2014–15 Formula E Championship

The 2014–15 FIA Formula E Championship was the inaugural season of a new FIA championship for electrically powered cars.[1] It began on 13 September 2014 at Beijing in China and finished on 28 June 2015 in London after eleven races.[2][3] Nelson Piquet Jr. came first in the overall standings, and so became the first ever Formula E champion.[4]

Nelson Piquet Jr. became the first ever Formula E Drivers' Champion.
Sébastien Buemi finished second in the drivers standings, missing out on the championship by 1 point.
Lucas di Grassi (pictured in 2010) won the first Formula E race, and finished the season third.

The car

Spark-Renault SRT 01E in Andretti colors.

For the first season, all teams were supplied an electric racing car built by Spark Racing Technology, called the Spark-Renault SRT 01E. The chassis was designed by Dallara, with an electric motor developed by McLaren (the same as that used in its P1 supercar), a battery system created by Williams Grand Prix Engineering and a Hewland five-speed gearbox. Michelin were the official tyre supplier.[5][6][7] 42 electric cars were ordered by the FIA.[8]

Teams and drivers

For the 2014–15 season, 10 teams contested the series. Each team fielded two drivers; each driver had two cars. That meant that 40 cars were required by the teams. All teams were ostensibly based at the sport's technical headquarters at the Donington Park race circuit, in the United Kingdom, although some teams had a greater presence there than others. Formula E organiser FEH itself has offices there for administration and operations staff.

All ten teams were confirmed to race in April 2014. However, in June 2014, Drayson Racing pulled out of the championship, with its entry taken by Trulli, a new team formed by former Formula One driver Jarno Trulli. Drayson entered the team in a supply and sponsorship arrangement, to be its principal technology partner.[9]

TeamNo.DriversRounds
Virgin Racing Formula E Team[10]2 Sam Bird[11]All
3 Jaime Alguersuari[11]1–9
Fabio Leimer[12]10–11
Mahindra Racing Formula E Team[10]5 Karun Chandhok[13]All
21 Bruno Senna[13]All
Dragon Racing Formula E Team[10]6 Oriol Servià[14][15]1–4
Loïc Duval[16]5–11
7 Jérôme d'Ambrosio[17]All
Team e.dams Renault[10]8 Nicolas Prost[18]All
9 Sébastien Buemi[18]All
Trulli Formula E Team[10]10 Jarno Trulli[9]All
18 Michela Cerruti[19]1–4
Vitantonio Liuzzi[20]5–9
Alex Fontana[21]10–11
Audi Sport ABT Formula E Team[10]11 Lucas di Grassi[22]All
66 Daniel Abt[22]All
Venturi Formula E Team[10]23 Nick Heidfeld[23]All
30 Stéphane Sarrazin[23]All
Andretti Autosport Formula E Team[10]27 Franck Montagny[24]1–2
Jean-Éric Vergne[25]3–11
28 Charles Pic[26]1
Matthew Brabham[N 1][28]2–3
Marco Andretti[29]4
Scott Speed[30]5–8
Justin Wilson[31]9
Simona de Silvestro[32]10–11
Amlin Aguri[10][33]55 Takuma Sato[34]1
António Félix da Costa[35]2–9
Sakon Yamamoto[36]10–11
77 Katherine Legge[33]1–2
Salvador Durán[37]3–11
China Racing Formula E Team(Round1-6)[10]

NEXTEV TCR Formula E Team(Round7-11)[38]

88 Ho-Pin Tung[39][40]1–2, 4
Antonio García[41]3, 9
Charles Pic[42]5–8
Oliver Turvey[43]10–11
99 Nelson Piquet Jr.[44]All

Calendar

2014 Punta del Este ePrix.

The season included 11 races, held between September 2014 and June 2015. The initial calendar had ten races and was approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council in December 2013.[2] However, in April 2014, changes were made to the calendar including dropping Rio de Janeiro, which had previously replaced Hong Kong, and moving the Los Angeles round to 4 April.[46] On 22 May 2014, Los Angeles County officials announced that their race would take place 40 km (25 mi) away on a modified version of the Long Beach street circuit.[47] On 3 February 2015, it was revealed that a race would be held in Moscow on 6 June to restore the calendar to its original schedule of ten races.[3] On 19 February 2015, it was announced that the final round in London would be a double-header, expanding the calendar to eleven races.[48]

RoundePrixCountryTrackDate
1Beijing ePrix  ChinaBeijing Olympic Green Circuit13 September 2014
2Putrajaya ePrix  MalaysiaPutrajaya Street Circuit22 November 2014
3Punta del Este ePrix  UruguayPunta del Este Street Circuit13 December 2014
4Buenos Aires ePrix  ArgentinaPuerto Madero Street Circuit10 January 2015
5Miami ePrix  United StatesBiscayne Bay Street Circuit14 March 2015
6Long Beach ePrix  United StatesLong Beach Street Circuit4 April 2015
7Monaco ePrix  MonacoCircuit de Monaco9 May 2015
8Berlin ePrix  GermanyTempelhof Airport Street Circuit23 May 2015
9Moscow ePrix  RussiaMoscow Street Circuit6 June 2015
10London ePrix Race 1  United KingdomBattersea Park Street Circuit27 June 2015
11London ePrix Race 228 June 2015
Source:[49]

Race results

RoundRacePole positionFastest lapWinning driverWinning teamReport
1 Beijing Nicolas Prost Takuma Sato Lucas di Grassi Audi Sport ABTReport
2 Putrajaya Nicolas Prost[N 2] Jaime Alguersuari Sam Bird Virgin RacingReport
3 Punta del Este Jean-Éric Vergne Daniel Abt Sébastien Buemi e.dams RenaultReport
4 Buenos Aires Sébastien Buemi Sam Bird António Félix da Costa Amlin AguriReport
5 Miami Jean-Éric Vergne Nelson Piquet Jr. Nicolas Prost e.dams RenaultReport
6 Long Beach Daniel Abt[N 3] Nicolas Prost Nelson Piquet Jr. NEXTEV TCRReport
7 Monaco Sébastien Buemi Jean-Éric Vergne Sébastien Buemi e.dams RenaultReport
8 Berlin Jarno Trulli Nelson Piquet Jr. Jérôme d'Ambrosio[N 4] Dragon RacingReport
9 Moscow Jean-Éric Vergne Sébastien Buemi Nelson Piquet Jr. NEXTEV TCRReport
10 London Sébastien Buemi Lucas di Grassi Sébastien Buemi e.dams RenaultReport
11 Stéphane Sarrazin Sam Bird Sam Bird[N 5] Virgin Racing
Source:[54]

Championship standings

Points system

Championship points were awarded as follows:[46]

Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th PoleFL
Points25181512108642132

Each driver's lowest-scoring round was dropped from their total; however, rounds where the driver was excluded from the race could not be dropped.

Drivers' Championship

Pos.DriverBEI
PUT
PDE
BUE
MIA
LBH
MCO
BER
MSC
LDN
Pts
1 Nelson Piquet Jr.8Ret2351*3*4*1*5*7*144
2 Sébastien BuemiRet31Ret13412*9*15*143
3 Lucas di Grassi1*23Ret932DSQ2*46133
4 Jérôme d'Ambrosio6581446511122113
5 Sam Bird31Ret78Ret*48Ret61103
6 Nicolas Prost1247211461087(10)88 (89)
7 Jean-Éric Vergne14†*6*18†*2*Ret*74316†70
8 António Félix da Costa8Ret167911751
9 Loïc Duval79Ret3158342
10 Bruno SennaRet*14†*65*Ret*5Ret171616440
11 Daniel Abt10101513†315Ret145Ret1132
12 Nick Heidfeld13†DSQ*10*8*1211105313Ret31
13 Jaime Alguersuari11954118Ret121330
14 Stéphane Sarrazin912Ret10Ret107614101522
15 Scott Speed2Ret121318
16 Franck Montagny2DSQ18
17 Karun Chandhok5613Ret1412131812121318
18 Charles Pic41716815*16
19 Oriol Servià779916
20 Jarno TrulliRet164Ret15Ret111918†15Ret15
21 Salvador Durán16*DSQ10*RetRet*16617813
22 Oliver Turvey9*9*4
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi1613NC9172
24 Takuma SatoRet2
25 Justin Wilson101
26 Ho-Pin Tung1611110
27 Simona de Silvestro11120
28 Antonio García11190
29 Michela Cerruti14Ret12Ret0
30 Marco Andretti120
31 Matthew Brabham13Ret0
32 Fabio Leimer14Ret0
33 Alex FontanaRet140
34 Katherine Legge15*15*0
Sakon YamamotoRet*Ret0
Pos.DriverBEI
PUT
PDE
BUE
MIA
LBH
MCO
BER
MSC
LDN
Pts
Source:[55]
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
BlankDid not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
* – FanBoost
(parentheses) – Round dropped from total

Notes

† – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Teams' Championship

The points system was the same as the Drivers' Championship, except that all rounds counted towards the total.

Pos.TeamNo.BEI
PUT
PDE
BUE
MIA
LBH
MCO
BER
MSC
LDN
Points
1 e.dams Renault8124721146108710232
9Ret31Ret13412*9*15*
2 Dragon Racing6779979Ret31583171
76581446511122
3 Audi Sport ABT111*23Ret932DSQ2*46165
6610101513†315Ret145Ret11
4 NEXTEV TCR88161111111716815*199*9*152
998Ret2351*3*4*1*5*7*
5 Virgin Racing231Ret78Ret*48Ret61133
311954118Ret121314Ret
6 Andretti272DSQ14†*6*18†*2*Ret*74316†119
28413Ret122Ret1213101112
7 Amlin Aguri55Ret8Ret1679117Ret*Ret66
7715*15*16*DSQ10*RetRet*166178
8 Mahindra Racing55613Ret1412131812121358
21Ret*14†*65*Ret*5Ret1716164
9 Venturi2313†DSQ*10*8*1211105313Ret53
30912Ret10Ret1076141015
10 Trulli10Ret164Ret15Ret111918†15Ret17
1814Ret12Ret1613NC917Ret14
Pos.TeamNo.BEI
PUT
PDE
BUE
MIA
LBH
MCO
BER
MSC
LDN
Points
Source:[56]
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
BlankDid not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
* – FanBoost

Notes

† – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Footnotes

References