With the Formula One title decider this weekend, a lot of eyes around the world will be firmly planted on that. However, many will have forgotten that Formula e will host its second ever race – this one in Malaysia. Threats of rain throughout the Saturday could mean that the innovative all-weather race tyre provided by Michelin will have to tackle water for the first time in a race situation. There is a lot of intrigue, especially regarding whether the e.dams squad can bounce back from the disappointment of Beijing. Fans will also be interested to see whether the series has taken into account the praise and criticism received from the inaugural event.
Putrajaya ePrix Preview: Teams & Drivers
Virgin Racing
After sneaking his way onto the podium at Beijing, Sam Bird will be hoping to be right in the thick of the action here, team mate Jaime Alguersuari is looking for his first points finish after a disappointing run last time out.
Mahindra Racing
A fanboost-equipped Bruno Senna failed to make it past lap one at Beijing. He will be looking to finish the race at the bare minimum; Karun Chandhok’s strong points finish gives optimism to the Indian team.
Dragon Racing
Dragon started off really solidly at Beijing, being in the thick of the action and picking up a decent haul of points. Jerome d’Ambrosio and Oriol Servia will be hoping for more of that here.
e.dams Renault
Nicolas Prost will hope to right all of the wrongs that he made at Beijing, after that collision with Rebellion Racing team mate Nick Heidfeld. Speaking of the World Endurance Championship, new champion Sebastien Buemi hopes to actually get going here, as he hardly did in China. I still believe that this is the team to beat, but others do look closer than I expected.
Trulli GP
Trulli are the only team yet to get off the mark so far in Formula e. Both cars suffered big time in China and they will be hoping to finally get with the rest of the pack here. If conditions do end up a bit chaotic, they will be hoping to pick up the pieces and some points.
Audi Sport ABT
Daniel Abt is ditching GP2 for Formula e this weekend, and is looking to try to not be denied a podium this time around. Lucas di Grassi looks to maintain his 100% winning record in this category.
Venturi Grand Prix
Venturi have had plenty of time to rebuild Nick Heidfeld’s car after his monumental shunt in China. Quick Nick will want to get right back to the sharp end of the field here, and hopefully see the flag this time. Stephane Sarrazin will be looking for a stronger day this time around.
Andretti Autosport
The surprise leaders in the Teams’ Championship, Andretti will be running a different line-up to China. New fan-favourite Franck Montagny will be paired up alongside three-time Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham’s grandson Matthew. Brabham has impressed in the Indy Lights series this year and absolutely routed the competition in the Pro Mazda series in 2013.
Amlin Aguri
The other team to change a driver is the Aguri team, with Antonio Felix da Costa no longer having the DTM commitments which held him back at China. Despite scoring points at Beijing, the race was simply a disaster for the team, who suffered a number of issues with both cars. They will be hoping to at least make it to the flag with both cars.
China Racing
Nelson Piquet Jr. currently leads the battle of the drivers related to a Formula One star from the 1980s, and looked really racy on the Beijing streets; meanwhile, Ho-Pin Tung will hope to not have the issues which held him back at his home event.
The Track
The circuit will provide a very different challenge to the Beijing Olympic Green circuit. The 2.5km lap begins with a tight right-left chicane, followed by a long straight down to a sequence of near-90-degree corners. Turn 7 is preceded by a sweeping kink and looks to be a pretty tricky part of the circuit. Turns 8 and 9 are very fast corners which could be treacherous in the rain. There is a tight hairpin at the top of the circuit which could be the place where a lot of overtaking happens. Much like turn 7, the final corner looks to be very tricky as it is preceded by a long kink.
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