Formula E: Sébastien Buemi completes the hat-trick
FORMULA E Sébastien Buemi won the third round of the multi-year FIA Formula E Championship in Argentina on Saturday in commanding style. The Buemi/Renault combination seems to be unbeatable at the moment. The fact that Sébastien Buemi was only third on the grid in his eDAMS Renault was merely a minor blemish for him. Two of his opponents, on the other hand, had high hopes [...]
The fact that Sébastien Buemi was only third on the grid in his eDAMS Renault was just a minor blemish for him. On the other hand, two of his opponents had high hopes of finishing the third race of the third Formula E season and the first of the new year ahead of the Swiss driver. But Lucas di Grassi, who had claimed pole position for the first time in his electric career in his Abt Schaeffler Audi and received an extra point for it, fell behind Jean-Eric Vergne shortly after the red lights went out.
The Brazilian, who narrowly lost out to Buemi in last year's title fight, was soon no longer able to fend off the attacks of his arch rival on the 2.48 km circuit in Argentina's capital. On the sixth lap, the irresistible man from Vaud also caught the leading Frenchman. At the halfway point, Buemi pitted to change cars with a six-second lead and remained clearly ahead in the second half of the race.
Sébastien Buemi: "Due to the warm weather, I had to watch the battery temperature first and foremost. That's why I held back a bit at the start until I saw that I was able to overtake the cars in front. After that, I had everything under control until the car change. I had slight braking problems with the second car, which made driving a bit difficult. But in these races it's not about gaining a big lead anyway, it's just about staying in front until the finish. Because everything costs energy, which you can lose after a safety car phase in order to push again."
Buemi remains at the top of the standings until the European opener in May
Sébastien Buemi is the first driver to achieve three consecutive victories. He now also has nine Formula E victories to his name, more than anyone else. Together with the three victories of Nico Prost, who finished fourth behind Buemi, Vergne and di Grassi, the eDAMS Renault team managed by Jean-Paul Driot and former world champion Alain Prost is also by far the most successful racing team in Formula E's short history.
Nico Prost, who has had Swiss citizenship for a few years now, recently admitted to AutoSprintCH: "I don't know how he does it either. But no one else manages to drive as fast as Seb does with the energy available."
The next race will take place on April 1 in Mexico City. A part of the GP circuit with a stadium atmosphere will be used there. Sébastien Buemi will travel to Mexico with a 29-point lead over Lucas di Grassi. Even in the event of a complete zero lap and a total success for the Brazilian (pole, victory and fastest race lap), which is worth exactly 29 points (3+25+1), the Swiss driver would remain at the top of the standings until the European opener in Monaco on May 13.
