The 2015 Punta del Este ePrix (officially the 2015 FIA Formula E Julius Baer Punta del Este ePrix) was a Formula E motor race held on 19 December 2015 at the Punta del Este Street Circuit in Punta del Este, Uruguay. It was the second Punta del Este ePrix and the third championship race of the 2015–16 Formula E season, the second season of the single-seater, electrically powered racing car series. The race was won by Swiss driver Sébastien Buemi from team Renault .
Report
Background
For this year, the circuit was slightly modified. The first corner was changed, instead of a right-left chicane it is now left-right. The idea behind this change is to make the pit exit much safer than last year, where the cars were exiting the pits on the racing line.
Mahindra driver Nick Heidfeld missed the event, after undergoing surgery to repair ligament damage in his wrist after a crash at the previous race in Putrajaya. He was replaced by Formula Renault 3.5 champion Oliver Rowland, from Great Britain.
Team Trulli withdrew from the championship after failing to enter their new drivetrain for the first two events. Therefore, only 18 drivers participated in this race and also for the rest of the season.
Venturi driver Jacques Villeneuve crashed in qualifying. His team was unable to repair the damage in time for race day, and the Canadian was subsequently withdrawn.
Classifications
Qualifying DriverTeamTimeGap19 Sébastien BuemiRenault e.Dams1:15.0115211 Lucas di GrassiABT Schaeffler Audi Sport1:15.115 +0.104437 Jérôme d'AmbrosioDragon Racing1:15.481 +0.470146 Loïc DuvalDragon Racing1:15.748 +0.737252 Sam BirdDS Virgin Racing1:15.790 +0.779368 Nicolas ProstRenault e.Dams1:15.913 +0.9026766 Daniel AbtABT Schaeffler Audi Sport1:15.993 +0.9827855 António Félix da CostaTeam Aguri1:16.014 +1.0038921 Bruno SennaMahindra Racing1:16.048 +1.03791088 Oliver TurveyNEXTEV TCR1:16.154 +1.143101127 Robin FrijnsAmlin Andretti1:16.255 +1.24411121 Nelson Piquet Jr.NEXTEV TCR1:16.300 +1.28912134 Stéphane SarrazinVenturi1:16.353 +1.342131477 Nathanaël BerthonTeam Aguri1:17.573 +2.562141528 Simona de SilvestroAmlin Andretti1:18.281 +3.270151623 Oliver RowlandMahindra Racing1:19.414 +4.403161725 Jean-Éric VergneDS Virgin Racing1:19.946 +4.935171812 Jacques VilleneuveVenturi1:28.451 +13.44018Source: Notes:
– Final grid position of top five qualifiers determined by Super Pole shootout.
Super Pole DriverTeamTimeGap17 Jérôme d'AmbrosioDragon Racing1:15.498126 Loïc DuvalDragon Racing1:15.875 +0.377232 Sam BirdDS Virgin Racing1:16.109 +0.6113411 Lucas di GrassiABT Schaeffler Audi Sport1:16.635 +1.137459 Sébastien BuemiRenault e.Dams1:19.811+4.3135Source:
Race
Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 9 Sébastien BuemiRenault 33 45:59.697 525+2 2 11 Lucas di GrassiABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 33 +3.534 418 3 7 Jérôme d'AmbrosioDragon Racing 33 +6.725 115+3 4 6 Loïc DuvalDragon Racing 33 +6.807 212 5 8 Nicolas ProstRenault 33 +21.057 610 6 55 António Félix da CostaTeam Aguri 33 +22.410 88 7 25 Jean-Éric VergneDS Virgin Racing 33 +57.726 176 8 66 Daniel AbtABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 33 +1:00.744 74 9 4 Stéphane SarrazinVenturi 33 +1:03.559 132 10 27 Robin FrijnsAmlin Andretti 33 +1:03.840 111 11 28 Simona de SilvestroAmlin Andretti 32 +1 lap 15 12 88 Oliver TurveyNEXTEV TCR 32 +1 lap 10 13 23 Oliver RowlandMahindra Racing 32 +1 lap 16 14 77 Nathanaël BerthonTeam Aguri 32 +1 lap 14 Ret 1 Nelson Piquet Jr.NEXTEV TCR 31 Crash 12 Ret 21 Bruno SennaMahindra Racing 26 Damage 9 Ret 2 Sam BirdDS Virgin Racing 17 Battery 3DNS12 Jacques VilleneuveVenturi0Crash Damage— Source:
Notes: – Two points for fastest lap. – Three points for pole position. – Jacques Villeneuve did not start the race due to the heavy accident during Friday's qualifying session, he had to withdraw.
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Sébastien Buemi 62 2 Lucas di Grassi 61 3 Jérôme d'Ambrosio 28 4 Sam Bird 24 5 Loïc Duval 24
Teams' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Renault 73 2 ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 71 3 Dragon Racing 52 4 DS Virgin Racing 30 5 Mahindra Racing 27
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
External links
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