Initially known as Super Aguri, heaping back to the veteran teams F1 days, Amlin came on as title sponsor and with them British female racer Katherine Legge and the Red Bull backed Antonio Felix da Costa, but they struggled in pre-season testing.
With da Costa missing testing and the first race due to DTM commitments, and Legge testing in America occasionally, the team also employed former GP2 champion Fabio Leimer and IndyCar racer and official FIA Formula E test driver Takuma Sato, who ended up racing alongside Legge in the first round in Beijing. Qualifying fourteenth and sixteenth, the team were about where they expected to be after their testing issues. Legge finished fifteenth and a lap down, while Sato failed to finish but did pick up two points for the fastest lap. So Amlin headed to Putrajaya with two points and da Costa taking over from Sato.
Qualifying looked to be improving, as the Portuguese racer lined up eleventh on the grid with Legge again in sixteenth. The race itself was a tale of mixed fortunes, with da Costa picking up more solid points with an eighth place finish while Legge was given two penalties: one for a collision and another for changing a system on her car, culminating in a grid penalty for the next round.
With Legge on testing duties in America, Mexican driver Salvador Duran took her place for the Punta del este round. Qualifying was again towards the back of the grid, with the race proving fruitless as da Costa retired and Duran finished four laps down. However, the ensuing test brought joy to the Amlin garages as something clicked and they were heading to Argentina with huge amounts of optimism.
Duran and da Costa were once again on driving duties, and qualifying was once more lacklustre, with da Costa eighth and Duran sixteenth on the grid. However, the chaotic race played right into Amlin’s hands. A great strategy and energy saving meant da Costa had steady power throughout the race and quick thinking by the team led to da Costa being unaffected by the Safety Car havoc. Superb driving and overtaking led to da Costa finding himself in the lead as those ahead of him faltered and led da Costa and Amlin to their first win of the season. Duran initially made it a double points finish for the team but was later excluded for exceeding the maximum energy usage.
It looks like Amlin are on the up, but with da Costa having to miss some upcoming rounds due to DTM commitments as well as Duran and Legge’s lack of car time, there is perhaps a worry they might lose momentum, even if the championship is not realistic, more points and podiums are certainly on the cards.
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