SEASON 2: BUEMI PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF
PHOTO: thecheckeredflag.co.uk
F RMULA
The 2015-16 was the second season of the FIA Formula E Championship, staged over the autumn and winter of 2015, and into the spring and early summer of 2016. Testing was scheduled from the 10th to the 25th of August 2015 at the Formula E HQ, Donington Park, with eight manufacturers producing parts for ten teams.
Having dominated pre-season, the favourites were Sébastien Buemi and Nicolas Prost, drivers of the Renault e.Dams team, after they produced over 350 laps during pre-season testing. They duly won the opening round, Buemi also earning fastest lap and pole position to become the first man to score maximum points at an e-Prix, although Prost didn't score.
Second race of the season had every possible drama you could think of. Crashes, suspension damage, wheel-to-wheel racing, and one driver that stood out was Robin Frijns, Andretti driver who drove last couple of laps while he had to hold his steering wheel half-way locked to the right in order to go straight, and managed to finish the race third.
PHOTO: renaultsport.com
Also one of the more intense races was the one in Buenos Aires, where Sam Bird managed to remain in first place after many of Buemi's tries to get past, and also save enough energy in order to finish the race. Di Grassi was the only one capable of challenging Buemi, and they both won three races during the season, and the Brazilian ended up leading at one point, and had one disqualification after a win in Mexico City.
It all went down until the final race of the season, which was the second race in London, where Buemi took pole and it seeemed like he would run away with the title easily. It would be a dramatic end, as di Grassi misjudged his braking on the opening lap, slammed into the back of Buemi and seemingly put both of them out. They both continued the race, and in order to win the title, they battled at the back in order to see who will get the fastest lap. The Swiss driver was better at managing this, and drove his Renault to the title, beating di Grassi by two points, or just half a second on the track.
One of the sad points of the season was the Jarno Trulli team. After a really bad preseason, they missed the opening two rounds of the championship, after which they ended their involvement in Formula E on 15th December 2015. Their substitution, Jaguar announced their participation from season three.