di Grassi wins crazy Putrajaya race for survival

Lucas di Grassi was the victor of the Putrajaya ePrix from 6th on the grid. He was ahead of Sam Bird for DS Virgin and Robin Frijns who took his first Formula E podium in only his second race. He, amazingly, had to complete the final three laps with broken rear suspension afterhitting the wall at turn 9.

In the early stages, Sebastian Buemi was controlling the race from pole position. But then it all turned sour for e.DAMS when, two laps before the pit stop phase, Buemi came to a halt with a software issue. He got going again and pitted for his second car, as did Nico Prost who had an overheating battery – a critical feature of the race given the high temperatures and humidity which played havoc with the cars up and down the field.

Both drivers then had to perform the most economic drive of their careers to make the finish. Prost managed to take one point in 10th place, despite running into the wall in the latter stages of the race. Sebastian Buemi was outside the top 10; a diametrically opposite race to the one he had in Beijing, where he scored the grand slam of pole position, fastest lap and race win. He scored just two points for the fastest lap.

Dragon Racing were also bitterly disappointed with the end result, given their potential. Loic Duval was running in 2nd place after the pit stops with Jerome D’Ambrosio in close proximity. But Duval went into the wall with just a few laps to go and was forced to park up at the side of the road, and D’Ambrosio made contact with the barriers on the exit of turn 7 on the final lap as he pushed to catch the leader di Grassi.

All this played into the hands of the likes of Sam Bird and Robin Frijns. Bird was elated with the result having struggled in qualifying, but both drivers managed their batteries well and benefitted from the errors of those ahead.

Stephane Sarrazin had an issue on the grid which caused a delayed start and meant he would start from the back, having qualified a sensational 2nd place. At that moment, I doubt he thought he would finish in 4th place. He worked his way up the field, aided by a safety car period, but we cannot help but wonder what might have been for the Venturi squad.

Bruno Senna was 5th in a tough race for Mahindra. Both cars had an issue with their team radio, and Nick Heidfeld had to recover from contact with Jean-Eric Vergne at the start, resulting in a spin. He was also hit with a drive through penalty for not meeting the minimum pit stop time by four seconds. The German still managed to come home 9th.

Antonio Felix da Costa was 6th, but it is another case of what might have been. Having surprisingly run at the front of the field for most of the race using Season One technology, his Aguri came to a stop on track twice. On both occasions he managed to get the car going again, but it unfortunately dropped him from the front after an incredible drive.

Daniel Abt was 7th ahead of Nelson Piquet Jr. He wasn’t happy with the car after qualifying, but he used the NEXTEV’s efficiency to his advantage, going longer on his first stint than others which meant he could use more power for longer in his second stint.

Jacques Villeneuve was 11th, with Simona de Silvestro recovering from the back of the field. She got herself up into 13th.

#formulae #fe