Formula E
FORMULA E’s THIRD ROUND SEES THIRD WINNER
Sebastien Buemi stands on his car with this fists raised in the air in celebration of his victory at the Punta del Este ePrix
e.dams Renault driver Sebastien Buemi tops podium in brilliant style at action-packed Punte del Este ePrix
Despite his third-place finish in Malaysia, e.dams Renault pilot Sebastien Buemi simply wasn’t on the radar in our Punta del Este ePrix preview last week. Shame on us. The driver who topped four of the five pre-season tests was also a star in Putrajaya, climbing from the back row to grab the last podium spot.
Brilliant Buemi
It was a brilliant win for Buemi – his first in Formula E on a great drive, holding off a charging Jean-Eric Vergne, who was on his back wing with a FanBoost up his sleeve. A well-deserved win for the Swiss pilot.
Starting P4 off the Grid, Buemi managed his position well and took advantage when the cars began to pit for the mid-race switch, moving into the lead.
“I knew he was going to use his FanBoost.” (Sebastien Buemi)
Vergne, who debuted for Team Andretti in Uruguay, fought hard to defend his pole position early in the race and was in hot pursuit of Buemi after he lost it. After the race resumed in the wake of a late safety car, the Frenchman deployed his FanBoost in an attempt to pass his Swiss rival. The move put him right up on Buemi, it wasn’t quite enough to get around him. Fans then settled in for what looked to be a finale fight only to watch Vergne fall off and Buemi cross the finish comfortably ahead of the field.
“I knew he was going to use his FanBoost, clearly we took it a little bit too safe in the last few laps when he started to catch me because I was still trying to save energy,” said Buemi. “I knew he was going to be fast but I don’t know what happened to him in the end. I’m really happy with today’s result.”
A broken suspension put an end to Vergne’s chances of victory. “These things happen in motor racing,” he said afterward. “Overall it was a great debut and I am very happy.”
We’ll certainly have the Frenchman on our radar screen as we look to Buenos Aires on January 10.
“These things happen in motor racing.” (Jean-Eric Vergne)
Brazilian two-three
Two Brazilians follows Buemi over the finish line – Nelson Piquet, grabbing his first podium finish of the all-new, all-electric championship, and Lucas di Grassi, who has stepped foot on all three podiums so far this season. The result keeps the Audi Sport ABT driver at the top of the drivers’ table with 58 points, extending his lead by 18 points over Buemi, who slides level with Sam Bird – the man who took the checkered flag in Putrajaya but crashed out early in Punte de Este.
“We got a bit lucky to get second place when Jean-Eric had a problem but we’re all happy.” (Lucas di Grassi)
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