A strong start to Season 12 for the Envision Racing team, with a double points finish in Sao Paulo.
A dramatic race for Round 1 – which included Red Flags, Safety Cars and plenty of overtaking – resulted in a P7 finish for Joel Eriksson, with team-mate Sebastien Buemi right behind in P8, rounding off a productive first race of Season 12.
As it has done in recent years, Sao Paulo delivered a chaotic race and despite some Attack Mode activations wasted on Safety Car periods, the team were able to remain in the points at the finish, with Eriksson moving up from P18 on the grid, and Buemi from P11.
The weekend started off challenging with FP1 cancelled due to technical issues with radio communications, which limited the time to analyse data and review set-ups. However, once the cars were running, the team felt confident in the pace and ultimately leave Brazil with the feeling the result could have been better but is a solid start ahead of Round 2 in Mexico City in January.
QUALIFYING
In typical Formula E fashion, qualifying was incredibly tight between the 20-car field. Drivers were also at a disadvantage with no track running on Friday after FP1 was cancelled due to technical issues with radio communications. Despite an extended FP2 session on Saturday morning, it still took away the element of debriefing overnight before adjusting set-ups for the following day.
This particularly disadvantaged Eriksson – who had never driven the Sao Paulo circuit before. He took to the track in Group A of qualifying, and despite a strong effort, concluded the 10-minute session in P9, just 6 tenths of a second away from the fastest driver in the group. This resulted in the Swedish driver lining up in P18 for his first official race as a full-time driver.
Buemi was up next in Group B, which was brought to a halt with a Red Flag due to Felipe Drugovich having an incident. Once the session was ready to resume, it left all drivers with one flying lap to make it through. A small mistake lost the Swiss driver some time, however he finished in P6, and after penalties classified in P11 overall for the E-Prix.
THE RACE
The 30-lap E-Prix begun calmly for the Envision Racing duo, each gaining a position off the line. Each driver had 8-minutes of Attack Mode available for this race, with Buemi’s side of the garage opting to take the first 4-minute boost in power early on, whilst Eriksson remained at the back of the pack purposefully to save energy and make a late charge.
This charge paid off for the Swede, as he worked his way up to P6. Disaster then struck for both drivers as the Safety Car came out just after they’d both taken their final Attack Mode activations.
Racing resumed briefly before the Red Flag was deployed after a huge crash from CUPRA Kiro driver Pepe Marti which caused a delay in restarting the race whilst the marshals ensured the circuit was safe.
All remaining drivers embarked onto the circuit for a rolling start and one lap shoot out to finish the race. After damaged cars had to move to the back, this moved Eriksson and Buemi up to P7 and P8 respectively – which is where they finished.
Season 12 was set to be a thriller and the first round certainly delivered, and points on the board for Envision Racing is a positive start.
Driver Standings (after Rd1)
- Jake Dennis, 25pts
- Oliver Rowland, 19pts
- Nick Cassidy, 15pts
- Pascal Wehrlein, 15pts
- Nico Muller, 10pts
—–
7. Joel Eriksson, 6pts
8. Sebastien Buemi, 4pts
Team Standings (after Rd1)
1. Andretti Formula E Team, 25pts
2. Porsche Formula E Team, 25pts
3. Nissan Formula E Team, 19pts
4. Citroen Racing, 15pts
5. Envision Racing, 10pts
