Mexico City ePrix Race Report
The FIA Formula E Championship headed north for Round 5 in Mexico City, Mexico. Simona de Silvestro had her best qualifying effort of the 2015/2016 season starting her No. 28 Amlin Andretti car from the 11th position. de Silvestro finished 15th after losing position due to driving off course late in the race. Teammate Robin Frijns’ qualifying efforts were delayed due to an on track incident by Nelson Piquet Jr. After the long delay track conditions changed and played factor into Frijns qualifying. Frijns started his No. 27 Amlin Andretti car 12th but with smart driving Frijns attacked late in the race and finished sixth overall.
The team also faced mid-race drama when the No. 25 car struck Team Manager Rob Arnott in pit lane during the car change. Arnott was marking the garage for Frijns when the No. 25, who followed Frijns down pit lane, struck Arnott with the back left tire while entering his garage. Arnott was examined by track medical staff and released.
The Andretti Formula E Team hopes to dazzle the home crowd as the series next races in the United States for Round 6 in Long Beach, California on 2 April.
Roger Griffiths, Co-Team Principal of Andretti Formula E Team
“Pretty pleased with the sixth place finish for Robin after what I felt was a slightly disappointing qualifying session,” Griffiths said. “I felt he drove a very smart race, conserving energy. At the same time he was making solid passes on other competitive drivers out there. For Simona it’s disappointing for a 15th place finish after she drove what I thought was a solid first stint but a late off track excursion dropped her down several spots. ”However, probably most importantly, we’re relieved our Team Manager Rob Arnott is ok after being hit in the pit lane by the No. 25 car during the car change. We’re glad he’s back on his feet and is going to be alright.”
Robin Frijns, No. 27 Amlin Andretti Spark-Renault SRT_01E
• Qualified 12th and finished sixth for Round 5 of Formula E competition.
• This is Frijns’ fifth consecutive top-ten finish.
“The race was good with the first car and I had a nice and good fight with my teammate,” Frijns said. “I over took her, she over took me back and I overtook her back so that was good fun. Then in the pit stop I parked the car and I heard something in the back and I didn’t know what it was but Roger and my engineers were standing in front of the second car so I was pushing Rob to the side. I really didn’t know what was going on but when I jumped in the car I saw Rob was really dizzy standing there. I asked after the race, and he’s alright so that’s good.
“With the second car it went really well. I overtook Sarrazin from the first lap onward but Simona couldn’t over take him so she was really unlucky. She lost ground to the group I was in, but her pace was good. Good enough to easily follow us. I was driving behind bird and Heidfeld, I had a little gap and I was saving a lot of energy to have an attack for the last five laps, which I did. I saw that bird was using a lot of energy to take over Heidfeld; it took him a couple of laps to over take him and when he eventually overtook him and it only took me one corner to overtake Heidfeld. Then I went for Bird and overtook him also in one go so I had quite a lot of energy left for defending him off so everything went planned.”
Simona de Silvestro, No. 28 Amlin Andretti Spark-Renault SRT_01E
• Started 11th and finished 15th for Round 5 of Formula E competition.
• 11th is de Silvestro’s best qualifying effort for the 2015/2016 season.
“We had a pretty good qualifying, pretty good first stint,” de Silvestro said. “Second stint we really struggled a bit and kind of were stuck behind some people and couldn’t get around them. Near the end I went a little bit in the grey and lost two positions there. So, a bit frustrating but first stint was good so we’ll remember that one. The team did a really good job the whole weekend. It was fun because you know qualifying was pretty good and we were right there in the first car.”
The FIA Formula E Championship next heads to Long Beach, California for Round 6 of competition on 2 April 2016. In the meantime, stay tuned to Amlin-AndrettiFE.com for updates and go behind the scenes with team via Twitter @AmlinAndrettiFE.
