2016 London ePrix

The 2016 London ePrix (formally the 2016 FIA Formula E Visa London ePrix) were two Formula E motor races that took place on the 2–3 July 2016 on the Battersea Park Street Circuit in Battersea Park, London. They were the ninth and tenth rounds of the 2015–16 Formula E season, the last of the second season of Formula E. They were also the 20th and 21st Formula E races overall and this was the second edition of the London ePrix. Prior to the race it was announced by Formula E that the races would not take place in Battersea Park in future years and that a street circuit location would be sought. This followed a High Court challenge to the race taking place in a public park and the way that Wandsworth Council had acted to continue the races despite opposition from park users. The court case against the Council was withdrawn after an agreement was reached between the claimant and Formula E that the 2016 race would be the last. For the 2019–20 season, the race was due to return, but at ExCeL London, however the race was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It eventually returned on the 2020–21 season.

Background Lucas di Grassi and Sébastien Buemi entered the finale of the season as title contenders with only one point splitting the two. With 60 points to grasp in the final two rounds, Sam Bird was also mathematically in contention of the title.

Race One

Qualifying results Driver Team 1 8 Nico Prost Renault e.Dams 1:23.247 1:27.192 1 2 88 Bruno Senna Mahindra Racing 1:24.279 1:27.758 2 3 21 Oliver Turvey NextEV TCR 1:23.969 1:28.284 3 4 27 Robin Frijns Amlin Andretti 1:24.363 1:29.500 4 5 25 Jean-Éric Vergne DS Virgin Racing 1:26.799 — 5 6 66 Daniel Abt ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 1:29.814 6 7 2 Sam Bird DS Virgin Racing 1:30.453 7 8 23 Nick Heidfeld Mahindra Racing 1:32.367 8 9 4 Stéphane Sarrazin Venturi Formula E Team 1:33.660 15 10 6 Loïc Duval Dragon Racing 1:35.315 9 11 11 Lucas di Grassi ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 1:35.711 10 12 7 Jérôme d'Ambrosio Dragon Racing 1:35.727 11 13 77 Ma Qing Hua Team Aguri 1:36.748 16 14 9 Sébastien Buemi Renault e.Dams 1:36.771 12 15 12 Mike Conway Venturi Formula E Team 1:37.562 13 16 55 António Félix da Costa Team Aguri 1:38.501 14 17 1 Nelson Piquet Jr. NextEV TCR 1:38.922 18 18 28 Simona de Silvestro Amlin Andretti 1:50.455 17Source: Notes

- Stéphane Sarrazin, Ma Qing Hua and Nelson Piquet Jr. were handed grid penalties due to mechanical changes.

- Simona de Silvestro did not set a full power lap.

Race results DriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints18 Nico ProstRenault e.dams3353:56.683125+3221 Bruno SennaMahindra Racing33 +5.244218325 Jean-Éric VergneDS Virgin Racing33 +8.195515411 Lucas di GrassiAudi Sport ABT33 +8.914111259 Sébastien BuemiRenault e.dams33 +10.0521410655 António Félix da CostaTeam Aguri33 +10.90816872 Sam BirdDS Virgin Racing33 +10.9867687 Jérôme d'AmbrosioDragon Racing33 +12.106124912 Mike ConwayVenturi33 +12.456152104 Stéphane SarrazinVenturi33 +15.918911177 Ma Qing HuaTeam Aguri33 +38.40013121 Nelson Piquet Jr.NextEV TCR33 +52.0281721323 Nick HeidfeldMahindra Racing33 +1:01.26481428 Simona de SilvestroAmlin Andretti33 +1:03.079181588 Oliver TurveyNextEV TCR30Accident3Ret6 Loïc DuvalDragon Racing23Electronics10Ret27 Robin FrijnsAmlin Andretti19Accident4Ret66 Daniel AbtAudi Sport ABT19Accident6 Source:

Notes – Three points for pole position. – Two points for fastest lap. - Nick Heidfeld received a drive through penalty converted into a 50-seconds time penalty for using the fanboost twice. - Simona de Silvestro received a drive through penalty converted into a 50-seconds time penalty for exceeding the maximum energy.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 Lucas di Grassi 153 2 Sébastien Buemi 150 2 3 Nicolas Prost 90 1 4 Sam Bird 88 1 5 Jérôme d'Ambrosio 68

Teams' Championship standings +/– Constructor Points 1 e.Dams-Renault 240 2 Audi Sport ABT 203 3 Virgin 140 4 Dragon 114 5 Mahindra 95

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

Race Two

Qualifying results Buemi took the pole position for race two. He was level-headed with di Grassi, who would start in third, ahead of the race in terms of the championship points. Driver Team 1 9 Sébastien Buemi Renault e.Dams 1:22.106 1:22.033 1 2 8 Nico Prost Renault e.Dams 1:22.878 1:22.948 2 3 11 Lucas di Grassi ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 1:23.245 1:22.975 3 4 88 Oliver Turvey NextEV TCR 1:23.183 1:23.685 4 5 23 Nick Heidfeld Mahindra Racing 1:23.343 1:24.827 5 6 66 Daniel Abt ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 1:23.494 6 7 25 Jean-Éric Vergne DS Virgin Racing 1:23.783 7 8 2 Sam Bird DS Virgin Racing 1:23.930 8 9 1 Nelson Piquet Jr. NextEV TCR 1:23.937 9 10 6 Loïc Duval Dragon Racing 1:23.938 10 11 7 Jérôme d'Ambrosio Dragon Racing 1:23.952 11 12 12 Mike Conway Venturi Formula E Team 1:24.054 12 13 21 Bruno Senna Mahindra Racing 1:24.171 13 14 55 António Félix da Costa Team Aguri 1:24.273 14 15 4 Stephane Sarrazin Venturi Formula E Team 1:24.311 15 16 27 Robin Frijns Amlin Andretti 1:24.655 16 17 28 Simona de Silvestro Amlin Andretti 1:24.823 17 18 77 Ma Qing Hua Team Aguri 1:26.259 18 Source:

Race results The race start saw a controversial move by di Grassi on Buemi. The ABT collided with the Renault as di Grassi tried to out-brake the Renaults. Both cars were out of the race in turn 2. If neither of the two drivers scored points, di Grassi would secure the drivers' championship by an extra 3rd place finish. However, as the second cars were still available, both drivers returned to the race trying to get the fastest lap, which would award an extra 2 points. It was impossible to finish the full distance of the race. Buemi has run a faster fastest lap than di Grassi and thus secured the championship.

The race was won by Buemi's teammate Nico Prost. It was Prost's third and final race victory in Formula E. The race win also helped secure the Team's title for Renault e.dams.

DriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints18 Nico ProstRenault e.dams3356:32.649225266 Daniel AbtAudi Sport ABT33 +7.63361837 Jérôme d'AmbrosioDragon Racing33 +22.524111546 Loïc DuvalDragon Racing33 +23.290101254 Stéphane SarrazinVenturi33 +24.9841510621 Bruno SennaMahindra Racing33 +27.174138723 Nick HeidfeldMahindra Racing33 +1:07.54456825 Jean-Éric VergneDS Virgin Racing33 +1:08.002 7491 Nelson Piquet Jr.NextEV TCR33 +1:14.270921088 Oliver TurveyNextEV TCR33 +1:22.216411155 António Félix da CostaTeam Aguri33 +1:58.324 141277 Ma Qing HuaTeam Aguri32 +1 Lap181312 Mike ConwayVenturi32 +1 Lap12Ret11 Lucas di GrassiAudi Sport ABT18Retired3Ret9 Sébastien BuemiRenault e.dams16Retired12+3 Ret27 Robin FrijnsAmlin Andretti11Accident16Ret28 Simona de SilvestroAmlin Andretti9Accident17Ret2 Sam BirdDS Virgin Racing6Throttle8 Source:

Notes – Three points for pole position. – Two points for fastest lap. - Nick Heidfeld, Jean-Éric Vergne and António Félix da Costa received a drive through penalty converted into a 50-seconds time penalty for exceeding the maximum energy. - Jean-Éric Vergne received a 1-second time penalty for an unsafe release. - António Félix da Costa received a drive through penalty converted into a 50-seconds time penalty for driving off the track.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 1 Sébastien Buemi 155 1 2 Lucas di Grassi 153 3 Nicolas Prost 115 4 Sam Bird 88 5 Jérôme d'Ambrosio 83

Teams' Championship standings +/– Constructor Points 1 e.Dams-Renault 270 2 Audi Sport ABT 221 3 Virgin 144 4 Dragon 143 5 Mahindra 105

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

References

2016 London ePrix

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