Championship favourite Sebastien Buemi’s lead in the Formula E drivers’ standings was taken away from him at the Long Beach ePrix after a messy day after starting in an uncharacteristically low seventh.
Buemi hit the back of Robin Frijns at the final hairpin, launching over the back of the Andretti’s rear wing, spinning him around and losing much of his own front wing. He was black-flagged shortly afterwards, and being out of sequence on the pit stop strategy meant he stayed at the rear of the field. The only bonus he received was he got the fastest lap, gaining him two points.
Buemi was clearly in a downbeat mood at the end of the race, as he loses his lead in the championship to Lucas di Grassi.
“It was a really bad day for me and for the whole team.
“I made a mistake trying to close in on Robin Frijns and I can only apologise to him, his team and of course everyone at Renault e.dams.
“It’s been a difficult day but we must move on and we’ll be doing everything we can to bounce back for our home race in Paris.”
Even though Sebastien Buemi lost his driver championship lead to Lucas di Grassi by a point, Renault eDAMS retain their lead in the constructors’ championship by six points.
