Formula E: Black day for Sébastien Buemi
FORMULA E A training accident, a penalty transfer, a great race to catch up with lots of contact and disqualification in the end - the first day of the final in Canada was a disaster for the man from Vaud. The title is now out of reach. This day was one of the worst in Sébastien Buemi's career. With a 10-point lead, the man from Vaud traveled [...]
This day was one of the worst in Sébastien Buemi's career. The Vaud native traveled to the grand finale in Montreal with a 10-point lead. But after Saturday's race, he is now 18 points behind the Brazilian Lucas di Grassi.
In the second free practice session, Buemi made a rare driving error and crashed the Renault Z.E. 16 heavily into the wall at the exit of the chicane. The Renault edams team was forced to change the monocoque.
The French managed to provide Buemi with a new electric race car in just three hours before the start. The Swiss driver finished second on the grid with the other car. However, because the replacement car needed a new battery unit, he was penalized to twelfth place on the grid in accordance with the regulations.
In a turbulent race over 35 laps of 2.7 km each, in which there was a lot of contact with his opponents, Buemi managed to move up to fourth place. Unfortunately, the car used proved to be slightly underweight at the final technical inspection.
Although the stewards could understand that in the heat of the moment the weight of the rebuilt car had obviously not been carefully checked, they had no choice but to disqualify Buemi, thereby undoing all the team's work.
To make matters worse for Sébastien Buemi and the Renault team, his great title rival Lucas di Grassi from the Abt Schaeffler Audi Team took full advantage. First, the Brazilian claimed the three additional points for pole position. Then, despite two safety car periods, he converted them into a commanding start-finish victory.
Bad end, all bad
Di Grassi thus took over the lead of the standings for the first time in this 2016/2017 season, which has long been dominated by the Swiss driver (six wins in the first eight races). Buemi had to miss the penultimate race in New York, where a double-header was also on the program on 15 and 16 July. The reason for this was the clash of dates with the WEC at the Nürburgring, where the Toyota entry had priority according to the contract.
In order to become champion after all, Buemi can only hope for another pitch-black day from his opponent today. He himself must secure at least one podium finish and all the additional points for pole and fastest race lap.
The final race will be broadcast live on DMAX tonight from 21:55 to 23:10 (CEST).
