Qualifying was not so good and the race also. To close the gap on them I had to use more energy so I had to save it in the end. I think all the teams did a step forward after Punta testing and we didn’t. Renault did a big step and it was shown today that with a track you can overtake you can start at the back, even if he was lucky with the safety car. They are very strong so if we want to fight for the championship, we have to work much harder.”

Stephane Sarrazin continued his strong form in qualifying with a solid run to fourth for Venturi, to equal his best Formula E result to date. Front-row starter Nico Prost finished fifth on the road, fighting back from eighth after a quick spin. Loic Duval was sixth, capping a great performance from the Dragon Racing driver from a disappointing 12th on the grid. His team-mate Jerome D’Ambrosio was less fortunate and was involved in a first-lap incident with Salvador Duran (Team Aguri), which caused the rear wheel guard to rub against his right-rear tyre. After having to make an unscheduled pitstop he was running in last, but used this to manage his energy so that he could set the Visa Fastest Lap and claim two bonus points.

Robin Frijns continued his run of scoring points in every race for Andretti with eighth place, while Oliver Turvey came home ninth for NEXTEV TCR. Bird’s DS Virgin team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne just missed out on the points in 11th. The Frenchman was suffering from chronic food poisoning and was forced to miss both free practice sessions. Like Bird and di Grassi he was the winner of FanBoost, and he used his additional energy to help him climb the order but fell just short of a top-10 finish.

2016 Buenos Aires ePrix (Rd 4) – Race results

1. Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, 45:28.385 (28)

2. Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, +0.716s (18)

3. Lucas di Grassi, Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport, +7.525s (15)

4. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, +9.415s (12)

5. Nico Prost, Renault e.dams, +11.316s 10)

6. Loic Duval, Dragon Racing, +15.660s (8)

7. Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +16.444s (6)

8. Robin Frijns, Andretti Formula E, +18.685s (4)

9. Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV TCR, +22.007s (2)

10. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, +22.456s (1)

11. Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Virgin Racing, +24.482s

12. Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV TCR, +24.641s

13. Daniel Abt, Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport, +27.998s

14. Simona de Silvestro, Andretti Formula E, +36.171s

15. Mike Conway, Venturi, +39.581s

16. Jerome D’Ambrosio, Dragon Racing, +1 lap (2)

17. Antonio Felix da Costa, Team Aguri, DNF

18. Salvador Duran, Team Aguri, DNF

Source: FIA Formula E