It’s safe to say that the Monegasque team founded by actor Leonardo di Caprio should have at least ten times the points they already have. However, with just eight points on the board they lie last place in the constructors’ standings. Pre-season testing looked promising for the team fielding experienced racers Nick Heidfeld and Stephane Sarrazin, and suitably they were feeling confident ahead of the first ePrix in Beijing.
After an average qualifying in which Sarrazin ended up starting last, Heidfeld found himself battling for the win with Nico Prost right up until the final corner. That is, of course, until Prost collided into the German F1 veteran sending him flying and coming to rest upside down. Thankfully both drivers were unharmed but that was 25 points down the drain, with Sarrazin recovering to ninth place, earning the team just two points. There was ground to make up then as they headed to Malaysia.
Another poor qualifying saw Heidfeld in seventh and Sarrazin twelfth. The race was not much better, with Heidfeld being excluded for a pit stop infringement and Sarrazin finishing where he started. With no points scored their championship hopes were starting to dwindle. Punta del Este was up next to finish off 2014.
However, once again it proved to be another frustrating race. Qualifying was average with the race only yielding one point form Heidfeld’s finish in tenth. Even though he found himself leading the race after a safety car (brought out by his teammate crashing) it was not to be as he served a penalty for exceeding the amount of energy a driver is allowed to use.
However, after a successful testing session in Punta del Este in which Sarrazin finished on top, the team once again had high hopes for the fourth round in Buenos Aires in an attempt to kick start their season. Qualifying presented a third place for Heidfeld and eleventh on the grid for Sarrazin. Into the first corner of the race, Heidfeld overtook Alguersuari for second and was looking odds on to finish on the podium. A long safety car period later, Heidfeld once again led the pack for a brief time before having to serve a penalty for speeding in the pits, and he ultimately came home eighth with Sarrazin tenth after Salvador Duran’s exclusion.
Overall, it has been an increasingly frustrating opening campaign from Venturi. A combination of driver mistakes and small team errors have led to communication faults and pit lane blunders. They have the ability to win and finish on the podium for the remainder of the season and arguably bad luck has got in the way of that thus far. Nevertheless, they may have what it takes, the only issue is that all of the other teams on the grid have that ability too, making Formula E an incredibly competitive and entertaining series.
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