Sebastien Buemi of Renault
e.dams has made Formula E history by becoming the first driver to win three
races in a row. It was also his ninth win in the all-electric street racing
series, and the 12th for the team. That means Renault e.dams have now won half
of all the Formula E races that have taken place.
The bonus point for the Visa
Fastest Lap went to Felix Rosenqvist. The Mahindra Racing driver had been
battling with Piquet before the stops, but his second car refused to start up
and he was left with having to battle for a consolation point. Felix came in 18th
while his teammate from Mahindra Racing Nick Heidfeld came in 15th.
But, in front of 21,000
enthusiastic fans, Buemi had to work hard for his victory. From his first-ever Julius
Baer pole position, Lucas di Grassi (ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport) led away at the
start, while Jean-Eric Vergne slotted his TECHEETAH into second place.
Di Grassi was struggling with
his car, and in quick succession he was passed by Vergne and then Buemi.
TECHEETAH uses the same powertrain as Renault e.dams, but there was nothing
Vergne could do to stop Buemi charging by into the lead.
Further back di Grassi had slipped
behind the impressive NextEV NIO of Oliver Turvey and the second Renault e.dams
of Nico Prost as his struggles intensified. By the time of the mandatory car
change pitstop, Buemi was almost six seconds to the good and seemingly set for
an easy win. But the brake balance of the second car was far from his liking,
and struggling to slow the car in a straight line, his pace dropped off,
allowing Vergne back into the hunt.
Di Grassi too was now a
contender. A slow stop for Turvey dropped him out of the podium fight, while an
aggressive pass on Prost moved di Grassi back into the top-three. With the car
handling much more to his liking he was closing in on both Buemi and Vergne,
but the gap was too big for him to overcome.
Three wins in a row has
increased Buemi’s points lead to a huge 29 points. And after two previous disappointments at the Puerto
Madero track, he was delighted to take another win. Another podium for di Grassi -
his 15th in total - keeps him in second place in the championship, but he knows he and his ABT
Schaeffler Audi Sport team will have their work cut out to overthrow the dominant Buemi.
For the third race in a row
Nico Prost took fourth place for Renault e.dams. Season one champion Nelson
Piquet Jr. claimed his best result since his title-winning campaign with a
strong fifth for NextEV NIO, while behind him waged a fabulous battle for the
remaining points-paying positions. In the searing heat of a lovely Argentine
summer’s day, energy consumption was at a premium, but saving energy in the
midst of wheel-to-wheel combat is a tough ask, and it was Faraday Future Dragon
Racing’s Loic Duval who ultimately prevailed to take sixth place. Seventh went
to Daniel Abt in the second ABT Schaeffler
car and eighth to Jerome D’Ambrosio, who’d indulged in a great paint swapping battle
with team-mate Duval.
Turvey finally brought his
overheating car home in ninth, while to the delight of the crowd, local hero Jose Maria Lopez grabbed
the final point for DS Virgin Racing following a fine drive from the back of the grid after
crashing in qualifying.
There was late heartbreak for
Mitch Evans, who was on the verge of scoring the first point for the Panasonic
Jaguar Racing team, only to slow in the closing stages and drop out of the
top-10.
The championship now moves to
Mexico City and the historic Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where round four of the
2016/17 season takes places on April 1.
2017 BUENOS AIRES EPRIX (RD 3) - RACE RESULTS
1. Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, 45:45.623s (25)
2. Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH, +2.996s (18)
3. Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, +6.921s (18)
4. Nico Prost, Renault e.dams,
+8.065s (12)
5. Nelson Piquet Jr, NextEV
NIO, +9.770s (10)
6. Loic Duval, Faraday Future
Dragon Racing, +35.103s (8)
7. Daniel Abt, ABT Schaeffler
Audi Sport, +35.801s (6)
8. Jerome D'Ambrosio, Faraday
Future Dragon Racing, +36.335s (4)
9. Oliver Turvey, NextEV NIO,
+37.111s (2)
10. Jose Maria Lopez, DS
Virgin Racing, +38.206s (1)
11. Antonio Felix da Costa,
Andretti Formula E, +43.740s
12. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi
Formula E, +44.243s
13. Mitch Evans, Panasonic
Jaguar Racing, +44.918s
14. Robin Frijns, Andretti
Formula E, +49.683s
15. Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra
Racing, +51.456s
16. Ma Qing Hua, TECHEETAH, +1
lap17. Adam Carroll, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, +1 lap
18. Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra
Racing, +3 laps (1)
19. Maro Engel, Venturi
Formula E, DNF
20. Sam Bird, DS Virgin
Racing, DNF
DRIVER STANDINGS
Sebastien Buemi, Renault
e.dams - 75
Lucas di Grassi, ABT
Schaeffler Audi Sport - 46
Nico Prost, Renault e.dams -
36
Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH -
22
Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra
Racing - 20
Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing -
18
TEAM STANDINGS
Renault e.dams - 111
ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport - 60
Mahindra Racing - 37
NextEV NIO - 25
TECHEETAH - 22
DS Virgin Racing - 20
Faraday Future Dragon Racing -
19
Andretti Formula E - 18
Venturi Formula E - 3
Panasonic Jaguar Racing – 0
Source: FIA
FormulaE