Formula e – Sébastien Buemi: “The car was perfect”

Since his coronation in London last July, after a bitter duel against the Brazilian Lucas di Grassi (ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport), Sébastien Buemi remains undefeated in Formula e. After Hong Kong and Marrakech at the end of last year, it is in Buenos Aires in Argentina that the pilot Renault e.dams once again dominated its rivals yesterday.

« Seulement » troisième sur la grille de départ, le pilote du Toyota Gazoo Racing WEC quickly demonstrated a superior pace to his direct opponents Jean-Eric Vergne (Techeetah) and Lucas di Grassi, and climbed into first position after six laps before flying to success.

“It was an excellent weekend and it’s great to end it with a victory,” comments the winner of the day. I think my start was better than Jean-Éric's, but I didn't really try to attack him in the first corner.

I stayed second for a few laps to compare our pace. When I saw that I was a little faster than him, I took the opportunity. After that, the car was perfect and there were no problems stopping thanks to the great work of the team.

From a driver's point of view, I am very happy since I didn't make any mistakes. This weekend it was really important to score as many points as possible and it's great to win three times in a row this season. The pole position points are missing, but I am more than happy with the result. »

Qualifying still remains the main point of improvement according to the management of the French team, which however seems to have largely mastered its subject in this 2016-2017 campaign.

“We manage to make continuous progress in all areas, even as our rivals continually improve and push us to work ever harder to stay at the top, recognizes Vincent Gaillardot, Renault Sport project manager.

It was a good weekend, but we need to step up our work on qualifying. With Argentina being one of the hottest tracks on the calendar, there were some challenges, but we were well prepared for different scenarios and it wasn't as hot as expected. We had other strategies in case of rain or extreme temperatures. Everything was under control. »

An unprecedented result, both in the discipline and for the Swiss, since it is the first time that a driver has achieved three consecutive victories in Formula e. Buemi, for his part, won for the first time on a track that had been denied him for two years.

Find the full report of the Buenos Aires ePrix, in issue 2102 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.