Despite leading briefly during race two in Jeddah, the team left Saudi Arabia with no points to show for their efforts.
Envision Racing struggled with car reliability throughout the weekend and were unable to find the sweet spot to put the No. 4 and No. 16 cars in positions to challenge for points. Early damage for Sebastien Buemi put him out of contention in Saturday’s race – while team-mate Robin Frijns could only manage a P14 finish, after leading for several laps during his Attack Mode.
The double-header delivered plenty of action throughout the week, including the rookie FP0 session which saw Zak O’Sullivan get his first taste of Formula E, followed by the inaugural Pit Boost race. The team leaves Jeddah with plenty of valuable insights to work on during the two-month gap before Round 5 in Miami.
QUALIFYING
Qualifying proved to be challenging once again in Jeddah for the duo of Buemi and Frijns. The pair both featured in Group B on the second race day: however, neither were quite able to find the pace within the car.
It was a disappointing P8 for Frijns, with Buemi behind in P10. Following post-race penalties, the duo lined up P14 and P18 respectively.
THE RACE
Both drivers capitalised on early race drama, following contact between Max Guenther and Antonio Felix Da Costa, and worked their way up to P7 (Frijns) and P11 (Buemi).
The progress for Buemi came to a halt after damage to the front wing triggered the need for a oit stop to replace the broken part. This changed the course of his race, and maximum energy saving with the hope for a disruption in the race to bring him back into action.
Unfortunately the race ran smoothly from there, which left Frijns as the solo Green Machine in the contending pack. The Dutchman opted for the first of his two Attack Mode activations on Lap 10 and used this to his advantage to take the lead of the E-Prix.
After dropping back to 300kw power once the Attack Mode time elapsed, he slowly slotted back into P10. Down on energy compared to the competitors around him, he eventually settled into P13.
Frijns took his final Attack Mode on Lap 26, whilst team-mate Buemi continued to save energy at the back of the pack. Regardless of Frijns’ best efforts to maximise the extra power, he couldn’t make up any more places and crossed the line in P14.
With no Safety Car or Red Flag disruptions, there was nothing the No.16 side of the garage could do to make up the positions – finishing in P19.
RACE REACTION
Sebastien Buemi said: “I think the race was coming together nicely in the early stages but the damage to the front wing meant I had to stop and that was it [for my chances]. We will look at all the data and try to come back stronger.”
Robin Frijns said: “We were leading at one point, we were really trying hard. Unfortunately the race didn’t pan out our way. We were on the back foot a bit from about the halfway stage and from there we narrowly missed out on the points.”
STANDINGS
Driver Standings (after Rd4)
- Oliver Rowland, 68pts
- Taylor Barnard, 51pts
- Antonio Felix Da Costa, 39pts
- Maximilian Gunther, 37pts
- Jake Hughes, 27pts
- Mitch Evans, 25pts
—–
15. Sebastien Buemi, 6pts
18. Robin Frijns, 0 pts
Team Standings (after Rd4)
1.Nissan Formula E Team, 68pts
2. NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, 67pts
3. TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 64pts
4. DS Penske, 63pts
5. Maserati MSG Racing, 43pts
6. Mahindra Racing, 43pts
—–
9. Envision Racing, 6pts
