Envision Racing round off the week in Tokyo with more points during Round 9 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
After a disappointing qualifying for the team, with both drivers way down the order after struggling with the car handling and therefore not able to extract good pace, it was all to do in the race.
On Robin Frijns’ side of the garage, the team decided to make a part change prior to qualifying and take a 20-place grid penalty for doing so. A 10-second stop and go penalty was also handed to the Dutchman during the race.
Sebastien Buemi fought hard through the pack and emerged in the points at the finish line, which was a tremendous effort from P17 on the grid.
This result keeps up the momentum of points for the Silverstone-based outfit, and overall the team leaves Tokyo with motivation to improve and continue building on the performance in Shanghai in just two weeks time on May 31 and June 1.
QUALIFYING
A challenging session for the team with both drivers struggling to find pace in the cars on the dry circuit. Both sessions were disrupted with incidents, with a red flag in Group A due to Mitch Evans colliding with the wall. Despite the track resuming, Buemi was unable to progress through and finished P9 in group.
Frijns suffered with the car handling too during Group B – and although he set a personal best first sector time during his final push lap, he had to abort the lap due to yellow flags for a stopped Nico Mueller and therefore classifying
The starting grid concluded with Buemi lining up in P17 and Frijns at the back of the order in P22.
THE RACE
The 32-lap race began with an immediate stop-and-go penalty for Frijns for an inverter change prior to qualifying . The strategy then switched to saving energy and anticipating for a race disruption for the #4 crew.
Meanwhile, Buemi began to make his way through the pack, using his Attack Mode extra power to climb up to P13. Once into the front half of the field, the lead drivers began to fight causing the pack to bunch up, before the McLaren of Taylor Barnard went into the wall which brought out the Safety Car on Lap 29. The #16 of Buemi had moved himself up into the points positions by this stage in P10.
The field spent two laps under the Safety Car and once the track was clear, the drivers were left with a one lap shoot out as they started the final lap of Round 9. Buemi managed to hold off his rivals with more energy and hold onto his position, and then gain another spot due to a 5-second penalty for Edoardo Mortara and claim P9.
This result moves Buemi up to P9 in the driver standings and helps the team edge closer to its’ fellow competitors.
Driver Standings (after Rd9)
- Oliver Rowland, 161pts
- Pascal Wehlein, 84pts
- Antonio Felix da Costa, 73pts
- Taylor Barnard, 69pts
- Jake Dennis, 56pts
- Nyck De Vries, 52 pts
—–
9. Sebastien Buemi, 45pts
20. Robin Frijns, 10pts
Team Standings (after Rd9)
1. Nissan Formula E Team, 172pts
2. TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 157pts
3. Mahindra Racing, 99pts
4. NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, 90pts
5. DS Penske, 89pts
6. Andretti Formula E, 80pts
—–
9. Envision Racing, 55pts
