2016 Hong Kong ePrix

2016 Hong Kong ePrix
Hong Kong's first ever ePrix layout.
Race Information
Date	9th October 2016
E-Prix No.	{{{number}}}
Official Name	2016 FIA Formula E HKT Hong Kong ePrix
Location	Hong Kong Harbourfront Circuit
Format	{{{format}}}
Lap length	1.860km (1.156mi)
Distance	45 laps / 83.700km (52.009mi)
Support Race	{{{support}}}
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Nelson Piquet Jr.
Team	NextEV NIO
Time	1:03.099
Fastest Lap
Driver	Felix Rosenqvist
Team	{{{{{flteamnat}}}}} Unknown
Fastest Lap	1:02.947 on lap 36
ePrix Result
First	Second	Third
Sébastien Buemi	Lucas di Grassi	Nick Heidfeld
Winner Team	Renault e.Dams
Time	0:53:13.298
ePrix Guide
Previous		Next
London II		Marrakech
Post-Race Test	{{{test}}}

The 2016 Hong Kong ePrix, officially known as the HKT Hong Kong ePrix, was the opening round of the 2016/17 FIA Formula E Championship, and was the debut for Hong Kong as a host city for the series. The race was held on the 9th of October 2016, and saw five drivers and two teams make their debuts in the series.

Qualifying would be a rather confused affair after Robin Frijns crashed heavily at the chicane, writing off his car and damaging the tec-pro barriers to cause a thirty minute delay. That delay meant that the Super Pole shootout was cancelled, leaving Nelson Piquet Jr. on pole for the first time with NextEV NIO teammate Oliver Turvey completing the front row.

When the lights went out at the start it would be the two NextEVs that led the race, slithering into the first corner at the head of the field after a clean start throughout the field. The clean start would not last, however, and as the field concertinered into the slow turn two left hander, contact became inevitable. The first tap was made between the two DS Virgin Racing cars of José María López and Sam Bird, which would have consequences later on, while an unsighted Lucas di Grassi smashed his front wing by hitting the back of Ma Qing Hua, who was propelled over the back of Daniel Abt as a result.

Ma would be out with severe damage to his car, while the two ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport drivers would be forced to pit to have damage repaired. Lopez, meanwhile, was tumbling down the order with damage on the left rear, while Bird and Sébastien Buemi elbowed their way past Turvey and attempted to hunt down Piquet out front. They would never catch the Brazilian, however, as he had no choice but to hit the wall at the chicane to avoid the wrecked Virgin of Lopez, out after a complete suspension failure.

The resulting safety car period would see Buemi pit while Bird stayed out, attempting to extend his stint in the first car before pushing in the second, the reverse of Buemi. Three laps after the safety car returned to the pits and Bird was in, but a problem starting his second car dumped him a lap down and out of contention. He would set about unlapping himself as soon as he rejoined, but he would require a safety car to get back into the pack.

Ultimately a second safety car would never come, leaving Buemi to cruise home to open his title defence with a win. di Grassi claimed second despite having to stop for a new nose, while Nick Heidfeld survived a last minute power scare to claim third, ahead of Nicolas Prost. António Félix da Costa and Frijns were notable highlights as they complete the top six after their late race push, while debutante Felix Rosenqvist set the fastest lap to earn his first point.

Background

It would be a busy summer after the conclusion of the 2015/16 campaign, as the teams and manufacturers set about completing the testing on their new 2016/17 challengers. The entire field would gather for the 2016 Donington Test in late August, with six days of testing allowing teams to get their cars up to speed. It would also allow Jaguar and Penske to test their new designs for the series, with the former also using the test to evaluate four different drivers for their first FE campaign.

Jaguar had joined the series after the demise of the Trulli Formula E Team and their partners Motomatica, who had withdrawn from the series in December 2015. Their new car, the Jaguar I-Type 1, ran publicly for the first time at the Donington Test, where Mitch Evans and Adam Carroll managed to secure full race seats for the new season. Both Evans and Carroll would make their debuts in the series in Hong Kong, with the former also becoming the first New Zealander to race in FE.

Elsewhere, Penske came in to build a powertrain for sister-programme Dragon Racing, who had also secured a major sponsor in the form of Faraday Future. Familiar racers Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Loïc Duval were retained, with both getting their first taste of the car at the Donington Test where the car proved to be reliable and relatively quick.

The other new group in FE would be found in the form of Techeetah, a Chinese backed effort which took over from former entrant Team Aguri. New owners SECA spent big over the summer, partnering Ma Qing Hua with Jean-Eric Vergne, poached from DS Virgin Racing, while also securing a deal to run what proved to be the quickest car at the Donington Tests. Indeed, Techeetah would enter their maiden FE season as a Renault customer team, using identical cars to the double Champions Renault e.Dams.

Speaking of the defending Champions and e.Dams were unchanged from 2015/16, with Sébastien Buemi, the defending drivers Champion, and Nicolas Prost retained. It would be Buemi who pushed the Renault Z.E. 16 to its limits in Donington, setting a new circuit record on the final day, heading the outright pace table with Vergne and Prost. The new car also proved to be reliable, with no major problems occurring, leaving the French outfit as favourites to take the series once again.

Their major rivals, other than Techeetah, looked set to be DS Virgin Racing, after Sam Bird put their latest creation into fourth at Dongington Park, the first non-Renault on outright pace. They had filled their second seat with WTCC Champion José María López, while the new car looked a better overall package than their previous contender. A team in a similar position would be Mahindra Racing, who fielded a new boy in the form of Felix Rosenqvist alongside an FE veteran in Nick Heidfeld, although their Donington Test would be less successful pace wise.

ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport were unchanged from the previous season, as Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt once again set to battle with news that Audi would be taking over the team from 2017/18. Another unchanged team would be the renamed NextEV NIO, who had Nelson Piquet Jr. and Oliver Turvey back in action, with major revisions allowing their car to run reliably at the test.

The final two teams in the field were Venturi and Andretti, with both fielding their own cars with new driver line ups. For Venturi, new German sponsorship saw Maro Engel drafted in to partner Stéphane Sarrazin as they hoped to improve upon their 2015/16 results, although the new car would be near the bottom of the times in Donington. For Andretti, a gruelling test programme meant that their new car, the Andretti ATEC-02 would actually make it to a race before being withdrawn, with António Félix da Costa brought in to join Robin Frijns. On the 27th of September BMW confirmed that they would be partnering with Andretti in Formula E, funding da Costa's seat while also preparing to provide full factory backing for the 2018/19 season. The German car manufacturer also announced their continuation as the official vehicle supplier for the series.

Mercedes-Benz were another manufacturer to announce their interest in Formula E in the build up to the Hong Kong season opener, with the Stuttgart squad plotting a joint Formula One and FE campaign. An agreement between Formula E Holdings and Mercedes Grand Prix saw the latter reserve a position to join the 2018/19 season as a manufacturer, the first season in which every FE car would be expected to complete the full race distance. They would join another F1 constructor in the form of McLaren, who were confirmed as the sole battery supplier for the fifth season as they deepened their involvement in the series.

FanBoost was also confirmed for the third season of Formula E, with voting for the opening round opening on the 26th of September.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2016 Hong Kong ePrix is displayed below:

2016 Hong Kong ePrix Entry List
No.	Nat.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Car
2		Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	DS Virgin	DSV-02
3		Nelson Piquet Jr.	NextEV NIO	NEXTEV TCR	FormulaE 002
4		Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi Formula E Team	Venturi	VM200-FE-02
5		Maro Engel	Venturi Formula E Team	Venturi	VM200-FE-02
6		Loïc Duval	Faraday Future Dragon Racing	Penske	701-EV
7		Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Faraday Future Dragon Racing	Penske	701-EV
8		Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	Renault	Z.E. 16
9		Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	Renault	Z.E. 16
11		Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	ABT Schaeffler	FE02
19		Felix Rosenqvist	Mahindra Racing	Mahindra	M3 Electro
20		Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	Jaguar	I-Type 1
23		Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	Mahindra	M3 Electro
25		Jean-Eric Vergne	Techeetah	Renault	Z.E. 16
27		Robin Frijns	MS Amlin Andretti	Andretti	ATEC-02
28		António Félix da Costa	MS Amlin Andretti	Andretti	ATEC-02
33		Ma Qing Hua	Techeetah	Renault	Z.E. 16
37		José María López	DS Virgin Racing	DS Virgin	DSV-02
47		Adam Carroll	Jaguar Racing	Jaguar	I-Type 1
66		Daniel Abt	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	ABT Schaeffler	FE02
88		Oliver Turvey	NextEV NIO	NEXTEV TCR	FormulaE 002
Source:

Qualifying

The first qualifying session of the new season would see no changes to the format established during the 2015/16 season, with four qualifying groups, formed by a lottery draw held on Saturday. Each group featured five drivers, who would all go out on circuit in a six minute run to set one lap at the full 200kW power output. The fastest five from the combined group table would then proceed to the Super Pole Shootout, with the slowest of the fastest five going out first to set a lap on an empty track with the rest of the fastest five going out to an empty track to try and set a time good enough for pole.

Group 1

The first group of the season would see Nicolas Prost become the first of the title pretenders to hit the circuit as he headlined the opening quintet. Adam Carroll and the Jaguar Racing effort would get their first chance to qualify in the series, with the rest of the group made up of familiar FE faces. Those three would be Stéphane Sarrazin, Loïc Duval and Nick Heidfeld, meaning five different powertrains would be on show in the first group.

The first group of the day would be running on a modified circuit after practice, a sausage kerb having been removed after FP2 at the first chicane. Best of the bunch proved to be Duval, who shocked a fair number of the field by beating Prost by over a tenth of a second. Heidfeld was only a tenth further back in third, while Carroll beat Sarrazin by a tenth as they finished the first group over half a second off of Duval's best effort.

Group 2

Lucas di Grassi, another pre-season favourite and FE runner-up from 2015/16, headlined the second group, as the four other manufacturers put their latest tech on display. Sam Bird was in action for DS Virgin Racing, António Félix da Costa would make his debut for Andretti and Oliver Turvey was to get the season underway for NextEV NIO. Also out on circuit would be the second debuting team Techeetah, as Ma Qing Hua put their privately entered Renault powertrains into play.

It would be group two's headline act that wrote the headlines for the second quintet, although not for the right reasons. The Brazilian misjudged the reformed chicane on his full power lap and smacked into the barrier on the inside wall, wiping out his front left suspension. Fortunately, di Grassi was at the back of the group and so the yellow flags did not disrupt the rest of the runners, as Turvey went to the top of the times ahead of Bird, with just two hundredths of a second between them.

Group 3

The third quintet of the session would see a mix of experience and youth head onto the circuit, with 2014/15 Champion Nelson Piquet Jr. the most experience of the quintet. Felix Rosenqvist would get his first taste of FE qualifying when he hit the circuit, while Mitch Evans would become the youngest ever driver in the series when he set out for Jaguar. Jean-Eric Vergne and Robin Frijns completed the group for Techeetah and Andretti respectively.

Group three would also see an accident at the chicane, although this one was far more disruptive, requiring a thirty minute delay to repair the barriers. Frijns was the man to crash, having misjudged his entry speed and ploughed into the tec-pro barriers, managing to split the monocoque of his car meaning it was doubtful whether he could complete the race. Vergne was an unfortunate victim of the crash, narrowly avoiding the smashed Andretti having just set the fastest first sector, while Piquet had gone to the top of the times with a 1:03.099.

Group 4

The final group would see the 2015/16 Champion, and widely regarded favourite, Sébastien Buemi open his title defence as he headlined the final five. Daniel Abt looked to be his closest challenger with the ABT machine, while Jérôme d'Ambrosio was a threat given his previous one-lap pace. Two new boys would also get their first taste of FE action, with Maro Engel and José María López completing the group.

The delay may have affected the minds of the drivers in the final group, with Buemi a shock fifth as the final group brought an end to the session. The pre-season favourite did not even manage to top the group, beaten by the rookie Lopez, who squeezed in between Turvey and Bird, with Abt three tenths off the back of the Swiss racer. Engel beat his teammate Sarrazin on his qualifying debut, while d'Ambrosio qualified as the slowest of those in the group phase to set a time with the maximum power.

Super Pole

Due to the delay in clearing up the circuit after Frijn's accident, and the need for the cars to be charged ahead of the race, the Super Pole shootout was cancelled, with the grid settled based on the result of the group stages. That meant that Piquet Jr. would start from pole ahead of teammate Turvey, with Lopez and Bird completing the second row ahead of Buemi.

Post Qualifying

The final qualifying result for the 2016 Hong Kong ePrix are outlined below:

2016 Hong Kong ePrix Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Nat.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Grid
1st	3		Nelson Piquet Jr.	NextEV NIO	1:03.099	—	1
2nd	88		Oliver Turvey	NextEV NIO	1:03.231	+0.132s	2
3rd	37		José María López	DS Virgin Racing	1:03.251	+0.152s	3
4th	2		Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	1:03.258	+0.159s	4
5th	9		Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	1:03.317	+0.218s	5
Super Pole*
1st	3		Nelson Piquet Jr.	NextEV NIO	1:03.099	—	SP
2nd	88		Oliver Turvey	NextEV NIO	1:03.231	+0.132s	SP
3rd	37		José María López	DS Virgin Racing	1:03.251	+0.152s	SP
4th	2		Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	1:03.258	+0.159s	SP
5th	9		Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	1:03.317	+0.218s	SP
6th	19		Felix Rosenqvist	Mahindra Racing	1:03.332	+0.233s	6
7th	66		Daniel Abt	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	1:03.615	+0.516s	7
8th	6		Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	1:03.637	+0.538s	8
9th	25		Jean-Eric Vergne	Techeetah	1:03.750	+0.651s	9
10th	8		Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	1:03.759	+0.660s	10
11th	23		Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	1:03.848	+0.749s	11
12th	5		Maro Engel	Venturi	1:03.915	+0.816s	12
13th	28		António Félix da Costa	Andretti	1:04.057	+0.958s	13
14th	47		Adam Carroll	Jaguar Racing	1:04.428	+1.329s	17
15th	4		Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi	1:04.520	+1.421s	14
16th	20		Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	1:04.588	+1.489s	15
17th	33		Ma Qing Hua	Techeetah	1:04.740	+1.641s	16
18th	7		Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	1:05.166	+2.067s	18
19th	11		Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	1:08.094	+4.995s	19
20th	27		Robin Frijns	Andretti	1:10.407	+7.308s	20
Source:

• * Super Pole Shootout not staged due to time constraints.

Race

Despite a cloud filled sky hanging over Hong Kong, the circuit was dry as the field were assembled on the pre-race grid, as 30,000 people gathered to watch. All twenty drivers would start the race, although there was some frantic work at Andretti, as they rushed to complete Robin Frijns' second car in time for the second part of the race. Otherwise there were no concerns for the field as they were signalled to pull into their proper grid slots, with some minor changes at the back of the pack due to post-qualifying penalties.

Result

The final classification of the 2016 Hong Kong ePrix is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold.

2016 Hong Kong ePrix Race Result
Pos.	No.	Nat.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	9		Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	45	0:53:13.298	1:04.256	25
2nd	11		Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	45	+2.477s	1:03.648	18
3rd	23		Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	45	+5.522s	1:05.085	15
4th	8		Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	45	+7.360s	1:04.683	12
5th	28		António Félix da Costa	Andretti	45	+17.987s	1:04.342	10
6th	27		Robin Frijns	Andretti	45	+21.161s	1:04.143	8
7th	7		Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	45	+28.443s	1:05.559	6
8th	88		Oliver Turvey	NextEV NIO	45	+30.355s	1:05.344	4
9th	5		Maro Engel	Venturi	45	+30.898s	1:04.390	2
10th	4		Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi	45	+31.734s	1:04.289	1
11th	3		Nelson Piquet Jr.	NextEV NIO	45	+35.256s	1:04.267	3
12th	47		Adam Carroll	Jaguar Racing	45	+43.839s	1:04.732
13th	2		Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	45	+48.058s	1:03.372
14th	6		Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	43	+2 laps	1:04.712
15th	19		Felix Rosenqvist	Mahindra Racing	43	+2 laps	1:02.947	1
Ret	66		Daniel Abt	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	34	Damage	1:03.263
Ret	25		Jean-Eric Vergne	Techeetah	31	Battery	1:03.078
Ret	20		Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	24	Gearbox	1:05.474
Ret	37		José María López	DS Virgin Racing	15	Accident	1:05.344
Ret	33		Ma Qing Hua	Techeetah	1	Damage	N/A
Source:

Milestones

• Hong Kong makes its debut as a Formula E host city.
• Debut for five drivers, including:
  • Felix Rosenqvist.
  • José María López.
  • Adam Carroll.
  • Mitch Evans.
  • Maro Engel.
• Jaguar enter the series as a manufacturer.
  • Also the first entry for their team Jaguar Racing.
• Maiden ePrix start for Techeetah.
• Also the debut for Penske as a manufacturer.
• Maiden pole position for Nelson Piquet Jr.
  • Also the first pole position for NextEV NIO.
• Seventh victory for Sébastien Buemi.
• Tenth victory for Renault e.Dams.
• Rosenqvist claimed his first fastest lap.
  • Also the Swede's first Championship point.

Standings

Victory for the defending Champion meant it was a perfect start to the season for Sébastien Buemi, with a seven point gap back to Lucas di Grassi after the opening round. Nick Heidfeld left the opening round in third, matching his start from season two, ahead of Nicolas Prost after their late race energy panic. António Félix da Costa and Robin Frijns battled well to start the season in the points, while pole starter Nelson Piquet Jr. found himself in ninth despite failing to score in the race.

Renault e.Dams were living up to their mantle as pre-season favourites, with Buemi's win and Prost's fourth enough to see them leave Hong Kong with a fair advantage at the top of the Teams' Standings. A nineteen point gap had been established between e.Dams and nearest challengers ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, who were level on points with Andretti. Mahindra Racing were two points back in fourth, with NextEV NIO, Dragon Racing and Venturi also on the board.

 

2016/17 Drivers' Championship Pos. Nat. Name Pts. +/- 1st Sébastien Buemi 25 ◄0 2nd Lucas di Grassi 18 ◄0 3rd Nick Heidfeld 15 ◄0 4th Nicolas Prost 12 ◄0 5th António Félix da Costa 10 ◄0 6th Robin Frijns 8 ◄0 7th Jérôme d'Ambrosio 6 ◄0 8th Oliver Turvey 4 ◄0 9th Nelson Piquet Jr. 3 ◄0 10th Maro Engel 2 ◄0 11th Stéphane Sarrazin 1 ◄0 12th Felix Rosenqvist 1 ◄0

2016/17 Teams' Championship Pos. Nat. Name Pts. +/- 1st Renault e.Dams 37 ◄0 2nd ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 18 ◄0 3rd Andretti 18 ◄0 4th Mahindra Racing 16 ◄0 5th NextEV NIO 7 ◄0 6th Dragon Racing 6 ◄0 7th Venturi 3 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.

References

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