The 2015–16 FIA Formula E Championship was the second season of the FIA Formula E championship, held from 24 October 2015 to 3 July 2016. The season saw seven new manufacturers, who were allowed to develop new power trains, specifically the e-motor, the inverter, the gearbox and the cooling system. Nelson Piquet Jr. was the defending Drivers' Champion and Renault the defending teams' champion. After ten rounds, Sébastien Buemi won the championship by just two points over Lucas di Grassi after setting the fastest lap in the final race, where neither driver finished following an opening lap crash and several attempts to set the fastest lap in their second cars. Renault retained the teams' championship.

Teams and drivers The second season was planned to again feature ten teams that were essentially identical from the inaugural season. But, the withdrawal of Trulli after failing to enter the first two races left nine teams competing for the 2015–16 season. Additionally, there were eight manufacturers of power trains that worked together with or were part of the individual teams. Initially only Team Aguri decided to keep the power train from the previous season, while Dragon used the Venturi power train. Due to the regulations, all teams used the same chassis as in the first season. The eight manufacturers were homologated by the FIA in August 2015. After troublesome preseason testing, Andretti decided to revert to the power train from the inaugural season. All teams used the mandated Spark chassis.

Team Powertrain Drivers Rounds 1 All 88 Oliver Turvey All 2 Sam Bird All 25 Jean-Éric Vergne All Venturi Formula E Team 4 Stéphane Sarrazin All 12 1–3 Mike Conway 4–10 Dragon Racing 6 Loïc Duval All 7 All Renault 8 Nicolas Prost All 9 Sébastien Buemi All Trulli Formula E Team 10 Salvador Durán 1‡ Jarno Trulli 2‡ 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi 1–2‡ 11 Lucas di Grassi All 66 Daniel Abt All Mahindra Racing Formula E Team 21 Bruno Senna All 23 Nick Heidfeld 1–2, 4–10 Oliver Rowland 3 Amlin Andretti Formula E Team 27 Robin Frijns All 28 All Team Aguri 55 1–7, 9–10 René Rast 8 77 Nathanaël Berthon 1–3 Salvador Durán 4–6 Ma Qinghua 7–10 Source: ‡ Drivers were present at the first two rounds of the championship, but the team failed to pass scrutineering both times.

Team changes All ten teams from the first season intended to compete in season two, with some name changes due to sponsorship changes or manufacturer cooperations. Eight teams became manufacturers and produce components either by themselves or with a technology partner: Abt (with Schaeffler), Andretti, (with Renault) Mahindra, NEXTEV, Trulli (with Motomatica), Venturi, and Virgin (with DS Automobiles). On 25 August 2015, Andretti decided to retain the powertrain from the previous season. After failing to pass scrutineering of their new drivetrain for the first two races, Trulli withdrew from the championship, leaving 9 teams to compete for the rest of the season.

Driver changes Karun Chandhok, Jaime Alguersuari and Jarno Trulli; who raced for Mahindra, Virgin and Trulli respectively in the 2014–15 season; announced that they would not compete in 2015–16. Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve joined Venturi, replacing Nick Heidfeld, who moved to Mahindra. Jean-Éric Vergne, who joined Andretti mid-way through the 2014–15 season, moved to Virgin for a full-time drive, replacing Alguersuari. 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 champion Robin Frijns joined the series, driving for Andretti, replacing Vergne. Salvador Durán, who competed for Amlin Aguri during the 2014–15 season, joined the Trulli team, replacing Jarno Trulli. Oliver Turvey, who raced for Team China in the London round of the 2014–15 season, joined the team full-time. GP2 Series veteran Nathanaël Berthon was chosen for the second Team Aguri seat.

Mid-season changes Following a hand injury sustained in Putrajaya, Nick Heidfeld was forced to miss the next round in Punta del Este. He was replaced by reigning Formula Renault 3.5 champion Oliver Rowland. After three rounds with the Venturi team, Jacques Villeneuve left due to a "disagreement on the direction of the team". His seat was taken by Mike Conway. After three rounds Salvador Durán re-joined Team Aguri for the rest of the season after they split with Nathanaël Berthon. The Mexican driver already competed in nine rounds of the first season for Team Aguri. After another three rounds, he was replaced by Chinese driver Ma Qinghua for the Paris ePrix. Ma then competed in the Berlin ePrix and the two races of the London ePrix. Due to a DTM commitment, António Félix da Costa missed round 8 at Berlin, but returned for the London ePrix. His replacement was endurance racer René Rast. Due to a Super GT commitment, Oliver Turvey was set to be replaced by European Le Mans Series driver Ben Hanley at the Berlin ePrix. However, the Super GT event was postponed because of the Kumamoto earthquakes, and Turvey was reinstated into his NEXTEV TCR seat.

Rule changes The rules were opened up for the second season, in keeping with the series' long-term plan to use a single car over the course of a race instead of two separate chassis. Teams were free to pursue their own development of the powertrain, including the e-motor, inverter, gearbox and cooling system. The maximum power usage during the race was increased from to . The total allowed energy consumption from the battery remained limited to 28 kWh.

Calendar The season was scheduled to include 11 races, held between October 2015 and July 2016. The final calendar was approved by the World Motor Sport Council in October 2015. However, in May 2016, the Moscow ePrix was cancelled "due to recent and unforeseen circumstances related to road closures", reducing the season to 10 races.

Round ePrix Country Track Date 1 Beijing ePrix 24 October 2015 2 Putrajaya ePrix Putrajaya Street Circuit 7 November 2015 3 Punta del Este ePrix Punta del Este Street Circuit 4 Buenos Aires ePrix Puerto Madero Street Circuit 6 February 2016 5 Mexico City ePrix Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez 12 March 2016 6 Long Beach ePrix Long Beach Street Circuit 2 April 2016 7 Paris ePrix France Paris Street Circuit 23 April 2016 8 Berlin ePrix Berlin Street Circuit 21 May 2016 9 Battersea Park Street Circuit 2 July 2016 10 London ePrix Race 2 3 July 2016 Source:

Calendar changes The Miami ePrix was dropped after the first season. The Monaco ePrix did not feature in this season's calendar, but returned the following season. The Mexico City ePrix - the first race on a permanent racing circuit - and the Paris ePrix were new additions to the calendar. The Berlin ePrix moved from Tempelhof Airport to the city centre. The Moscow ePrix was cancelled in mid-season.

ePrix locations

Race results Round Race Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Report 1 Beijing Sébastien Buemi Sébastien Buemi Sébastien Buemi Renault Report 2 Putrajaya Sébastien Buemi Sébastien Buemi Lucas di Grassi ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport Report 3 Punta del Este Jérôme d'Ambrosio Sébastien Buemi Sébastien Buemi Renault Report 4 Buenos Aires Sam Bird Jérôme d'Ambrosio Sam Bird DS Virgin Racing Formula E Team Report 5 Mexico City Jérôme d'Ambrosio Nicolas Prost Jérôme d'Ambrosio Dragon Racing Report 6 Long Beach Sam Bird Sébastien Buemi Lucas di Grassi ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport Report 7 Paris Sam Bird Nick Heidfeld Lucas di Grassi ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport Report 8 Berlin Jean-Éric Vergne Bruno Senna Sébastien Buemi Renault Report 9 London Nicolas Prost Nicolas Prost Renault Report 10 Sébastien Buemi Nicolas Prost Renault e.Dams Source: Notes

Championship standings

Points system Championship points are awarded as follows: Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th  Pole Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 3 2 Unlike the previous season, all results count towards the total.

Drivers' Championship Driver BEI PUT PDE BUE MEX LBH PAR BER LDN 1 Sébastien Buemi 1 12 1 2 2 16 3* 1* 5* Ret* 1552 Lucas di Grassi 2 1 2 3* DSQ* 1* 1 3 4* Ret* 1533 Nicolas Prost Ret 10 5 5 3 11 4 4 1 11154 Sam Bird 7* 2 Ret* 1* 6 6 6 11 7 Ret 885 Jérôme d'Ambrosio 5 14† 3 16 1 7* 11 16 8 3836 Stéphane Sarrazin 9 4 9* 4 9 2 5 10* 10 5*707 Daniel Abt 11 7 8 13 7 3 10 2 Ret 2688 Loïc Duval 4 16† 4 6 4 8 Ret* Ret Ret 4609 Jean-Éric Vergne 12 Ret 7* 11* 16* 13 2*5 3 85610 Nick Heidfeld 3 9* 7 8 4* 12 7* 13* 7 5311 Bruno Senna 13 5 Ret 10 10 5 915 2 65212 Robin Frijns 10 3 10 8 5 15 7 6 Ret Ret 4513 António Félix da Costa Ret 6 6 Ret Ret Ret 8 6 112814 Oliver Turvey 6* Ret* 12 9 11 12 13 12 15† 10 1115 Nelson Piquet Jr. 15†* 8* 15† 12 13 Ret Ret 13 12 9816 Mike Conway 15 12 10 14 8 9 13717 Nathanaël Berthon 8 15 14 418 Simona de Silvestro Ret 13 11 14 14 9 15 9 14 Ret 419 Ma Qinghua Ret 14 11 12 020 Jacques Villeneuve 14 11 DNS 021 Oliver Rowland 13 022 Salvador Durán DNP Ret 15* 14 023 René Rast NC 0 Vitantonio Liuzzi DNP DNP 0 Jarno Trulli DNP 0 Driver BEI PUT PDE BUE MEX LBH PAR BER LDN Source:Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap* – FanBoost Notes † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Teams' Championship Team BEI PUT PDE BUE MEX LBH PAR BER LDN Points 1 Renault 8 Ret 10 5 5 3 11 4 4 1 1 2709 1 12 1 2 2 16 3* 1* 5* Ret* 2 ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport11 2 1 2 3* DSQ* 1* 1 3 4* Ret* 22166 11 7 8 13 7 3 10 2 Ret 2 3 DS Virgin Racing2 7* 2 Ret* 1* 6 6 6 11 7 Ret 14425 12 Ret 7* 11* 16* 13 2* 5 3 8 4 Dragon Racing6 4 16† 4 6 4 8 Ret* Ret Ret 4 1437 5 14† 3 16 1 7* 11 16 8 3 5 Mahindra Racing21 13 5 Ret 10 10 5 9 15 2 6 10523 3 9* 13 7 8 4* 12 7* 13* 7 6 Venturi4 9 4 9* 4 9 2 5 10* 10 5* 7712 14 11 DNS 15 12 10 14 8 9 13 7 Amlin Andretti27 10 3 10 8 5 15 7 6 Ret Ret 4928 Ret 13 11 14 14 9 15 9 14 Ret 8 Team Aguri55 Ret 6 6 Ret Ret Ret 8 NC 6 11 3277 8 15 14 Ret 15* 14 Ret 14 11 12 9 NEXTEV TCR1 15†* 8* 15† 12 13 Ret Ret 13 12 9 1988 6* Ret* 12 9 11 12 13 12 15† 10 Trulli10DNPDNP 018DNPDNP Team BEI PUT PDE BUE MEX LBH PAR BER LDN Points Source:Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap* – FanBoost Notes † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

References

External links