Buemi wins Paris e Prix; Mahindra Racing gets podium again

Even while Sebastien Buemi gave Renault e.dams its most important win of the year by producing a dominant display in front of its home crowd in the Qatar Airways Paris ePrix - round six of the 2016/17 FIA Formula E Championship on May 20, 2017, it was a perfect Parisian podium for Mahindra Racing as it celebrated best ever points finish with third and fourth position.

Nick Heidfeld who had taken a podium in the previous race in Monaco, took a second podium in a row in Formula E back-to-back races followed by teammate Felix Rosenqvist.  With this win, Mahindra Racing has started to close the gap on second place in the Teams’ Championship with fourth podium of the season.

Earlier in the race, Buemi defended stoutly into the first corner from the charging Jean-Eric Vergne. He then established a small but comfortable lead, as the two leaders eased away from the chasing pack. But then Vergne was not lucky as a broken steering sent him crashing out of the race. The Qualcomm Safety Car was deployed, which bunched up the field and gave DS Virgin Racing’s Jose Maria Lopez a shot at fighting for the win.

 But Buemi had things under control and when the BMW i8 came out again - this time after Lucas di Grassi pitched his ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport car into the barrier - for the second year running the Paris ePrix ended under caution.

 During the course of the event over 46,000 patriotic fans packed into the Les Invalides circuit, soaking up the amazing atmosphere in the Allianz eVillage where a succession of live bands played alongside interactive displays in different 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 ever car to break 100kph and the spiritual grandfather of Formula E.

Meanwhile, 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 place, it was the best points haul in the Mahindra’s history.

There are now just six races remaining in the FIA Formula E Championship, all being run as “double-headers” on three separate weekends. The regular one-day format, which includes two practice sessions, qualifying and the race, will be repeated the following day with a full points spread on offer each day. The next race is slotted for June 10 and 11, 2017 in Berlin and it would be Heidfeld’s home race.