2014 Punta del Este ePrix

The 2014 Punta del Este ePrix, formally the 2014 FIA Formula E Julius Baer Punta del Este ePrix[1] was a Formula E motor race held on 13 December 2014 at the Punta del Este Street Circuit in Punta del Este, Uruguay. It was the first Punta del Este ePrix and the third championship race of the single-seater, electrically powered racing car series' inaugural season, the first in the Americas.[2]

2014 Punta del Este ePrix
Race 3 of 11 of the 2014–15 Formula E season
Layout of the Punta del Este Street Circuit
Layout of the Punta del Este Street Circuit
Race details
Date 13 December 2014
Official name 2014 FIA Formula E Julius Baer Punta del Este ePrix
Location Punta del Este, Uruguay
Course Street circuit
Course length 2.80 km (1.70 miles)
Distance 31 laps, 86.80 km (52.7 miles)
Pole position
Driver Andretti
Time 1:15.408
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Daniel Abt Audi Sport ABT
Time 1:18:451 on lap 22
Podium
First e.dams Renault
Second China Racing
Third Audi Sport ABT
Lap leaders
The 2014 Punta del Este ePrix was the first race of the Formula E history in the Americas.

Report

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Background

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Jean-Éric Vergne, Salvador Duran and Antonio Garcia were brought in to replace Franck Montagny, Katherine Legge and Ho-Pin Tung respectively. Vergne, Durán and Nick Heidfeld were voted for to receive the FanBoost.

Race

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Jean-Éric Vergne started on pole position. Behind him were Nelson Piquet Jr., Nicolas Prost, and Sébastien Buemi. Piquet immediately overtook Vergne and Buemi overtook Prost, while the whole field safely squeezed through the first chicane. Nick Heidfeld used his FanBoost and went up to fifth position. On the fourth lap, Sam Bird went over a kerb in the first corner and, unable to steer, hit the wall. This brought out the safety car.

Green flags were waved on the sixth lap, but the race was soon neutralized again when Da Costa had to retire on track. After that, Vergne managed to pass Piquet for the lead. Buemi tried to pass him as well, but locked up his front wheels. Both drivers had to use the run-off area, but kept their positions.

On the sixteenth lap, Piquet had fallen back behind both e.dams drivers, and Vergne made his pit stop. Meanwhile, Stéphane Sarrazin's suspension failed when he hit a kerb and he crashed out. This brought out a third safety car. Bruno Senna had hit the wall in the same incident, but managed to switch cars at the same time as his rivals, without losing much time.

On the twentieth lap, Heidfeld was leading the race, but received a drive-through penalty for exceeding the maximum power usage. Nicolas Prost was then penalized in the same manner. This left the top three as Buemi, Vergne, Piquet. A fourth safety car was called on lap 27 when Matthew Brabham crashed exactly like Sarrazin did earlier.

With two laps left to race, Vergne used his FanBoost as soon as the safety car pulled off, but did not manage to take the lead. Buemi, however, cut the chicane and it was debated whether he should relinquish his position. Before any action was carried out, however, Vergne ran out of power and retired. He did score three points for his pole position. Buemi took the victory with Piquet second and Di Grassi third. Further back, Heidfeld used his FanBoost and managed to take tenth position, and with that a championship point, by beating Antonio Garcia to the line by just three hundreds of a second.

Results

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Qualifying

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Pos. No. Driver Team Time Gap Grid
1 27   Jean-Éric Vergne Andretti 1:15.408 1
2 99   Nelson Piquet Jr. China Racing 1:15.530 +0.122 2
3 8   Nicolas Prost e.dams-Renault 1:15.722 +0.314 3
4 9   Sébastien Buemi e.dams-Renault 1:15.842 +0.434 4
5 3   Jaime Alguersuari Virgin Racing 1:16.053 +0.645 5
6 11   Lucas di Grassi Audi Sport ABT 1:16.108 +0.700 6
7 10   Jarno Trulli Trulli 1:16.144 +0.736 7
8 23   Nick Heidfeld Venturi 1:16.225 +0.817 8
9 66   Daniel Abt Audi Sport ABT 1:16.374 +0.966 9
10 5   Karun Chandhok Mahindra Racing 1:16.416 +1.008 10
11 6   Oriol Servia Dragon Racing 1:16.811 +1.403 11
12 55   António Félix da Costa Amlin Aguri 1:16.865 +1.457 12
13 30   Stéphane Sarrazin Venturi 1:17.025 +1.617 13
14 88   Antonio García China Racing 1:17.653 +2.245 14
15 77   Salvador Duran Amlin Aguri 1:17.810 +2.402 15
16 18   Michela Cerruti Trulli 1:20.206 +4.798 16
17 7   Jérôme d'Ambrosio Dragon Racing no time 17
18 2   Sam Bird Virgin Racing no time 18
19 28   Matthew Brabham Andretti no time 19
20 21   Bruno Senna Mahindra Racing 20

Race

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Pos. No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 9   Sébastien Buemi e.dams-Renault 31 49:08.990 4 25
2 99   Nelson Piquet Jr. China Racing 31 +0.732 2 18
3 11   Lucas di Grassi Audi Sport ABT 31 +2.635 6 15
4 10   Jarno Trulli Trulli 31 +4.163 7 12
5 3   Jaime Alguersuari Virgin Racing 31 +4.698 5 10
6 21   Bruno Senna Mahindra Racing 31 +5.197 20 8
7 8   Nicolas Prost e.dams-Renault 31 +6.514 3 6
8 7   Jérôme d'Ambrosio Dragon Racing 31 +7.567 17 4
9 6   Oriol Servia Dragon Racing 31 +8.646 11 2
10 23   Nick Heidfeld Venturi 31 +10.563 8 1
11 88   Antonio Garcia China Racing 31 +10.594 14
12 18   Michela Cerruti Trulli 31 +19.617 16
13 5   Karun Chandhok Mahindra Racing 31 +54.175 10
14 27   Jean-Éric Vergne Andretti 29 Suspension 1 31
15 66   Daniel Abt Audi Sport ABT 28 +3 laps 9 22
16 77   Salvador Durán Amlin Aguri 27 +4 laps 15
Ret 28   Matthew Brabham Andretti 26 Accident 19
Ret 30   Stéphane Sarrazin Venturi 15 Suspension 13
Ret 55   António Félix da Costa Amlin Aguri 6 Mechanical 12
Ret 3   Sam Bird Virgin Racing 3 Accident 18

Notes:

  • ^1 – Three points for pole position.
  • ^2 – Two points for fastest lap.

Standings after the race

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  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

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  1. ^ "Punta del Este official programme". Formula E. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  2. ^ "Punta del Este, Uruguay – Round 3". fiaformulae.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
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Previous race:
2014 Putrajaya ePrix
FIA Formula E Championship
2014–15 season
Next race:
2015 Buenos Aires ePrix
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Punta del Este ePrix Next race:
2015 Punta del Este ePrix