Formula E once again put on a fantastic display of racing on Saturday evening as 20 cars took to the streets of Miami for the 2015 Miami ePrix, providing plenty of talking points as we head to the halfway point in this all electric championship.
The race itself wasn’t a crash-fest as previously seen but rather a show of true driver skill as the Miami fans were treated to some wonderful overtakes and strategies up and down the grid. However, only one man came out on top, e.Dams Renault driver Nico Prost. He battled hard throughout the race and after passing an energy conserving Daniel Abt was hard fought for the win by debutant Scott Speed in his Andretti Car. Nevertheless, Prost came home in the lead closely followed by Speed and then Abt batting with Jerome d’Ambrosio right at the end to hold on to his first podium of the season.
Prost’s First Win
Despite qualifying on pole position three times and leading several races, Prost has only managed to finish as high as second out in Buenos Aires. A number of factors are to blame such as collisions, penalties and unreliability. But on the streets of Miami he was finally able to turn out a win and with it, he takes the lead of the championship away from Lucas di Grassi.
Daniel Abt’s Breakthrough
After only scoring a measly four points with his bad luck seemingly following him over from GP2, the young German finally had a weekend to remember. After qualifying a solid fifth place, Abt kept up with the early front runners and after a smooth pit stop and those ahead of him suffering from problems, he found himself leading the race. It was a dream come true. Unfortunately, he was down on power and was forced to save dramatically allowing Prost to sneak up and overtake him, soon followed by Speed but still, Abt provided a sterling defence against the quick d’Ambrosio and fended the Belgian off to finish on the podium. Smiles all round then as the black cat that has appeared to be following Abt around for the last couple of years may have finally given up. However, it looks like its cropped up at the Mahindra Racing squad.
Mahindra’s Miserable Weekend
The popular Indian team suffered a miserable weekend. Although Karun Chandhok looked seeming happy during free practice, Bruno Senna was far from at home on the bumpy circuit. Chandhok, after a penalty was sent to the back of the grid from 16th while Senna, after further penalties were applied found himself starting from 15th position. A good start from both drivers saw them make progress but while Chandhok was stranded at the back of the field, unable to pass, Senna found himself in a battle with Salvador Duran, Loïc Duval and Sebastien Buemi. All were stuck behind newcomer Tonio Liuzzi but eventually, all made there way past and Senna, after pitting found himself in hot pursuit of Buemi and in 10th place. Unfortunately, his suspension collapsed, and unlike usual, Senna hadn’t slammed his car into the wall, making the issue a car failure and the team described this as ‘heartbreaking’. Chandhok couldn’t save the weekend either as he trailed home 14th behind Buemi.
Standout Drives
New comers Loïc Duval and Tonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed as well as Salvador Duran showed themselves well in the Miami heat. With the track construction running late, free practice was reduced to a single half-hour session. This hit series debutants Duval and Liuzzi hardest but not quite as much as Speed as he had tested the car in Donington so had half an idea of what to expect. After struggling in qualifying, Duval showed his Le Mans-winning class in the race, fighting his way up to seventh for Dragon. Liuzzi made a strong start and initially ran well, but he struggled with an overheating battery and faded to 16th for Trulli. Duran battled in the lower end of the points for a while, chopping and changing positions amongst Buemi, Senna and Liuzzi but eventually came out on top and scored his first point with his 10th place finish. First class honours however were reserved for American Scott Speed. While further back in the top-10, Speed was in inspired form. Having dispatched team-mate Vergne, he set about and passed d’Ambrosio and then di Grassi in short order. Pitting a lap earlier than his rivals and with Abt running low on energy, Prost could see Speed looming large in his mirrors, he knew he couldn’t afford to get stuck behind the German. He took the lead with a superb lunge, but Speed also took advantage of the compromised Abt, and forced his way into second. The American had Prost in his sights with a lap left to go. With both drivers giving 100 per cent, it was an enthralling final lap, with Prost doing just enough to hold on. Given that all three newcomers were very late in being called up, they all did a superb job in managing the cars and finishing the race.
Bird, Vergne, Di Grassi and Buemi
Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird chased down poleman Jean-Eric Vergne as the lead pair established a small margin over the chasing pack. The Brit pulled off a fine overtaking move to take the lead, but almost immediately had to slow to avoid over consuming his energy. The slow lap back to the pits dropped him to eighth place and out of the fight for the win. Vergne’s hopes were dashed by a long pitstop and then fading energy. With his pace compromised he slipped two laps behind and came home 18th – the last of the classified runners and the second DNF following a pole position. Although Di Grassi was circulating the top three, he was never a threat and in the end faded to ninth while Buemi was very underwhelming throughout the race and finished out of the points.
Another enthralling race leads the series to its halfway point and with five different drivers winning from the first five races, the battle to become the first ever FIA Formula E champion intensifies and continues next, in Long Beach, USA.
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