Formula E: Buemi brings Renault home victory
FORMULA E Sébastien Buemi is unstoppable. In Paris, the Vaud native won Renault's home race. With his fifth victory in the sixth race, he drastically extended his lead in the championship, as his main rival Lucas di Grassi took a zero. This was the outcome everyone in the Renault-e.dams team had hoped for. In front of a home crowd only [...]
Everyone in the Renault-e.dams team had wished for this outcome. To win in front of a home crowd just a stone's throw from the Renault development center in Viry - that was a dream come true.
As seven days earlier in Monaco, Sébastien Buemi first set the fastest time in free practice and then in qualifying. The 30-year-old from Aigle turned his pole position, which is rewarded with three extra points, into a commanding start-finish victory in the one-hour, 49-lap race on the Circuit des Invalides.
While Buemi remained faultless over the entire distance, not only his first rival in the race, Jean-Eric Vergne, but also his toughest opponent in the championship last year, Lucas di Grassi, had an accident.
The Brazilian from the Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport team had a weekend to forget and scored his first zero of the season. This now puts him 43 points behind the Swiss, who is clearly in the lead at the halfway stage of the championship with 132:89.
"I really didn't expect such a resounding success," admitted Buemi. "It's great to have won here in Paris after Monaco. I dedicate this victory to the whole team, who worked hard to make this possible."
A sustained winning streak
Buemi followed up his two victories with Toyota in the World Endurance Championship - at Silverstone on April 16 and at Spa on May 6 - with two more wins in the FIA Formula E on the second and third Saturdays in May. Only on April 1 in Mexico did Buemi fail completely.
