2015 Punta del Este ePrix

The 2015 Punta del Este ePrix (officially the 2015 FIA Formula E Julius Baer Punta del Este ePrix^[1]) was a Formula E motor race held on 19 December 2015 at the Punta del Este Street Circuit in Punta del Este, Uruguay. It was the second Punta del Este ePrix and the third championship race of the 2015–16 Formula E season, the second season of the single-seater, electrically powered racing car series.^[2] The race was won by Swiss driver Sébastien Buemi from team Renault e.Dams.^[3]

2015 Punta del Este ePrix
Race 3 of 10 of the 2015–16 Formula E season ← Previous race Next race →
Layout of the Punta del Este Street Circuit
Race details
Date	19 December 2015
Official name	2015 FIA Formula E Julius Baer Punta del Este ePrix
Location	Punta del Este, Uruguay
Course	Street circuit
Course length	2.79 km (1.73 miles)
Distance	33 laps, 91.91 km (57.11 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing
Time	1:15.498
Fastest lap
Driver	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams
Time	1:17.413 on lap 23
Podium
First	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams
Second	Lucas di Grassi	ABT
Third	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing
Lap leaders

First lap of the 2015 Punta del Este ePrix

North hairpin at the 2015 Punta del Este ePrix

Podium ceremony at the 2015 Punta del Este ePrix

Report

Background

For this year, the circuit was slightly modified. The first corner was changed, instead of a right-left chicane it is now left-right. The idea behind this change is to make the pit exit much safer than last year, where the cars were exiting the pits on the racing line.^[4]

Mahindra driver Nick Heidfeld missed the event, after undergoing surgery to repair ligament damage in his wrist after a crash at the previous race in Putrajaya. He was replaced by Formula Renault 3.5 champion Oliver Rowland, from Great Britain.^[5]

Team Trulli withdrew from the championship after failing to enter their new drivetrain for the first two events. Therefore, only 18 drivers participated in this race and also for the rest of the season.^[6]

Venturi driver Jacques Villeneuve crashed in qualifying. His team was unable to repair the damage in time for race day, and the Canadian was subsequently withdrawn.^[7]

Classifications

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Grid
1	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	1:15.011		51
2	11	Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	1:15.115	+0.104	41
3	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	1:15.481	+0.470	11
4	6	Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	1:15.748	+0.737	21
5	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	1:15.790	+0.779	31
6	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	1:15.913	+0.902	6
7	66	Daniel Abt	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	1:15.993	+0.982	7
8	55	António Félix da Costa	Team Aguri	1:16.014	+1.003	8
9	21	Bruno Senna	Mahindra Racing	1:16.048	+1.037	9
10	88	Oliver Turvey	NEXTEV TCR	1:16.154	+1.143	10
11	27	Robin Frijns	Amlin Andretti	1:16.255	+1.244	11
12	1	Nelson Piquet Jr.	NEXTEV TCR	1:16.300	+1.289	12
13	4	Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi	1:16.353	+1.342	13
14	77	Nathanaël Berthon	Team Aguri	1:17.573	+2.562	14
15	28	Simona de Silvestro	Amlin Andretti	1:18.281	+3.270	15
16	23	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra Racing	1:19.414	+4.403	16
17	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS Virgin Racing	1:19.946	+4.935	17
18	12	Jacques Villeneuve	Venturi	1:28.451	+13.440	18
Source:[8]

Notes:

• ^1 – Final grid position of top five qualifiers determined by Super Pole shootout.

Super Pole

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Grid
1	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	1:15.498		1
2	6	Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	1:15.875	+0.377	2
3	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	1:16.109	+0.611	3
4	11	Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	1:16.635	+1.137	4
5	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	1:19.811	+4.313	5
Source:[8]

Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	33	45:59.697	5	25+22
2	11	Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	33	+3.534	4	18
3	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	33	+6.725	1	15+33
4	6	Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	33	+6.807	2	12
5	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.dams	33	+21.057	6	10
6	55	António Félix da Costa	Team Aguri	33	+22.410	8	8
7	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS Virgin Racing	33	+57.726	17	6
8	66	Daniel Abt	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	33	+1:00.744	7	4
9	4	Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi	33	+1:03.559	13	2
10	27	Robin Frijns	Amlin Andretti	33	+1:03.840	11	1
11	28	Simona de Silvestro	Amlin Andretti	32	+1 lap	15
12	88	Oliver Turvey	NEXTEV TCR	32	+1 lap	10
13	23	Oliver Rowland	Mahindra Racing	32	+1 lap	16
14	77	Nathanaël Berthon	Team Aguri	32	+1 lap	14
Ret	1	Nelson Piquet Jr.	NEXTEV TCR	31	Crash	12
Ret	21	Bruno Senna	Mahindra Racing	26	Damage	9
Ret	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	17	Battery	3
DNS	12	Jacques Villeneuve	Venturi	0	Crash Damage4	—
Source:[8]

Notes:

• ^2 – Two points for fastest lap.
• ^3 – Three points for pole position.
• ^4 – Jacques Villeneuve did not start the race due to the heavy accident during Friday's qualifying session, he had to withdraw.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Sébastien Buemi 62 2 Lucas di Grassi 61 3 Jérôme d'Ambrosio 28 4 Sam Bird 24 5 Loïc Duval 24

Teams' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Renault e.Dams 73 2 ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 71 3 Dragon Racing 52 4 DS Virgin Racing 30 5 Mahindra Racing 27

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.