It was a bitter sweet day for
Mahindra Racing as one of their drivers Karun Chandhok came in 19th
without finishing the face after a broken rear suspension, even while his team
mate Bruno Senna finished fifth in the in an action-packed Buenos Aires ePrix.
Senna was one of the FanBoost winners too at the race.
The race in Argentina finally
saw Antonio Felix da Costa surging ahead of the pack to clinch victory in the ePrix
ahead of e.dams-Renault’s Nicolas Prost and China Racing’s Nelson Piquet Jr.
The Amlin Aguri driver kept
clear of trouble and slowly made his way into the lead as his rivals fell by
the wayside. Both pole sitter Sebastien Buemi and championship leader Lucas di
Grassi retired with suspension failures at the fast Turn 8 and 9 chicane.
Following a post-race
investigation the stewards excluded Amlin Aguri driver Salvador Duran from the
final classification for exceeding the maximum power usage.
China Racing’s Nelson Piquet,
who finished third, was handed a 5-place grid penalty at the next race for
speeding under yellow flags. Jarno Trulli will also have a 10-place grid
penalty for changing his gearbox. This was stated in a press release issued by
FIA Formula E.
Piquet picked up his second
consecutive podium despite being held behind the red light and losing a lap in
the pitlane during the safety car period.
The Qualcomm Safety Car was deployed after Mahindra Racing’s Karun
Chandhok also fell victim to broken rear suspension at the Turn 8 and 9
chicane. Piquet wasn’t the only driver to be effected by the confusion as a
number of drivers had to pass the safety car to unlap themselves.
Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird was
part of the lead group but he picked up a drive-through penalty for ignoring
the pit exit lights.
Bruno Senna, who was one of the FanBoost winners, finished fifth ahead
of a feisty Jean-Eric Vergne who damaged his nosecone in the fight for the
final podium spot.
Venturi’s Nick Heidfeld looked
favourite to win in the closing stages but a drive-through penalty for speeding
in the pitlane scuppered his chances.
Da Costa, who missed the
opening round in Beijing, progressed up the field from eighth on the grid to
collect the full 25 points.
Prost managed to steer clear
of the battle between Daniel Abt and Jaime Alguersuari in the closing stages,
an over-optimistic move by the Audi Sport ABT driver sent the Spaniard into a
spin. Abt was out on the spot, but Alguersuari managed to limp his car home in
fourth.
Before being disqualified,
Salvador Duran had clinched four points in eighth ahead of Heidfeld in ninth.
Vebturi’s Stephane Sarrazin rounded out
the top-10 positions while Formula E debutant Marco Andretti came home in 12th
place.
Before the race all the
drivers, teams and the Formula E Championship together with the City of Buenos
Aires, Argentinean authorities and the FIA President Jean Todt gathered on the
grid for a minute silence to pay respect to the victims of the dramatic
terrorist attack which happened in Paris earlier this week.
The race attracted a sell-out
crowd of around 20,000 who also witnessed the first round of the Formula E
School Series, which was won by Lucas Gambante representing the Antonio Bermejo
school.
FIA Formula E Championship –
Buenos Aires ePrix (Rd 4) – Race results:
1. Antonio Felix da Costa,
Amlin Aguri, 48:52.100
2. Nicolas Prost,
e.dams-Renault, +5.354s
3. Nelson Piquet Jr, China
Racing, +8.552s
4. Jaime Alguersuari, Virgin
Racing, +11.148s
5. Bruno Senna, Mahindra
Racing, +11.535s
6. Jean-Eric Vergne, Andretti,
+11.535s
7. Sam Bird, Virgin Racing,
+13.617s
8. Nick Heidfeld, Venturi,
+15.464s
9. Oriol Servia, Dragon
Racing, +19.334s
10. Stephane Sarrazin,
Venturi, +28.973s
11. Ho-Pin Tung, China Racing,
+37.858s
12. Marco Andretti,
Andretti,+1 lap
13. Daniel Abt, Audi Sport
ABT, +2 laps
14. Jerome d’Ambrosio, Dragon
Racing, +2 laps
15. Jarno Trulli, Trulli, DNF
16. Lucas di Grassi, Audi
Sport ABT, DNF
17. Sebastien Buemi,
e.dams-Renault, DNF
18. Michela Cerruti, Trulli,
DNF
19. Karun Chandhok, Mahindra
Racing, DNF
Salvador Duran, Amlin Aguri, Excluded