With all the buzz about this weekend’s London ePrix races, we take a brief look at the likely championship winning contenders. Following AutoVolt’s poll asking, who will win the inaugural Formula E championship, the answers are a clear 58% believe Nelson Piquet Jr will win, compared to 29% for Lucas di Grassi and just 13% believe Sébastien Buemi will take home victory. Each of the top three drivers entering the London ePrix have a good chance of winning, with the track being new to each of them. Out of the three drivers, Lucas di Grassi posted the third quickest practice time (1:29.006s), compared to Nelson Piquet’s best effort of 1:29.514s and Sébastien Buemi’s 1:29.684s. One thing is for sure, both London ePrix races are going to be excitingly close. Piquet Jr said:
“We have to approach this race just like any other race, we have done the same preparation, same simulations, same hard work as for all the other races”. “Everybody is under pressure, one notices that in the team, from mechanics to engineers and staff, everybody. It is normal but we just have to stick with what we have done in all the other races and we will be fine”. We will take the event day by day, first focus on the Saturday like any other Saturday and approach Sunday as a complete new race. Winning this first FIA Formula E Championship is very important to us, it was a long time ago since I won my last Championship.”
Meanwhile, although not in the running for outright championship victory, British driver Sam Bird is looking to win on his home turf. Although the track is of course, new to all the drivers, Sam will likely have a large fanbase behind him. After Friday practice, he posted the second best lap time. He said:
“It is incredible to think that we are now approaching the final race of the FIA Formula E championship. To have watched the series grow from a concept to a sell-out race in the heart of London is phenomenal. My highlight of the season so far was my victory in Malaysia, but I am hoping that after this weekend in Britain’s capital, I will have another new favourite race and a couple of trophies to take home with me. The track is in the beautiful Battersea Park and we are so close to London’s iconic sites. The layout is a mixture of high-speed bends, challenging chicanes and braking zones so the London ePrix spectators will be treated to some close, fast racing with plenty of action. I’m ready to put on a great show for my home crowd!”
After Friday practice, however, Stéphane Sarrazin was quickest for Venturi, although his season has been fraught with disappointment and two DNFs.
Whoever wins overall, the clear winner is the Formula itself, having successfully gained an impressive global following in just its first year of competition. Today’s race will be broadcast live on ITV4 and ITV4HD between 3-5PM.
Current driver and team standings are as follows:
Driver Standings (top 10 before London ePrix)
- Nelson Piquet Jr, 128pts
- Lucas di Grassi, 111pts
- Sébastien Buemi, 105pts
- Nicolas Prost, 82pts
- Jerome D’Ambrosio, 77pts
- Sam Bird, 68pts
- Jean-Eric Vergne, 55pts
- Antonio Felix da Costa, 51pts
- Daniel Abt, 32pts
- Nick Heidfeld, 31pts
Team Standings (before London ePrix)
- e .dams-Renault FormulaE, 187pts
- Audi Sport ABT Formula E, 143pts
- NEXTEV TCR Formula E, 132pts
- Dragon Racing Formula E, 116pts
- Andretti Formula E, 104pts
- Virgin Racing Formula E, 98pts
- Amlin Aguri Formula E, 62pts
- Venturi Formula E, 49pts
- Mahindra Racing, 46pts
- Trulli Formula E, 17pts
