2015 Punta del Este ePrix explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 3 of 10 of the 2015–16 Formula E season
Previous Round:	2015 Putrajaya ePrix
Next Round:	2016 Buenos Aires ePrix
Country:	Uruguay
Grand Prix:	Punta del Este
Gp Suffix:	ePrix
Date:	19 December
Year:	2015
Official Name:	2015 FIA Formula E Julius Baer Punta del Este ePrix
Race No:	3
Season No:	11
Location:	Punta del Este, Uruguay
Course:	Street circuit
Course Km:	2.79
Course Mi:	1.73
Distance Laps:	33
Distance Km:	91.91
Distance Mi:	57.11
Pole Driver:	Jérôme d'Ambrosio
Pole Team:	Dragon Racing
Pole Time:	1:15.498
Pole Country:	BEL
Fast Driver:	Sébastien Buemi
Fast Team:	Renault
Fast Time:	1:17.413
Fast Lap:	23
Fast Country:	CHE
First Driver:	Sébastien Buemi
First Team:	Renault
First Country:	CHE
Second Driver:	Lucas di Grassi
Second Team:	ABT
Second Country:	BRA
Third Driver:	Jérôme d'Ambrosio
Third Team:	Dragon Racing
Third Country:	BEL

The 2015 Punta del Este ePrix (officially the 2015 FIA Formula E Julius Baer Punta del Este ePrix^[1]) 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.^[2] The race was won by Swiss driver Sébastien Buemi from team Renault .^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6]

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 His team was unable to repair the damage in time for race day, and the Canadian was subsequently withdrawn.^[7]

Classifications

Qualifying

		Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	1:15.011		5
2	11	Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	1:15.115	+0.104	4
3	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	1:15.481	+0.470	1
4	6	Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	1:15.748	+0.737	2
5	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	1:15.790	+0.779	3
6	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	1:15.913	+0.902	6
7	66	Daniel Abt	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	1:15.993	+0.982	7
8	55	António Félix da Costa	Team Aguri	1:16.014	+1.003	8
9	21	Bruno Senna	Mahindra Racing	1:16.048	+1.037	9
10	88	Oliver Turvey	NEXTEV TCR	1:16.154	+1.143	10
11	27	Robin Frijns	Amlin Andretti	1:16.255	+1.244	11
12	1	Nelson Piquet Jr.	NEXTEV TCR	1:16.300	+1.289	12
13	4	Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi	1:16.353	+1.342	13
14	77	Nathanaël Berthon	Team Aguri	1:17.573	+2.562	14
15	28	Simona de Silvestro	Amlin Andretti	1:18.281	+3.270	15
16	23	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra Racing	1:19.414	+4.403	16
17	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS Virgin Racing	1:19.946	+4.935	17
18	12	Jacques Villeneuve	Venturi	1:28.451	+13.440	18
Source:

Notes:

• – Final grid position of top five qualifiers determined by Super Pole shootout.

Super Pole

		Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	1:15.498		1
2	6	Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	1:15.875	+0.377	2
3	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	1:16.109	+0.611	3
4	11	Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	1:16.635	+1.137	4
5	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	1:19.811	+4.313	5
Source:

Race

		Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault	33	45:59.697	5	25+2
2	11	Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	33	+3.534	4	18
3	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	33	+6.725	1	15+3
4	6	Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	33	+6.807	2	12
5	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault	33	+21.057	6	10
6	55	António Félix da Costa	Team Aguri	33	+22.410	8	8
7	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS Virgin Racing	33	+57.726	17	6
8	66	Daniel Abt	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	33	+1:00.744	7	4
9	4	Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi	33	+1:03.559	13	2
10	27	Robin Frijns	Amlin Andretti	33	+1:03.840	11	1
11	28	Simona de Silvestro	Amlin Andretti	32	+1 lap	15
12	88	Oliver Turvey	NEXTEV TCR	32	+1 lap	10
13	23	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra Racing	32	+1 lap	16
14	77	Nathanaël Berthon	Team Aguri	32	+1 lap	14
Ret	1	Nelson Piquet Jr.	NEXTEV TCR	31	Crash	12
Ret	21	Bruno Senna	Mahindra Racing	26	Damage	9
Ret	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	17	Battery	3
DNS	12	Jacques Villeneuve	Venturi	0	Crash Damage	—
Source:^[8]

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

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1		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.

External links

|- style="text-align:center"|width="35%"|Previous race:
2015 Putrajaya ePrix|width="30%"|FIA Formula E Championship
2015–16 season|width="35%"|Next race:
2016 Buenos Aires ePrix|- style="text-align:center"|width="35%"|Previous race:
2014 Punta del Este ePrix|width="30%"|Punta del Este ePrix|width="35%"|Next race:
2018 Punta del Este ePrix|- style="text-align:center"

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bank Julius Baer returns as title sponsor in Punta del Este. Formula E Holdings Limited. 17 December 2015. 18 December 2015. 19 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151219174637/http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/december/bank-julius-baer-returns-as-title-sponsor-in-punta-del-este.aspx. dead.
2. Web site: Round 3 – 19 December 2015 – Punta del Este, Uruguay. Formula E. Formula E Holdings Limited. 9 November 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151114132653/http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/calendar/2015-punta-del-este.aspx. 14 November 2015. dead.
3. Web site: Buemi back on top. Formula E Holdings Limited. 19 December 2015. 20 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160425210816/http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/december/buemi-back-on-top.aspx. 25 April 2016. dead.
4. Web site: Punta del Este ePrix - Circuit guide. FIA Formula E. 2015-12-09. 2015-12-18. 2021-08-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20210821102935/https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/december/punta-del-este-eprix-track-guide.aspx. dead.
5. News: Oliver Rowland replaces injured Heidfeld. Formula E. Formula E Holdings Limited. 13 December 2015. 4 December 2015. 12 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151212171751/http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/december/oliver-rowland-replaces-injured-heidfeld.aspx. dead.
6. Web site: Trulli Formula E Team announce withdrawal from championship. 15 December 2015. fiaformulae.com. 18 December 2015. 22 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222074432/http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/december/trulli-announcement.aspx. dead.
7. News: Villeneuve to miss Punta race. FIA Formula E. 22 December 2015. 19 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151221184950/http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/december/villeneuve-to-miss-punta-del-este-eprix.aspx. 21 December 2015. dead.
8. News: PUNTA DEL ESTE ePRIX — Official FIA Formula E Championship. fiaformulae.com. FIA. 22 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222075758/http://fiaformulae.com/en/all-results/season-2/punta-del-este-eprix.aspx. 22 December 2015. dead. dmy-all.