Envision Racing bring home double points in Round 9 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with Sebastien Buemi charging through from P18 to P5 and Joel Eriksson finishing P6
A packed crowd witnessed another spectacular Monaco E-Prix, with plenty of overtaking – particularly from Buemi who overcame a difficult qualifying session leaving him down in P18 and working his way up to P5 at the chequered flag.
Eriksson embarked on his first ever race day on the streets in Monaco and certainly delivered. An impressive qualifying saw him line up P7 and he kept his elbows out to finish just behind his teammate Buemi in P6.
Both drivers are hungry for more tomorrow during Round 10 to keep the momentum going and improve in the areas which they missed out on today.
QUALIFYING
A mixed session for the Envision Racing duo throughout qualifying. A disappointing start in Group A for Buemi, after initially sitting in P5 after the first set of push laps, he was shuffled down the order to P8 in the group. To make matters worse, a 3-place grid penalty was applied post-session for impeding another car – dropping the Swiss driver down to P18 on the grid.
Group B was much more positive – with Eriksson making it through to the dual stages after finishing P4 in the group. He was up against Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans in the quarter final but missed out by just over two tenths of a second. However, P7 on the grid for Eriksson’s debut in Monaco is a very good effort.
THE RACE
Formula E once again delivered a very exciting race, with drama throughout the 29 lap E-Prix. A clean start and sensible opening laps saw both Eriksson and Buemi remain settled in their starting positions.
Lap 5 is where the race started to heat up, with a Safety Car due to contact between Nick Cassidy and Jake Dennis, boosting Buemi up two places. The racing commenced a lap later with drivers jostling for positions before the Pit Boost window opened.
Eriksson entered the pits on Lap 14 for his mandatory stop for 10% extra power and immediately activated his Attack Mode when rejoining the circuit to push forward. Buemi also opted for Attack Mode just a lap later to make up as much time as possible whilst his rivals were in the pits. This is where the #16 made his biggest impact during the race, moving himself up the order ahead of his Pit Boost, after which he emerged in P7, with teammate Erikkson just behind in P8.
An incident between Dan Ticktum and Antonio Felix da Costa allowed the Envision duo to capitalise on another position, however at this stage Buemi and his crew identified an error with the system and the lap count compared to the actual laps left. Without this, he would’ve had a strong chance of catching and passing the two cars just ahead. Despite this, it was still an incredible comeback, crossing the line in P6 and Eriksson in P7 – both moving up a spot to P5 and P6 following a penalty for Ticktum.
A strong haul of points for the team is a nice reward after a busy action-packed first race day in Monte Carlo. Tomorrow brings a new opportunity to add to this and end the weekend in Monaco on a high.
Driver Standings (after Rd9)
- Mitch Evans, 116pts
- Pascal Wehrlein, 101pts
- Edoardo Mortara, 93pts
- Oliver Rowland, 83pts
- Nico Muller, 79pts
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9. Sebastien Buemi, 65pts
12. Joel Eriksson, 28pts
Team Standings (after Rd9)
1. Jaguar TCS Racing, 182pts
2. Porsche Formula E Team, 180pts
3. Mahindra Racing, 132pts
4. Nissan Formula E Team, 94pts
5. Envision Racing, 93pts
