Team: Amlin Andretti
Drivers: Simona de Silvestro and Robin Frijns
Team Principal: Roger Griffiths
2014/15 Championship: 6th (119 points)
Andretti, one of two American teams in the FIA Formula E Championship were a difficult team to follow during the inaugural season of the FIA Formula E Championship (especially their drivers), with a question along the lines of ‘how many drivers did Andretti use during the inaugural Formula E season?’ likely to come up in future Formula E related quizzes. The answer is nine different drivers, in case you weren’t following Formula E last season.
Though they used a variety of drivers, several of them had decent outings, and a few of them tasted success.
Andretti’s first driver pairing of Franck Montagny and Charles Pic got the team off to a good start in Beijing, where they ended the event top of the Teams’ Championship thanks to a second and fourth place from Montagny and Pic respectively. Both drivers inherited those positions after Nick Heidfeld’s attempt to overtake race leader Nicolas Prost on the final corner of the final lap ended in catastrophe. The incident handed race victory to Lucas di Grassi and second place to Andretti’s Franck Montagny. Beijing, however, was the best it got for Andretti throughout the inaugural season. There were some standout results including Scott Speed’s second in Miami and Jean-Éric Vergne’s second at Long Beach and third in London (helping him to finish seventh overall). Despite the solid start, the team slipped to a comfortable sixth place in the Teams’ Championship (119 pts), with Jean-Éric Vergne being their most successful driver (70 pts).
Heading into season two the team announced Simona de Silvestro (one of the nine drivers used last season) and Robin Frijns (former Formula One test driver for Sauber and Caterham) as their driver line-up for the 2015/16 season.
Amlin Andretti suffered a number of technical issues and software problems during testing, and only managed to complete 16 laps before switching back to last season’s motor. However, once they switched back to last season’s motor they went on to complete 68 laps on the last day courtesy of Simona de Silvestro and Robin Frijns. After the difficulties in testing, another podium finish in Beijing might be slightly optimistic but they weren’t on the podium until the final corner last time out in Beijing.
Driver Name: Simona de Silvestro
Nationality: Swiss
Date of Birth: 01/09/1988
Formula E Races: 2
Formula E Wins: 0
2014/15 Championship: 27th (0 points)
Simona de Silvestro, aka “The Iron Maiden” is the only driver of the nine Andretti used last season that stays with the team for season two. The Swiss driver made her debut at final two rounds of the inaugural Formula E season in London, around Battersea Park. She finished both races just outside the points (11th and 12th respectively), notably rising from 17th to 11th in the first race.
Her career so far has impressed many and she remains the most likely candidate to end the wait for a female Formula One driver since Lella Lombardi in 1976. Though that has hit a road block recently (which we’ll get to later), she has seen success and built a name for herself in America.
Simona’s career started to take shape in Formula BMW USA (in 2006), where one race win helped her to fourth in the championship and saw her move on to Champ Car Atlantic (aka Atlantic Championship) with Walker Racing. The first season was a difficult one for the Swiss driver, but this would be where she would start to make a name for herself over following two seasons. A switch to Newman Wachs Racing saw her win 2008 Grand Prix of Long Beach; making her the second woman to win a race in the Atlantic Championship after Katherine Legge. 2009 saw her mount a solid challenge for the championship as she led the standing for the majority of the season with four wins and five other podium appearances. However, after retiring on the first lap of the season finale, she was knocked down to third overall in the championship.
After three years in the Atlantic Championship, Simona switched to IndyCar after testing for HVM Racing in December 2009. Her first year in IndyCar saw her earn the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honours, and finish runner-up to Alex Lloyd for the rookie of the year honours. 2011 started off with a fourth place finish at St. Petersburg, however, several incidents – including being refused entry to the United States, which caused her to miss round 13 of the season – meant she was only able to finish 20th overall after a promising first race. 2012 was a year to forget, with an inferior Lotus. The underpowered engine made it impossible for de Silvestro to compete competitively as the car was black flagged on numerous occasions (including at the 2012 Indianapolis 500).
Signing for KV Racing Technology for the 2013 season became a defining moment in her career. At the Grand Prix of Houston she claimed her first IndyCar podium by finishing second in the first race; becoming only the third woman to finish on the podium in IndyCar history (Danica Patrick and Sarah Fisher being the other two to achieve this feat).
February 2014 saw Simona join Sauber as an affiliated driver, with the objective of racing for the team in 2015 instead of racing in IndyCar. However, de Silvestro’s time at Sauber was cut short due to financial issues, which ended her training programme. After the disappointment at Sauber, Simona returned to IndyCar and made her first appearance for an Andretti team at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. After an 18th place finish in St. Petersburg, she finished fourth in the second race of the season in Louisiana. Her only other appearance of that season was at the Indy500, where she finished 19th.
Driver Name: Robin Frijns
Nationality: Dutch
Date of Birth: 07/08/1991
Formula E Races: 0
Formula E Wins: 0
2014/15 Championship: N/A
Robin Frijns will be making his Formula E debut in Beijing after testing for Andretti at Donnington, and brings along a respectable racing CV with him.
The Dutchman is another driver that found himself on the doorstep of F1, but, ultimately (like many before him) failed to find a way in. He has spent the majority of his career in single-seater racing and knows the taste of success.
Like Simona, his formula career began in Formula BMW (though it was the European series, rather than the USA series). He finished the season as the best rookie with six podiums and a victory at Silverstone, and went on to win the title the following season. From Formula BMW, he progressed to Formula Renault 2.0, where he won the title at his first attempt (he did participate in the series during 2010, but he only made three appearances). Another 2.0 title followed in 2011, so a switch to 3.5 was the next step for the Dutchman. The move didn’t seem to faze him, as he went on to become the first driver to win the 2.0 and 3.5 titles back-to-back, and the first driver win the 3.5 in his rookie year since Robert Kubica in 2005. His success earned him a Red Bull drive at the Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test in November 2012, though Sauber had already signed him for a day in their car at the test.
Frijns clearly had the talent, which helped him land a GP2 drive. However, he lacked the financial backing, so he was dropped for a driver with more funds despite his win early on in the season. He was also Sauber’s reserve and test driver for the 2013 season, before moving to Caterham F1 as their reserve driver for the following season. But once again financial issues hit him hard as he missed out on a race seat, as Andre Lotterer and Will Stevens raced for the team whilst Caterham were in Administration.
Frijns spent 2015 competing in the Blancpain Series, finishing second overall in the Pro Class of the Sprint Series with team-mate Laurens Vanthoor.
