2014–15 Formula E Championship Explained

The 2014–15 FIA Formula E Championship was the inaugural season of a new FIA championship for electrically powered cars.[1] It began on 13 September 2014 at Beijing in China and finished on 28 June 2015 in London after eleven races.[2] [3] Nelson Piquet Jr. came first in the overall standings, and so became the first ever Formula E champion.[4]

The car

For the first season, all teams were supplied an electric racing car built by Spark Racing Technology, called the Spark-Renault SRT 01E. The chassis was designed by Dallara, with an electric motor developed by McLaren (the same as that used in its P1 supercar), a battery system created by Williams Grand Prix Engineering and a Hewland five-speed gearbox. Michelin were the official tyre supplier.[5] [6] [7] 42 electric cars were ordered by the FIA.[8]

Teams and drivers

For the 2014–15 season, 10 teams contested the series. Each team fielded two drivers; each driver had two cars. That meant that 40 cars were required by the teams. All teams were ostensibly based at the sport's technical headquarters at the Donington Park race circuit, in the United Kingdom, although some teams had a greater presence there than others. Formula E organiser FEH itself has offices there for administration and operations staff.

All ten teams were confirmed to race in April 2014. However, in June 2014, Drayson Racing pulled out of the championship, with its entry taken by Trulli, a new team formed by former Formula One driver Jarno Trulli. Drayson entered the team in a supply and sponsorship arrangement, to be its principal technology partner.[9]

TeamDriversRounds
Virgin Racing Formula E Team[10] 2 Sam Bird[11] All
3 Jaime Alguersuari1–9
Fabio Leimer[12] 10–11
Mahindra Racing Formula E Team5 Karun Chandhok[13] All
21 Bruno SennaAll
Dragon Racing Formula E Team6 Oriol Servià[14] [15] 1–4
Loïc Duval[16] 5–11
7 Jérôme d'Ambrosio[17] All
Team e.dams Renault8 Nicolas Prost[18] All
9 Sébastien BuemiAll
Trulli Formula E Team10 Jarno TrulliAll
18 Michela Cerruti[19] 1–4
Vitantonio Liuzzi[20] 5–9
Alex Fontana[21] 10–11
Audi Sport ABT Formula E Team11 Lucas di Grassi[22] All
66 Daniel AbtAll
Venturi Formula E Team23 Nick Heidfeld[23] All
30 Stéphane SarrazinAll
Andretti Autosport Formula E Team27 Franck Montagny[24] 1–2
Jean-Éric Vergne[25] 3–11
28 Charles Pic[26] 1
Matthew Brabham[27] 2–3
Marco Andretti[28] 4
Scott Speed[29] 5–8
Justin Wilson[30] 9
Simona de Silvestro[31] 10–11
Amlin Aguri[32] 55 Takuma Sato[33] 1
António Félix da Costa[34] 2–9
Sakon Yamamoto[35] 10–11
77 Katherine Legge1–2
Salvador Durán[36] 3–11
China Racing Formula E Team(Round1-6)

NEXTEV TCR Formula E Team(Round7-11)[37]

88 Ho-Pin Tung[38] [39] 1–2, 4
Antonio García[40] 3, 9
Charles Pic[41] 5–8
Oliver Turvey[42] 10–11
99 Nelson Piquet Jr.[43] All

Calendar

The season included 11 races, held between September 2014 and June 2015. The initial calendar had ten races and was approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council in December 2013.[2] However, in April 2014, changes were made to the calendar including dropping Rio de Janeiro, which had previously replaced Hong Kong, and moving the Los Angeles round to 4 April.[45] On 22 May 2014, Los Angeles County officials announced that their race would take place 40km (30miles) away on a modified version of the Long Beach street circuit.[46] On 3 February 2015, it was revealed that a race would be held in Moscow on 6 June to restore the calendar to its original schedule of ten races.[3] On 19 February 2015, it was announced that the final round in London would be a double-header, expanding the calendar to eleven races.[47]

RoundePrixCountryTrackDate
1Beijing ePrixBeijing Olympic Green Circuit13 September 2014
2Putrajaya ePrixPutrajaya Street Circuit22 November 2014
3Punta del Este ePrixPunta del Este Street Circuit13 December 2014
4Buenos Aires ePrixPuerto Madero Street Circuit10 January 2015
5Miami ePrixBiscayne Bay Street Circuit14 March 2015
6Long Beach ePrixLong Beach Street Circuit4 April 2015
7Monaco ePrixCircuit de Monaco9 May 2015
8Berlin ePrixTempelhof Airport Street Circuit23 May 2015
9Moscow ePrixMoscow Street Circuit6 June 2015
10London ePrix Race 1Battersea Park Street Circuit27 June 2015
11London ePrix Race 228 June 2015
Source:[48]

Race results

RoundRacePole positionFastest lapWinning driverWinning teamReport
1 Beijing Nicolas Prost Takuma Sato Lucas di Grassi Audi Sport ABTReport
2 Putrajaya Nicolas Prost Jaime Alguersuari Sam Bird Virgin RacingReport
3 Punta del Este Jean-Éric Vergne Daniel Abt Sébastien Buemi e.dams RenaultReport
4 Buenos Aires Sébastien Buemi Sam Bird António Félix da Costa Amlin AguriReport
5 Miami Jean-Éric Vergne Nelson Piquet Jr. Nicolas Prost e.dams RenaultReport
6 Long Beach Daniel Abt Nicolas Prost Nelson Piquet Jr. NEXTEV TCRReport
7 Monaco Sébastien Buemi Jean-Éric Vergne Sébastien Buemi e.dams RenaultReport
8 Berlin Jarno Trulli Nelson Piquet Jr. Jérôme d'Ambrosio Dragon RacingReport
9 Moscow Jean-Éric Vergne Sébastien Buemi Nelson Piquet Jr. NEXTEV TCRReport
10 London Sébastien Buemi Lucas di Grassi Sébastien Buemi e.dams RenaultReport
11 Stéphane Sarrazin Sam Bird Sam Bird Virgin Racing
Source:[49]

Championship standings

Points systemChampionship points were awarded as follows:[45]
Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th Pole
Points25181512108642132
Each driver's lowest-scoring round was dropped from their total; however, rounds where the driver was excluded from the race could not be dropped.

Drivers' Championship

valign=middlevalign=middleDriverBEI
PUT
PDE
BUE
MIA
LBH
MCO
BER
MSC
LDN
valign=middle
1 Nelson Piquet Jr.8Ret2351*3*4*1*5*7*144
2 Sébastien BuemiRet31Ret13412*9*15*143
3 Lucas di Grassi1*23Ret932DSQ2*46133
4 Jérôme d'Ambrosio6581446511122113
5 Sam Bird31Ret78Ret*48Ret61103
6 Nicolas Prost1247211461087(10)88 (89)
7 Jean-Éric Vergne14†*6*18†*2*Ret*74316†70
8 António Félix da Costa8Ret167911751
9 Loïc Duval79Ret3158342
10 Bruno SennaRet*14†*65*Ret*5Ret171616440
11 Daniel Abt10101513†315Ret145Ret1132
12 Nick Heidfeld13†DSQ*10*8*1211105313Ret31
13 Jaime Alguersuari11954118Ret121330
14 Stéphane Sarrazin912Ret10Ret107614101522
15 Scott Speed2Ret121318
16 Franck Montagny2DSQ18
17 Karun Chandhok5613Ret1412131812121318
18 Charles Pic41716815*16
19 Oriol Servià779916
20 Jarno TrulliRet164Ret15Ret111918†15Ret15
21 Salvador Durán16*DSQ10*RetRet*16617813
22 Oliver Turvey9*9*4
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi1613NC9172
24 Takuma SatoRet2
25 Justin Wilson101
26 Ho-Pin Tung1611110
27 Simona de Silvestro11120
28 Antonio García11190
29 Michela Cerruti14Ret12Ret0
30 Marco Andretti120
31 Matthew Brabham13Ret0
32 Fabio Leimer14Ret0
33 Alex FontanaRet140
34 Katherine Legge15*15*0
Sakon YamamotoRet*Ret0
valign=middlevalign=middleDriverBEI
PUT
PDE
BUE
MIA
LBH
MCO
BER
MSC
LDN
valign=middle
Source:[50]
Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
* – FanBoost
(parentheses) – Round dropped from total
Notes:† – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Teams' Championship

The points system was the same as the Drivers' Championship, except that all rounds counted towards the total.

TeamBEI
PUT
PDE
BUE
MIA
LBH
MCO
BER
MSC
LDN
Points
1 e.dams Renault8124721146108710232
9Ret31Ret13412*9*15*
2 Dragon Racing6779979Ret31583171
76581446511122
3 Audi Sport ABT111*23Ret932DSQ2*46165
6610101513†315Ret145Ret11
4 NEXTEV TCR88161111111716815*199*9*152
998Ret2351*3*4*1*5*7*
5 Virgin Racing231Ret78Ret*48Ret61133
311954118Ret121314Ret
6 Andretti272DSQ14†*6*18†*2*Ret*74316†119
28413Ret122Ret1213101112
7 Amlin Aguri55Ret8Ret1679117Ret*Ret66
7715*15*16*DSQ10*RetRet*166178
8 Mahindra Racing55613Ret1412131812121358
21Ret*14†*65*Ret*5Ret1716164
9 Venturi2313†DSQ*10*8*1211105313Ret53
30912Ret10Ret1076141015
10 Trulli10Ret164Ret15Ret111918†15Ret17
1814Ret12Ret1613NC917Ret14
TeamBEI
PUT
PDE
BUE
MIA
LBH
MCO
BER
MSC
LDN
Points
Source:[51]
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.

Notes and References

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  2. News: The final 2013 meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) took place today (4 December) in Paris, France.. 4 December 2013. fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 4 December 2013.
  3. News: Formula E: Moscow ePrix puts series calendar back to 10 races . 3 February 2015. FOXSports.com. 27 February 2015.
  4. Web site: Nelson Piquet Jr. wins first ever Formula E title . ITV . 28 June 2015.
  5. News: Michelin confirmed as official tyre supplier for FIA Formula E Championship. Formula E Operations. FIA Formula E Championship. 28 March 2013. 2013-03-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20130405021153/http://formula-e-news.com/the-federation-internationale-de-lautomobile-fia-has-today-confirmed-that-michelin-will-be-the-official-tyre-supplier-for-the-fia-formula-e-championship/. 2013-04-05. dead.
  6. News: Renault signs with Spark Racing Technology and Formula E Holdings as Technical Partner in the FIA Formula E Championship. Formula E Operations. FIA Formula E Championship. 15 May 2013. 2013-05-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20130612092454/http://formula-e-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/FE007-Renault-signs-with-Spark-Racing-Technology-and-Formula-E-Holdings-as-Technical-Partner-in-the-FIA-Formula-E-Championship.pdf. 2013-06-12. dead.
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  8. Web site: Formula E buys 42 electric racers for 2014 circuit. green.autoblog.com. 18 November 2012.
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  14. News: Oriol Servia to race for Dragon in Beijing. Formula E Operations. FIA Formula E Championship. 5 September 2014. 5 September 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140906155937/http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2014/september/oriol-servia-to-race-for-dragon-in-beijing.aspx. 6 September 2014. dead. dmy-all.
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  16. News: Duval gets Dragon seat for Miami. Formula E Operations. FIA Formula E Championship. 9 March 2015. 9 March 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402122034/http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/march/duval-gets-dragon-seat-for-miami.aspx. 2 April 2015. dead. dmy-all.
  17. News: Jerome d'Ambrosio to compete in Formula E with Dragon Racing. Formula E Operations. FIA Formula E Championship. 22 July 2014. 22 July 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140728115857/http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2014/july/jerome-dambrosio-to-compete-in-formula-e-with-jay-penskes-dragon-racing.aspx. 28 July 2014. dead. dmy-all.
  18. News: Buemi, Prost confirmed as e.dams drivers. GPUpdate.net. 30 June 2014. 30 June 2014.
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  30. News: Justin Wilson to race for Andretti in Moscow. 27 May 2015. 27 May 2015. Formula E Operations. FIA Formula E Championship. https://web.archive.org/web/20150627140144/http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/may/justin-wilson-to-race-for-andretti-in-moscow.aspx. 27 June 2015. dead. dmy-all.
  31. News: De Silvestro to race in Visa London ePrix. 14 June 2015. 15 June 2015. Formula E Operations. FIA Formula E Championship. https://web.archive.org/web/20150627115749/http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/june/de-silvestro-to-race-in-london-eprix.aspx. 27 June 2015. dead. dmy-all.
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