NEW YORK – Nissan e.dams added to its points tally thanks to Sébastien Buemi’s fifth place finish in Round 11 of the 2021/22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, having run in the podium positions earlier in the race.
The Swiss driver made it through to the qualifying duels at the Brooklyn Street Circuit and lined up fifth for the first race of the double-header. A fast start saw him move into third early on, where he would stay for several laps.
Late in the race, a sudden downpour caused mayhem in the field, with Buemi among a host of drivers to be caught out. Maximilian Günther, who had been running out of the points, kept his car on the track in treacherous conditions to move up into the top ten before the red flag was thrown. Race Control made the decision not to restart, reinstating Buemi to fifth and Günther to 12th.
In Round 12, the team were unable to replicate their Saturday pace as both Buemi and Günther narrowly missed out on the Duels. The pair finished the race 13th and 17th respectively, with the German disqualified after the race due to excess energy usage.
“As we expected, this track was more suited to our car and we were able to show improved pace on Saturday,” said Tommaso Volpe, general manager Nissan Formula E and managing director Nissan e.dams Formula E team. “Séb did really well to move into the Duels and he almost made it to the semi-finals. Max was close too, but he clipped the wall on his final lap, meaning he missed out. Our mechanics did an amazing job to complete the repairs in time for the race. Both drivers were happy with the car and felt good, with Séb able to run in P3 for a while. After the red flag and the countback, Séb was classified in P5, scoring 10 points for the team. Max also had good pace, but the points were just out of reach. On Sunday we didn’t quite have the same speed, we’re looking into the reasons behind that. It was another tight qualifying session – a few tenths would’ve made a massive difference, but we didn’t quite have it. There wasn’t much we could do in the race, which was disappointing given our performance on Saturday, but we are satisfied with the points and will look to finish the season in a positive way.”
Formula E returns in two weeks’ time for the penultimate race weekend of the season in London, as the series returns to the ExCeL London’s unique semi-indoor circuit.
Nissan races in this all-electric world championship to bring the excitement and fun of zero-emission electric vehicles to a global audience. As part of its goal to achieve carbon neutrality across its operations and the life cycle of its products by 2050, Nissan intends to electrify every all-new vehicle offering by the early 2030s in key markets. The Japanese automaker aims to bring its expertise in transferring knowledge and technology between the racetrack and road for better electric vehicles for customers.
Driver Quotes
Sébastien Buemi
“We had a very good day on Saturday, making it through to the Duels and scoring a lot of points. Fifth in qualifying was an excellent result and we showed our pace with a great start, running P3 for a long time. P5 and 10 points is a solid return, so we were very pleased with that result. The second race was a bit more difficult, we didn’t quite have the same speed in qualifying and couldn’t move forwards. Still, we can be happy with our points and take the lessons on to London.”
Maximilian Günther
“The weekend started well, I had a great feeling on track and we had strong pace. In qualifying I was third after the first run and was on another good lap, but unfortunately I clipped the wall and we weren’t able to make the Duels, which would have been possible given our speed. I’m grateful to the crew for their incredible work to fix the car in time to make it to the grid, so a massive thank you to them. The starting position compromised our chances, but we still moved forwards and we were P7 when the red flag came out. The race wasn’t restarted, which was a shame as we dropped back to P12 on the countback. On Sunday we had a good start and fought a lot with the cars around us. Sadly, I was pushed wide at one point and lost several places. In the end we got disqualified – it wasn’t meant to be this weekend for me, but we’ll keep pushing ahead of London in two weeks.”
