2015 Beijing ePrix

2015 Beijing ePrix
Race 1 of 11 of the 2015–16 Formula E season
Layout of the Beijing Olympic Green Circuit
Race details
Date	24 October 2015
Official name	2015 FIA Formula E SWUSP Beijing ePrix
Location	Beijing Olympic Green Circuit, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
Course	Street circuit
Course length	3.44 km (2.14 miles)
Distance	26 laps, 89.4 km (55.67 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams
Time	1:37.297
Fastest lap
Driver	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams
Time	1:39.993 (lap record) on lap 24
Podium
First	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams
Second	Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport
Third	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing
Lap leaders

The 2015 Beijing ePrix, formally the 2015 FIA Formula E SWUSP Beijing ePrix, was a Formula E motor race that was held on 24 October 2015 at the Beijing Olympic Green Circuit in Beijing, China. It was the second edition of the Beijing ePrix and the first race of the second season of the electrically powered racing car series. The race was dominated by Sébastien Buemi, who won starting from pole position. Since he also recorded the fastest lap, he became the first driver to score the maximum of 30 points from a single ePrix

Report

Background

The Beijing Olympic Green Circuit was slightly modified in comparison to the previous year. The first chicane, previously Turns 3, 4 and 5, has been removed with the second chicane taking a tighter profile than last year. Drivers believe that the modified layout offers increased chances of overtaking.

Three drivers made their Formula E debut at this ePrix: Jacques Villeneuve (for Venturi, Robin Frijns (for Amlin Andretti) and Nathanaël Berthon (for Team Aguri).

Trulli did not start the Beijijng ePrix because of a failure to submit their car for scrutineering. The team claimed that key components had been held up in customs. They will be able to resubmit their car for scrutineering for the second race.

The Fanboost was awarded to Nelson Piquet Jr., Sam Bird and Oliver Turvey.

Qualifying

Sébastien Buemi, Jean-Éric Vergne, Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld, and Lucas di Grassi advanced to the pole position shoot-out. Di Grassi was first on track, however he had a big lock up into turn 1, and therefore was unable to set a competitive time. Heidfeld then set a solid but unspectacular time, before Prost went and lapped eight-tenths faster than the German. Then Vergne went out, only to have such a big lock up at turn 1 he went straight down the escape road, and gave up. That left Buemi to try and beat 2014's polesitter, and a poor middle sector made that look unlikely, but he then superbly negotiated the final sector to take pole position.

Race

Buemi got a good start from pole, while Heidfeld was quick off the line, passing Prost round the outside of turn 1 in a similar move to the one he did in the previous year's race, before attacking race leader Buemi, unsuccessfully. Buemi then pulled away. On lap 2, prost locked up and ran deep, gifting Di grassi third place. Simona de Silvestro then went straight into the wall on lap 3, bringing out a full course yellow. Meanwhile a battle for 5th place at the time developed between Vergne and Bruno Senna, Loïc Duval and Sam Bird. Bird then lost out when he locked up and went down the escape road, but he caught back up by lap 11, and was in the ever changing battle again. Most people pitted at the end of lap 13, and a slow stop for Heidfeld dropped him from 2nd to 4th. Heidfeld did overtake Prost for a podium again. Crucially, both Dragon cars stayed out, giving them more usable energy at the end of the race. Jacques Villeneuve and António Félix da Costa collided, putting the Portuguese driver out of the race and bringing out a full course yellow, giving even more of the advantage to the Dragon cars who lost less time. Prost was more alert than Heidfeld off the restart and went through. His rear wing then broke on lap 20, although it made no difference to performance, but he was forced to retire. This left the Dragon cars with more usable energy, having already caught Heidfeld, to fight the Mahindra driver for the final spot on the podium. Jérôme d'Ambrosio locked up and was lucky to avoid his teammate. On the final lap, Heidfeld had to park the bus, and however hard the Frenchman tried, Duval simply couldn't find a way past the Mahindra in a battle that went right to the final corner. Buemi crossed the line to dominantly win, while Di Grassi, having been very quiet throughout the race, finished 2nd. Heidfeld just managed to keep his podium. The reigning champion Nelson Piquet, Jr. finished, albeit two laps down in the last classified position.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Grid
1	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	1:37.488		11
2	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS Virgin Racing	1:38.028	+0.540	51
3	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	1:38.206	+0.718	21
4	23	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	1:38.512	+1.024	31
5	11	Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	1:38.519	+1.031	41
6	4	Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi	1:38.645	+1.157	6
7	21	Bruno Senna	Mahindra Racing	1:38.761	+1.273	7
8	6	Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	1:38.859	+1.371	8
9	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	1:38.884	+1.396	9
10	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	1:39.058	+1.570	10
11	66	Daniel Abt	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	1:39.220	+1.732	11
12	12	Jacques Villeneuve	Venturi	1:39.665	+2.177	12
13	27	Robin Frijns	Amlin Andretti	1:39.672	+2.184	13
14	28	Simona de Silvestro	Amlin Andretti	1:39.681	+2.193	14
15	88	Oliver Turvey	NEXTEV TCR	1:39.734	+2.246	15
16	55	António Félix da Costa	Team Aguri	1:40.295	+2.807	16
17	77	Nathanaël Berthon	Team Aguri	1:40.386	+2.898	17
18	1	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	NEXTEV TCR	1:40.638	+3.150	18
Source:

Notes:

• ^1 – Final grid position of top five qualifiers determined by Super Pole shootout.

Super Pole

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Grid
1	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	1:37.297		1
2	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	1:37.581	+0.284	2
3	23	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	1:38.339	+1.042	3
4	11	Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	1:39.539	+2.242	4
5	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS Virgin Racing	2:21.284	+43.987	5
Source:

Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	26	50:08.835	1	302
2	11	Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	26	+11.006	4	18
3	23	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	26	+15.681	3	15
4	6	Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	26	+16.009	8	12
5	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	26	+16.514	10	10
6	88	Oliver Turvey	NEXTEV TCR	26	+39.466	15	8
7	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	26	+47.531	9	6
8	77	Nathanaël Berthon	Team Aguri	26	+58.620	17	4
9	4	Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi	26	+1:07.814	6	2
10	27	Robin Frijns	Amlin Andretti	26	+1:09.260	13	1
11	66	Daniel Abt	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	26	+1:13.351	11
12	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS Virgin Racing	26	+1:31.040	5
13	21	Bruno Senna	Mahindra Racing	26	+1:50.833	7
14	12	Jacques Villeneuve	Venturi	25	+1 Lap	12
15	1	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	NEXTEV TCR	24	+2 Laps	18
Ret	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.dams	22	Rear wing	2
Ret	55	António Félix da Costa	Team Aguri	13	Collision	16
Ret	28	Simona de Silvestro	Amlin Andretti	2	Accident	14

Notes:

• ^2 – Three points for pole position and two points for fastest lap.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Sébastien Buemi	30
2	Lucas di Grassi	18
3	Nick Heidfeld	15
4	Loïc Duval	12
5	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	10

Teams' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Renault e.Dams	30
2	Dragon Racing	22
3	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	18
4	Mahindra Racing	15
5	NEXTEV TCR	8

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.