Hmm a mixed bag for our current & ex Ferrari boys.
JEV got the win
Pascal Wehrlein finished 7th
While Felipe finished just out of the points in 11th and Sam had a DNF......................................just read Montara got a penalty so Felipe has been propelled to 10th.
If you missed the race Brembo this news is for you.
Forza Jules
INTERVIEW: TEAM MANAGER LEON PRICE REFLECTS ON SANYA FRUSTRATIONS
Coming away from Sanya without any points was frustrating last weekend, especially as both Sam [Bird] and Robin [Frijns] were taken out of contention through no fault of their own.
However, as anyone who knows Envision Virgin Racing, we are never down for long at all and we always look forward to the next opportunity.
Last weekend was the first round in Formula E’s five year history that our Managing Director Sylvain Filippi had missed a race.
He had a pretty good excuse though, as he was back in the UK awaiting the birth of his second child.
Chris [Gorne] and I have been responsible for the operational side of the team for a while now, so apart from Sylvain not being actually on site at the track it was much the same setup for us this weekend.
Chris majors on the technical side and I do the operational and sporting roles, it works well. We were also in regular contact with Sylvain throughout the event.
In practice Sam and Robin were reasonably happy with the cars and the run programs we did in addition to the setup work. It was generally positive and they both felt pretty happy.
Qualifying in Formula E is super tough. Group 1 is a hard group to be in because the drivers are always still feeling the conditions and in some ways pioneering the session.
Sam struggled for grip as he was the first out and the conditions were challenging for him and he ended up back in 16th on the grid.
Robin lined up in 12th and by his own admittance didn’t quite get the maximum from his lap, so he was a bit disappointed. It is such a fine line in qualifying and Robin lost a bit of time in the last sector.
Still, from the sixth row of the grid, and knowing what a great racer Robin is, we knew that a good points haul was in the offing for us.
The race pace was there as Robin showed and he immediately started to cut through the pack, something which he is so good at and has shown it time and time again.
He managed to muscle his way passed [Pascal] Wehrlein, then [Edoardo] Mortara and then [Jerome] d’Ambrosio in the early stages.
We elected to take quite an early first Attack Zone boost for Robin and he was tucked up behind Lucas di Grassi’s Audi.
He then made a very impressive move around the outside on di Grassi, probably one of the moves of the season so far in my book.
This got him seventh position and he stayed there until Sims’ red flag triggering accident which elevated him to sixth.
At the restart Robin had to defend from di Grassi but ultimately was unable to resist a robust move which made some contact between the cars.
Despite this we were still in a good position, but going into the final laps [Sebastien] Buemi made a move going into the hairpin and we all saw what happened next.
The contact Buemi made on Robin pushed him into di Grassi and it was instantly game over with a damaged car.
There was little Robin could have done because when you are hit from the rear it puts the rear wheels up in the air and he had no brakes, so he was just a passenger really.
It was a big shame for Robin who had driven brilliantly up until that point.
Similarly, we were sure that Sam would have followed Robin through and have been able to grab a few points at least.
Sadly, it was never to be as he got taken out on the first lap by [Stoffel] Vandoorne. This damaged the rear of the car and probably the driveshaft which meant he was out on the spot, so you had to feel for Sam really.
Despite this frustration we were still in the lead of the championship which was at least a decent positive to take away from Sanya.
It was great to welcome the Founder and CEO of Envision, Lei Zhang, to the garage on race day. His presence and support really gave us some extra impetus at Envision Group’s home event at Sanya.
The Envision Virgin Racing team worked very hard again at the weekend but on this occasion it went unrewarded.
Our confidence is still high though because we know we have a great team and a quick car, so we go to Rome hungry to not only defend our championship lead but also to try and extend it.
Formula E is just so competitive this season and there is no one team that is dominating, so I think we should be quite proud of where we are.
At the same time this is the type of team that keeps its feet firmly on the ground, so we will keep on striving to keep improving with every lap as we head to Rome for the start of the European leg of the championship.
CAVALLINO RAMPANTE PER SEMPRE
Thanks for that Rob, sorry for Sam and for you, but at least Felipe inherited a point so all was not lost for me! Salute amico.
I see Mercedes are entering the mix next year along with Porche.
I hope they are not going to dominate FE like they do elsewhere.
Forza Jules
Mercedes-Benz EQ completes maiden test with Vandoorne and Mortara
Ahead of its debut in the 2019/20 season of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, new entrant Mercedes-Benz EQ completed its first run with its Gen2 challenger at the Varano test track in Italy.
Behind the wheel of the Silver Arrow 01, was Mercedes 'sleeper team' HWA Racelab's Stoffel Vandoorne and Venturi's Edoardo Mortara. The 527 km, two-day shakedown was the first outing for the car since it broke cover at the Geneva motor show last month.
“Not only have we reached an important milestone, but we have also laid a solid foundation for further development,” said Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport.
With a background racing for Mercedes' DTM squad in 2017 and 2018, Mortara stepped in for usual HWA driver Gary Paffett who had other racing commitments.
Day one of testing saw the car complete 50 kilometres (the maximum allowed under the regulations), while the remaining two days were dedicated to collecting and analysing data about the first version of the power unit and the rest of the drive assembly.
“When a new racing car comes to life for the first time and goes out onto the track, that’s always a very special moment,” said Wolff.
"But there is still a lot of work to do before our race debut when the next season starts towards the end of this year.”
Alongside the test, Ian James was confirmed as the Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz Formula E Ltd. Before starting with the team, James gained experience within a number of different positions within the Daimler group.
“We are very pleased with the progress made during our first test with the new car,” said James.
“The first days of testing at Varano were a very important step in the development of our team. We brought together experts from our different sites at Affalterbach, Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart, and at the end of a successful three days, they left as members of a team – it was the birth of the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team.
"In the coming weeks and months, many more milestones will follow on the way to our first race.”
CAVALLINO RAMPANTE PER SEMPRE
CAVALLINO RAMPANTE PER SEMPRE
Here we go again to-morrow as FE arrives in Mexico.
Good luck to all our Ferrari associated boys.
Forza Jules
My god did I say Mexico of course I meant Rome thank you Wisepie.
Not a drop of Malbec has passed my lips!mores the pity.
It was a race full of incidents with a pile up at one point.
Yet Felipe kept his nose clean and was both well inside the top 10 only to be struck with gremlins.
JEV fought hard to get in the top 10 after having a disastrous quali starting in 17th. He found himself in the pile up and had to climb back up again into the points only to be hit by a 10 second stop and go penalty so he's out of the points as is Sam.
Only Pascal managed 1 point.
Clearly the formula e Gods were not on song to-day.
Lets hope the F1 God's smile on us to-morrow.
Forza Jules
Formula E boss Alejandro Agaghe believes there could be cooperation with F1
There has been an ever-present tension between Formula 1 and Formula E with many racing fans enjoying both of the racing series. Bernie Ecclestone believes that in the future the two Formulas may be made to join forces. Formula E boss Alejandro Agaghe believes that the two are compatible and that in the future there could even be cooperation.
http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/vi...interestquot_/
Hmm some people may not want to hear this.
Forza Jules
I am clinging to the hope that F1 with an internal combustion engine will last as long as I do, electric F1 is probably on the cards eventually but I doubt there will ever be as much fan-base as F1 has traditionally had, and it's already on the wane. Not surprising as it's Formula Mercedes anyway, I suppose. The world is at an end.
Why doesn't F-E use the F-1 tracks when available? I'm sure they can get a years worth of openings at the main tracks. The street races are great but toooo tight!
Watched the two previous races as I needed to work off the anger from some bad Ferrari performances (and they're easily available on iPlayer). The race tracks are an utter farce, reminding me of Monte Carlo in a supermarket car park. Whenever a driver makes a mistake hitting a wall, it is more than likely the car behind will follow and cause a pile up. Rank amateurs. I will be looking elsewhere for my supplemental racing fixes in future.
Oh dear you don't enjoy the complete unpredictability of the races. Just imagine if we had 8 F1 races with a different winner at each. Maybe the viewing figures would escalate and the footfall at all races.
Personally I find it the perfect antidote to some of the "bad performances in F1" and I can sit back and laugh a little after all the nail biting.
I do agree however that the race tracks are boring and I would like to see some improvement in that department!!!!
Also I wouldn't insult the talented drivers who drive in this formula. It can't be that awful if all the main manufacturers are queueing up to join.
Electric is the future after all
Let your hair down and enjoy
Forza Jules
I never thought of it that way. I just thought that along with having former F-1 drivers and possibly Merc and other F-1 names coming into F-E , having a few F-1 tracks on the menu would be smart marketing as far as drawing more fans. Electric power alone should be a different enough concept for their marketing ideas. I would think the tracks would like to take in the profits of having an extra menu also.
I think Brembo maybe the tracks are expensive to use and these transient tracks are so much cheaper. FE is run I believe on a tight budget.
Just a thought.
Forza Jules
Well that was an exciting race with plenty of spills and thrills to raise excitement in the most reluctant of motorsport fan.
Drivers who have worked for Ferrari took 3 out of the top 4 places.
JEV drove a very spirited race from pole to finish in first. Felipe gained his first podium in FE and Pascal kept Felipe honest finishing in 4th.
Sam drove well gaining 10 places only to crash out near the end. Surely his stroke of bad luck is over now.
Forza Jules
Well said Wisepie! Not knowing who's going to win or the podium line up; makes F-E all the more interesting for fans. And having Felipe on the podium surely did the trick this race!
Formula -E welomes Team Merc to the group! de Vires and Vandoorne will be the drivers.
Wait. There’s a Formula E race going on outside my window. And I didn’t even know
-Lou(is)
Forza Ferrari 16/15
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