London. In a tumultuous Sunday race, Maximilian Günther (GER)
and Jake Dennis (GBR) scored valuable points in the overall ABB FIA
Formula E World Championship standings. Günther had started the 13th
race of the season from sixth on the grid and crossed the line in
the same position. Dennis followed up his win at the London E-Prix
(GBR) on Saturday with a courageous recovery performance, clawing
back eight places to finish ninth, having started from 17th on the
grid. A drive-through penalty just before the end of the race put
paid to his chances of a better finish. The MINI Electric Pacesetter
inspired by JCW, the official FIA Formula E Safety Car, appeared
twice after incidents had occurred.
Günther drove a commanding race after a disappointing Saturday. He
had delivered proof of his pace during the morning qualifying session,
securing a place in the Super Pole competition for the seventh time
this season. He reached sixth in the battle for grid positions,
recording a time of 1:20.398 minutes. Günther was unable to steer
clear of all the incidents as the race progressed at the London
exhibition centre, but he displayed plenty of stamina to maintain his
position to the finish line.
Dennis gave another strong performance in the free practice session,
ending the session in second place as he had done on the previous day.
However, his starting position in the drivers’ standings meant that he
had to compete in qualifying group one. He was the first driver out on
the track and secured third place, before being pushed back down to
17th as the session progressed. Dennis mounted a spirited chase in the
race and spent some time ahead of Günther before being knocked back to
ninth place due to a drive-through penalty for a technical infringement.
Formula E rookie Dennis is now fourth in the drivers’ standings, with
81 points. Günther is in 15th place, with 62 points. BMW i Andretti
Motorsport is fifth in the team standings with 143 points.
The Season 7 finale will take place in three weeks, at the former
Berlin-Tempelhof (GER) airport. After races 14 and 15 complete the
season, one driver will be crowned world champion for the first time
in the history of Formula E.
Reactions to Race 13 in London.
Roger Griffiths (BMW i Andretti Motorsport Team Principal,
team standings: 5th place):
“The second race here in London was much more eventful. Everyone was
a little more conservative yesterday but it was much more aggressive
today. In the end, we finished with both cars in the points. That’s
what we came here for and that is what helps us in the championship.
Maximilian came home in sixth place; Jake finished ninth. It was a
great performance from Jake, who worked his way up from P17 after a
somewhat disappointing qualifying session. Maximilian reached
Superpole again. We are now fifth in the team standings and we had a
great time here in London. Formula E organised a fantastic event. Now
we are heading into the final two rounds of the world championship in
Berlin. Let’s see what we can achieve.”
Jake Dennis (#27 BMW iFE.21, starting position: 17th place,
race result: 9th place, points: 81, driver standings: 4th place):
“Overall, we can be very happy with our weekend. We scored points
twice and had a win to celebrate. My car behaved really well from FP1
to the final race on Sunday. We were superfast in each session. I
don’t think that we were ever outside the top five, apart from during
qualifying of course. We moved up from 17th to seventh place and then
I got a drive-through penalty, so that was a bit of a shame. But
overall, it was a great weekend. Now I am looking forward to Berlin.”
Maximilian Günther (#28 BMW iFE.21, starting position: 6th
place, race result: 6th place, points: 62, driver standings: 15th place):
“All in all, it was a solid day. I felt good in my car during free
practice and built a good foundation for qualifying. I can also be
very pleased with group qualifying. I put in a good lap in Superpole,
although the first drops of rain had started to fall. We were just two
tenths of a second away from pole position, which shows how close it
was. We were banking on racing in the rain, but unfortunately that
didn’t happen so the pace was not quite ideal. I also had the feeling
that we could have used attack mode better to finish higher up, but in
motorsport there’s no point thinking about could have, would have. We
gave it everything and scored some good points.”
The FANBOOST vote.
FANBOOST gives Formula E fans the opportunity to vote for their
favourite driver and award them an extra boost of power during the
race. The five drivers with the most FANBOOST votes receive an extra
100 kJ of power, which they can make use of during a brief time frame
in the second half of the race. Fans can vote for their favourite
driver in the four days prior to, and leading up to 15 minutes into,
each race. Each fan can vote once per day. There are two ways to vote:
Online at https://fanboost.fiaformulae.com/
or via the official Formula E App.
The BMW Group Safety Cars.
The BMW Group has been represented in the ABB FIA Formula E
World Championship as ‘Official Vehicle Partner’ since the very
beginning and will continue to provide the fleet of safety cars for
season 7 of the fully-electric racing series. Alongside the BMW i8
Roadster Safety Car (fuel consumption (combined): 2.0 l /100 km;
energy use (combined): 14.5 kWh /100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 46
g/km)*, which has been modified specially for racing use, the MINI
Electric Pacesetter inspired by JCW will be appearing as a new safety
car from the Rome E-Prix onwards. The development of the car based on
the new MINI Cooper SE represents a hitherto unique collaboration
between MINI Design, BMW Motorsport, the FIA and Formula E. The fleet
also includes the BMW i3s (Power consumption in kWh/100: 14.6-14.0
(NEDC); 16.6-16.3 (WLTP), electric range in km: 278-283 (WLTP))* as
‘Race Director Car’ and the BMW iX3 (Power consumption in kWh/100:
17.8-17.5 (NEDC); 19.0-18.6 (WLTP), electric range in km: 450-458
(WLTP))* in its roles as ‘Medical Car’ and ‘Rescue Car’.