2015–16 Formula E season

Sébastien Buemi, the current championship leader.

Nelson Piquet, Jr.—seen here at a NASCAR event in 2011—is the defending drivers' champion.

Renault e.dams is the defending teams' champion.

The 2015–16 FIA Formula E season is the second season of the FIA Formula E championship held from 24 October 2015 to 3 July 2016. The season sees the introduction of eight manufacturers, who are allowed to develop new powertrains, specifically the e-motor, the inverter, the gearbox and the cooling system.^[1] Nelson Piquet, Jr. is the defending drivers champion and Renault e.dams is the defending teams champion. After four rounds, Sébastien Buemi leads the championship by four points over Lucas di Grassi.

Teams and drivers

The second season was planned to again feature 10 teams that were essentially the same as in the first season, but after the withdrawal of Trulli after failing to enter the first two races, only 9 teams compete this season.^[2] Additionally, there are 8 manufacturers of powertrains that work together with or are part of the individual teams. Initially only Team Aguri decided to keep the powertrain from the previous season, while Dragon use the Venturi powertrain. Due to the regulations, all teams use the same chassis as in the first season. The 8 manufacturers were homologated by the FIA in August 2015.^[1] After troublesome pre-season testing, Andretti decided to revert to the powertrain from the first season.^[3]

Team	Manufacturer	Powertrain	No.	Drivers	Rounds
NEXTEV TCR Formula E Team	Spark-NEXTEV[4]	NEXTEV TCR FormulaE 001	1	Nelson Piquet, Jr.[5]	1–4
			88	Oliver Turvey[6]	1–4
DS Virgin Racing Formula E Team	Spark-Citroën	Virgin DSV-01	2	Sam Bird[7]	1–4
			25	Jean-Éric Vergne[7]	1–4
Venturi Formula E Team	Spark-Venturi	Venturi VM200-FE-01	4	Stéphane Sarrazin[8]	1–4
			12	Jacques Villeneuve[9]	1–3
				Mike Conway[10]	4
Dragon Racing	Spark-Venturi	Venturi VM200-FE-01	6	Loïc Duval[8]	1–4
			7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio[11]	1–4
Renault e.Dams	Spark-Renault[4]	Renault Z.E 15	8	Nicolas Prost[8]	1–4
			9	Sébastien Buemi[8]	1–4
Trulli Formula E Team	Spark-Motomatica[12]	Motomatica JT-01	10	Salvador Durán[13]	1‡
				Jarno Trulli[14]	2‡
			18	Vitantonio Liuzzi[13]	1–2‡
ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	Spark-Abt Sportsline	ABT Schaeffler FE01	11	Lucas di Grassi[15]	1–4
			66	Daniel Abt[16]	1–4
Mahindra Racing Formula E Team	Spark-Mahindra	Mahindra M2ELECTRO	21	Bruno Senna[17]	1–4
			23	Nick Heidfeld[17]	1–2, 4
				Oliver Rowland[18]	3
Amlin Andretti Formula E	Spark-McLaren[3]	SRT01-e	27	Robin Frijns[19]	1–4
			28	Simona de Silvestro[20]	1–4
Team Aguri	Spark-McLaren[21]	SRT01-e	55	António Félix da Costa[22]	1–4
			77	Nathanaël Berthon[23]	1–3
				Salvador Durán[24]	4
Source:[1]

‡ Drivers were present at the first two rounds of the championship, but the team failed to pass scrutineering both times

Team changes

• All ten teams from the first season intended to compete in season two, with some name changes due to sponsorship changes or manufacturer cooperations.^[1]
• Eight teams became manufacturers and produce components either by themselves or with a technology partner: Abt (with Schaeffler), Andretti, e.Dams (with Renault) Mahindra, NEXTEV, Trulli (with Motomatica), Venturi, and Virgin (with DS/Citroën).^[1] On 25 August 2015, Andretti decided to retain the powertrain from the previous season.^[3]
• After failing to pass scrutineering of their new drivetrain for the first two races, Trulli withdrew from the championship, leaving 9 teams to compete for the rest of the season.^[2]

Driver changes

• Karun Chandhok, Jaime Alguersuari and Jarno Trulli who raced for Mahindra, Virgin and Trulli respectively in the 2014–15 season, announced that they would not compete in 2015–16.^[25][26][27]
• 1997 Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve joined Venturi, replacing Nick Heidfeld, who moved to Mahindra.^[9]
• Jean-Éric Vergne who competed part-time for Andretti during the 2014–15 season moved to Virgin for a full time drive, replacing Jaime Alguersuari.^[7]
• Simona de Silvestro joined the Andretti team, replacing the DS Virgin-bound Jean-Eric Vergne.^[20]
• 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 champion Robin Frijns joined the series, driving for Andretti.^[19]
• Salvador Durán who competed for Amlin Aguri during the 2014–15 season joined the Trulli team, replacing Jarno Trulli.^[13]
• Oliver Turvey, who raced for Team China in the London round of the 2014–15 season, now races with the team full time.^[6]
• GP2 Series veteran Nathanaël Berthon has secured the second Team Aguri seat.^[23]

Mid season changes

• Following a hand injury sustained in Putrajaya, Nick Heidfeld was forced to miss the next round in Punta del Este. He was replaced by reigning Formula Renault 3.5 champion Oliver Rowland.^[28]
• After three rounds with the Venturi team, Jacques Villeneuve left due to a "disagreement on the direction of the team". His seat will be taken by Mike Conway.^[29]
• After three rounds Salvador Durán re-joined Team Aguri for the rest of the season after they split with Nathanaël Berthon. The Mexican driver already competed in nine rounds of the first season for Team Aguri,^[30]

Rule changes

• The rules were opened up for the second season, in keeping with the series' long-term plan to use a single car over the course of a race instead of two separate chassis. Teams are free to pursue their own development of the powertrain, including the e-motor, inverter, gearbox and cooling system.^[31] At the end of the season, also the chassis will again be opened up for development.^[32]
• The maximum power usage during the race was increased from 150 kW to 170 kW. The total allowed energy consumption from the battery remains limited at 28 kWh.^[33]

Calendar

The season includes 11 races, held between October 2015 and July 2016. The races generally start at about 16:00 local time, except Malaysia which started at about 14:00 local time. The initial calendar was approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council in July 2015. Paris and Mexico City replace Monaco and Miami.^[34] An updated calendar was approved by the World Motor Sports Council in October, that included several date changes.^[35] Alejandro Agag stated that more than 180 cities have shown interest in hosting a race.^[36]

The season started on 24 October 2015, 6 weeks later than in 2014.^[37]

Round	ePrix	Country	Track	Date
1	Beijing ePrix	China	Beijing Olympic Green Circuit	24 October 2015
2	Putrajaya ePrix	Malaysia	Putrajaya Street Circuit	7 November 2015
3	Punta del Este ePrix	Uruguay	Punta del Este Street Circuit	19 December 2015
4	Buenos Aires ePrix	Argentina	Puerto Madero Street Circuit	6 February 2016
5	Mexico City ePrix	Mexico	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez	12 March 2016
6	Long Beach ePrix	United States	Long Beach Street Circuit	2 April 2016
7	Paris ePrix	France	Paris Street Circuit	23 April 2016
8	Berlin ePrix	Germany	TBD[38]	21 May 2016
9	Moscow ePrix	Russia	Moscow Street Circuit	4 June 2016
10	London ePrix Race 1	United Kingdom	Battersea Park Street Circuit	2 July 2016
11	London ePrix Race 2			3 July 2016
Source:[35][39]

Race results

Round	Race	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	Beijing	Sébastien Buemi	Sébastien Buemi	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	Report
2	Putrajaya	Sébastien Buemi	Sébastien Buemi	Lucas di Grassi	ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport	Report
3	Punta del Este	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Sébastien Buemi	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	Report
4	Buenos Aires	Sam Bird	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing Formula E Team	Report
5	Mexico City					Report
6	Long Beach					Report
7	Paris					Report
8	Berlin					Report
9	Moscow					Report
10	London					Report
11

Notes

Championship standings

Points system

Championship points are awarded as follows:

Unlike the previous season, all results count towards the total.

Drivers' Championship

Pos. Driver BEI PUT PDE BUE MEX LBH PAR BER MSC LON Pts 1 Sébastien Buemi 1 12 1 2 80 2 Lucas di Grassi 2 1 2 3* 76 3 Sam Bird 7* 2 Ret* 1* 52 4 Loïc Duval 4 16† 4 6 32 5 Jérôme d'Ambrosio 5 14† 3 16 30 6 Stéphane Sarrazin 9 4 9* 4 28 7 Nick Heidfeld 3 9* 7 23 8 Robin Frijns 10 3 10 8 21 9 Nicolas Prost Ret 10 5 5 21 10 António Félix da Costa Ret 6 6 Ret 16 11 Bruno Senna 13 5 Ret 10 11 12 Oliver Turvey 6* Ret* 12 9 10 13 Daniel Abt 11 7 8 13 10 14 Jean-Éric Vergne 12 Ret 7* 11* 6 15 Nelson Piquet, Jr. 15†* 8* 15† 12 4 16 Nathanaël Berthon 8 15 14 4 17 Simona de Silvestro Ret 13 11 14 0 18 Jacques Villeneuve 14 11 DNS 0 19 Oliver Rowland 13 0 20 Mike Conway 15 0 21 Salvador Durán DNP Ret 0 – Vitantonio Liuzzi DNP DNP 0 – Jarno Trulli DNP 0 Pos. Driver BEI PUT PDE BUE MEX LBH PAR BER MSC LON Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) 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.

Teams' Championship

Pos. Team No. BEI PUT PDE BUE MEX LBH PAR BER MSC LON Points 1 Renault e.Dams 8 Ret 10 5 5 101 9 1 12 1 2 2 ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 11 2 1 2 3* 86 66 11 7 8 13 3 Dragon Racing 6 4 16† 4 6 62 7 5 14† 3 16 4 DS Virgin Racing 2 7* 2 Ret* 1* 58 25 12 Ret 7* 11* 5 Mahindra Racing 21 13 5 Ret 10 34 23 3 9* 13 7 6 Venturi 4 9 4 9* 4 28 12 14 11 DNS 15 7 Amlin Andretti 27 10 3 10 8 21 28 Ret 13 11 14 8 Team Aguri 55 Ret 6 6 Ret 20 77 8 15 14 Ret 9 NEXTEV TCR 1 15†* 8* 15† 12 14 88 6* Ret* 12 9 – Trulli 10 DNP DNP 0 18 DNP DNP Pos. Team No. BEI PUT PDE BUE MEX LBH PAR BER MSC LON Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) 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.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2015–16 Formula E season.

• Official website