Formula E: Buemi recovers from qualy mistake to win in Punta del Este
Sebastien Buemi worked his way up into the lead from fifth on the grid in 8 laps at Saturday’s Punta del Este ePrix.
The 27-year-old driver had built up a commanding lead as the drivers came into the pits at the halfway point, but that lead was erased when Buemi began slowing down for a Full Course Yellow period before it had been officially deployed.
The race director had announced that there was a Full Course Yellow over the radio to all of the drivers, but then proceeded to giving a countdown as to when the Full Course Yellow would go into effect. Buemi began slowing down as soon as the “Full Course Yellow” notice was given, unaware that a countdown was about to be given.
Thus, though in theory all gaps between cars should be retained under a Full Course Yellow, Buemi had lost a lot of time to championship rival Lucas di Grassi in second. Fortunately for the Renault e.dams driver, he was able to extend his lead in the closing laps and go on to take his second win in the three races so far this season. Di Grassi won the second race at Putrajaya.
The reason Buemi was starting back in fifth was that he had overshot a turn during qualifying, which opened the door for Dragon Racing teammates Jerome d’Ambrosio and Loic Duval to lock out the front row.
However, the Dragon teammates lost out to Buemi in the opening laps and di Grassi during the round of pit stops. Sam Bird was also challenging the teammates, but his car broke down on his outlap from the pits, triggering the aforementioned Full Course Yellow.
Other drivers with races to forget were Jacques Villeneuve, who was unable to start after crashing during qualifying, Bruno Senna, whose race went downhill following an early puncture, Nathanael Berthon, who was spun by Jean-Eric Vergne (the two had also been involved in an incident in qualifying), and Oliver Turvey, who was running in the points in the closing laps when he had to serve a drive-through penalty for not respecting the minimum pit time during his stop.
The final few laps of the race looked like they would ran without incident, but contact during a battle for eighth between Nelson Piquet Jr. and Jean-Eric Vergne saw Piquet’s car spin out on him in the closing moments of the event. Fortunately the 2014-2015 champion was OK.
Buemi now holds a one-point lead over di Grassi in the driver's championship.
The FIA Formula E Series will be back in action on Feb. 6 in Buenos Aires.
Full race results:
