Weather conditions once again were a hot topic, with rain hitting the Shanghai circuit throughout the day, but racing eventually went ahead for Round 11.
After a challenging qualifying session being Red Flagged and the two Envision Racing drivers starting lower than anticipated – it was Robin Frijns who was able to clinch more points for the Green Machine, after climbing up to P8. Sebastien Buemi suffered issues in qualifying which led to an incident and starting on the penultimate row of the grid and ultimately missing out on scoring points.
The day involved a lot of waiting around analysing the weather, but miraculously the race was able to commence, albeit under the Safety Car for the opening laps, which spread out the 22-car field.
Round 11 concludes the six week period containing as many races which also saw Envision Racing hit some momentum, scoring points in the last seven races – as the team learn more about the car and develop throughout the season to extract the maximum performance.
QUALIFYING
A long morning of delays due to the weather conditions left everyone in doubt as to whether qualifying would commence. FP3 earlier in the day was called off after the rain intensity increased, however both drivers showed promising pace, with Robin Frijns setting the third fastest lap time, and Sebastien Buemi classifying P7.
Unfortunately, these results wouldn’t determine the grid, as qualifying was eventually given the green light after a 45-minute delay. Both Envision Racing drivers hit to the circuit in Group B which concluded to be a disappointing session. The weather worsened throughout the 12-minute group and Sebastien Buemi suffered a brake failure error and spin which brought out the Red Flag.
The session momentarily went green again for one final push lap, however the race director deemed the conditions unsafe and ended qualifying. Frijns therefore finished P6 in group and P12 overall, and Buemi unfortunately ended P10 after the incident, which saw him line up P20 overall.
THE RACE
After several push backs on the race start time, eventually Round 11 got underway, beginning with seven laps under the Safety Car. A rolling start was opted for, which immediately gave the front pack a huge gap from the rest of the field and causing the race to spread out massively.
Initially both drivers remained in their starting positions and were both looking strong on energy. The #4 of Frijns maximised his Attack Mode on an incredibly slippery circuit to move through the pack into the top ten and eventually climb up to P8 and ultimately finish there – taking home another four points.
Meanwhile, team-mate Buemi suffered contact from another driver which hampered his chances of progressing forwards in the race and P18 was all the Swiss could manage.
Nonetheless, it was still an overall positive weekend in the teams’ home city – with points scored in both races on a circuit which doesn’t favour the characteristics of the car. In just two weeks’ time, the team will head to Jakarta for Round 12, returning to Indonesia after a one-year hiatus with the objective to deliver more points.
Driver Standings (after Rd11)
- Oliver Rowland, 171pts
- Pascal Wehrlein, 103pts
- Antonio Felix da Costa, 88pts
- Taylor Barnard, 86pts
- Jean Eric Vergne, 74pts
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12. Sebastien Buemi, 47pts
20. Robin Frijns, 15pts
Team Standings (after Rd11)
1. TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 191pts
2. Nissan Formula E Team, 190pts
3. DS Penske, 145pts
4. NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, 113pts
5. Mahindra Racing, 103pts
6. Andretti Formula E, 89pts
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9. Envision Racing, 62pts
