It was a weekend of what could have been for Envision Racing in Mexico City.
At a track that typically does not offer a vast number of overtaking opportunities, Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns were forced to start at the back of the grid following a post-qualifying technical penalty. The duo bravely worked their way through the pack of a cut-and-thrust race before ultimately crossing the line with Frijns in P12 and Buemi in P13 – although Buemi was subsequently handed another penalty for an Attack Mode infringement.
Once other penalties were applied Frijns ultimately finished 11th as Buemi sat down in 17th, with neither adding to the points the team acquired at last month’s opening race in Brazil.
The second round of the championship brought plenty of action – especially over the closing laps – and the GEN3 Evo once again proved its capabilities, with the drivers lapping almost three seconds faster in qualifying than last season.
Overnight rain meant FP2 on Saturday morning gave teams and fans alike the first chance to see the newest generation of Formula E car in the wet. Further scheduled rain during the day ultimately held off, however, meaning the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit remained dry for qualifying and the race.
QUALIFYING
It was a qualifying session to forget for the Envision Racing squad. After Buemi set a very strong lap time in Group A, classifying him in P3 overall in the group and theoretically through to the duels, a technical infringement led to his fastest lap times being deleted, despite no performance being gained.
Frijns also suffered the same penalty, after setting the timesheets alight in the opening stages of the second qualifying session. Ultimately, he was blocked on his final push lap, which resulted in a P6 finish – until the same technical infringement was applied which pushed him to the back of Group B.
THE RACE
After the disappointing setback in qualifying, Frijns and Buemi lined up on the grid in P20 and P21 for the 36-lap race. With the circuit notorious for its difficulty in overtaking, the initial objective was to save as much energy as possible whilst keeping with the pack.
The start of the race was unusually tame, aside from Dan Ticktum having an incident in the opening laps.
By Lap 13, both Envision Racing drivers had more energy than the majority of the pack, with up to three percent more than the leaders; a trend which continued as the race progressed and the front runners started battling.
Lap 25 saw Frijns take his first Attack Mode, using six of the allocated eight minutes. He used this to his advantage and climbed up the field into the top 15. Buemi opted to use two minutes and was in P18 before the Safety Car was deployed for a halted Kiro.
The race got going again on Lap 31 but this was short lived, and it was once again Safety Car conditions due to the Jaguar Racing car of Mitch Evans stopping on track.
On Lap 33 the race restarted for the final time of asking and Frijns was able to deploy his final Attack Mode to make up a few more places, crossing the line in P12.
Teammate Buemi did finish just behind in P13 and set the fastest lap of the race however, due to the unfortunate timing of the second Safety Car, he was unable to complete the final six minutes of his Attack Mode before the chequered flag. A corresponding time penalty was applied, meaning P17 was his final classification.
A disappointing end to the weekend in which both drivers demonstrated strong pace throughout all sessions – a positive to be taken forward to Jeddah for the first double header of the season on February 14 & 15.
REACTION FROM OUR DRIVERS
Sebastien Buemi: “It was a shame for both of us today. I feel like both cars should have been in the top eight [in qualifying], without the technical infraction. We were close to the points in the end but ultimately it is a day to forget – we had good pace, but weren’t able to convert it into a good result.”
Robin Frijns: “It was a pretty tough one for us, especially after the disappointment of qualifying. We moved forward in the second half of the race but unfortunately it was not quite enough to get in the points.”
STANDINGS
Driver Standings (after Rd2)
- Antonio Felix Da Costa , 37 pts
- Oliver Rowland, 25 pts
- Mitch Evans, 25 pts
- Pascal Wehrlein, 21 pts
- Taylor Barnard, 17 pts
—–
13. Sebastien Buemi, 6pts
17. Robin Frijns, 0 pts
Team Standings (after Rd2)
1. TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 58pts
2. NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, 27pts
3. Jaguar TCS Racing, 25pts
4. Nissan Formula E Team, 25pts
5. Mahindra Racing, 22pts
—–
9. Envision Racing, 6pts
