Tag: Envision Racing

Envision continues with Buemi and Frijns in Formula E

Envision Racing has opted for continuity with its driver lineup for the upcoming Formula E season, with Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns both being retained by the Jaguar customer team. Envision entered last season as reigning champions, but endured …

Envision Racing has opted for continuity with its driver lineup for the upcoming Formula E season, with Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns both being retained by the Jaguar customer team.

Envision entered last season as reigning champions, but endured a difficult campaign as the team failed to replicate itssuccess from the previous year. It did end the year on a high, however, with the duo combining for three podiums in the last four races, a total of five overall for the season.

“It’s great to have continuity in our driver line-up as Sebastien and Robin lead us into Season 11,” said Sylvain Filippi, managing director and CTO of Envision Racing. “Despite Season 10 not being our strongest year, we are confident that the momentum we gained in the closing rounds can be taken into next season and put us back where we want to be.”

Just four of the 11 teams are set to field unchanged lineups, with Jaguar, TAG Heuer Porsche and Mahindra all joining Envision in continuing with their Season 10 driver pairings. Envision’s driver duo is among the most experienced, with the pair competing a combined 229 races in the championship.

Sebastien Buemi (left) and Robin Frijns

Frijns has been a fixture at Envision for some time, first joining during the 2018-19 season. He left ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, being replaced by Buemi, but returned after a year to partner the Swiss driver as former driver Nick Cassidy moved onto the factory Jaguar team. Both missed the Berlin E-Prix doubleheader last season though, owing to World Endurance Championship commitments, with Joel Eriksson and Paul Aron taking their places.

“I started off Season 10 relatively strong, with a podium in Round 3; however, it took some time to adjust to the new car and style of racing,” said Frijns. “We worked extremely hard to make that adjustment and by the end were fighting at the front again, so our focus now is on continuing that into next season.”

Buemi echoed his teammate’s sentiments, adding that the team is looking to carry its momentum from a strong end to 2023-24 into the upcoming season.

“As a team, we improved significantly towards the end of last season to get back to the front of the grid, and the results showed this,” he said. “We will continue to push to ensure that we head to Sao Paulo with the same level of competitiveness.”

Buemi showcases the payoff from Envision’s hard work in London

While Jaguar TCS Racing has been racking up wins and podiums all year, leading to it being the only team with two drivers still in championship contention going into Sunday’s Formula E season finale, customer outfit Envision Racing has had a less …

While Jaguar TCS Racing has been racking up wins and podiums all year, leading to it being the only team with two drivers still in championship contention going into Sunday’s Formula E season finale, customer outfit Envision Racing has had a less fruitful campaign.

Sebastien Buemi returned to the podium for the first time since the season opener in the first part of the London E-Prix, highlighting the team’s potential to fight at the front – something he was keen to stress.

“I know I can do it. [I’ve] obviously not been as consistent as the other Jag guys,” he said. “I can blame it on me for quite a bit, but we learn, we try to do better.”

Saturday’s podium was Buemi’s third points finish in the last five races, and the first time he’s had back-to-back top 10s all season, which he says highlights the progress the team has made in the latter stages – progress that has been small, but in the ultra-competitive world of Formula E, has proved to have big results.

“I believe that in Shanghai we showed that we already had a bit more pace, especially in the race, and in Portland, we were good,” he said. “Today in qualifying, we were good.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1394]

“We found our way a bit. Again, we’ve realized what we didn’t do so well, and you need to keep in mind that 0.2s here makes you look like a hero or really bad.

“Sometimes you just tune the car in a way that you just gain those 0.2s, and then all of a sudden you’re there.”

Buemi was an early leader of Saturday’s race, but being at the head of the pack proved to be a disadvantage as the race played out, with race-winner Pascal Wehrlein managing his energy allocation better to lead – and gap second placed finisher Mitch Evans – later on.

“We thought we could lead the race and win it from leading, but obviously we were a bit wrong,” he admitted. “[I was] leading the race for way too many laps; I couldn’t get the [energy] target up.

“It’s extremely difficult to under-consume when you lead … Leading the race is always a bit nicer, but obviously I had a big deficit at some point, then I couldn’t do anything, so I couldn’t get that target up. If I had to redo the race, I wouldn’t lead that many laps.”

Cassidy masters the wet to win second London E-Prix

A day on from the frustration of seeing his championship chances evaporate via a collision with his teammate, Nick Cassidy put on a masterful display amid challenging wet conditions in the second Hankook London E-Prix for a fourth win of the season. …

A day on from the frustration of seeing his championship chances evaporate via a collision with his teammate, Nick Cassidy put on a masterful display amid challenging wet conditions in the second Hankook London E-Prix for a fourth win of the season. In the process, he helped ensure his Envision Racing team of its first ABB Formula E World Championship teams’ title.

After a series of delays for the wet weather to recede, Cassidy took charge from the start and strode to a comfortable win, heading home fellow New Zealander Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) and newly crowned champion Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) to deliver the teams’ crown to Jaguar drive train customers Envision Racing, ahead of the factory Jaguar TCS Racing squad.

Cassidy led from pole, lights-to-flag and set the fastest lap of the race, keeping Evans at arm’s length throughout, while the lead pair drew out some 10 seconds over next-best Dennis in the brutal conditions. Not only did the Envision Racing-run Jaguar I-TYPE 6 have the pace advantage but it also looked better on energy, too, and Cassidy led Evans home by 4.934s to clinch the runner-up place in the drivers’ table.

“That was really hard, especially being the race leader — I didn’t know how hard to push,” said Cassidy, who admitted the lights-to-flag run felt oddly simple after the ups and downs of Saturday’s race. “I felt comfortable and it felt strange to have a race as difficult and not have any big moments.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1394]

Sebastien Buemi took sixth in the sister Envision car, fending off Sam Bird in the other Jaguar TCS Racing entry to make doubly sure of teams’ honors.

Norman Nato (Nissan) and outgoing champion Stoffel Vandoorne (DS Penske) were sandwiched between the front three and the squabbling Buemi and Bird, while Nico Mueller (ABT CUPRA) finished eighth.

Dan Ticktum, on home soil in the NIO 333, made a smart early move on Maserati MSG Racing’s Edo Mortara to break into the top 10 and steered to an eventual ninth, ahead of TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein.

Envision Racing beat out the factory Jaguar TCS Racing team by 12 points in the teams’ title race, while Porsche customers Avalanche Andretti also edged the factory TAG Heuer Porsche team to third, by 10 points.

Dennis wound up 30 points clear of Cassidy in the drivers’ running, with Evans third and Wehrlein fourth.

Cassidy surges to Berlin E-Prix Race 2 win

Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy won the second half of the SABIC Berlin E-Prix doubleheader on Sunday, delivering an energy management masterclass in a race featuring 172 overtakes. Jake Dennis placed second while Jean-Eric Verge completed the …

Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy won the second half of the SABIC Berlin E-Prix doubleheader on Sunday, delivering an energy management masterclass in a race featuring 172 overtakes.

Jake Dennis placed second while Jean-Eric Verge completed the podium, and moved up into third in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship drivers’ standings

Starting eighth, Cassidy drove superbly to stay there both by setting the pace and mastering Formula E’s tightrope of ultimate pace, racecraft and energy management, the latter again proving crucial on the slipstream-heavy Tempelhof Airport circuit. For Cassidy, the win was confirmation of the form he’d felt building throughout the season.

Nick Cassidy and Jake Dennis celebrate in Berlin. Simon Galloway/Motorsport Images

“I knew I was in the fight. I’ve been in the fight the last five races,” said Cassidy. “Yesterday, we had a great opportunity as well and I made a mistake and I really put my hand up for that. But today we made it count. So, thanks so much to my guys. I’ve had an opportunity to win nearly every weekend and as a driver that’s a dream.

“I’ve had some really good luck and I’m sure some bad luck and bad weekends are coming our way, but until then I’m enjoying the ride — it’s been amazing.”

Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) who is now within four points of the championship’s leader, Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team), was in striking distance to Cassidy, just half a second behind as they crossed the finish line. The frustration was tempered by putting an end to a string of DNFs for the Andretti driver.

“To not see a checkered flag since Saudi is mind-blowing,” admitted Dennis. “We’re still fourth in the championship. Obviously more energy than Nick but the targets were so high at the end, and it was too much of a risk and honestly, I was just happy with the 18 points and bringing it home.”

Vergne (DS Penske) admitted he didn’t have the pace to challenge the Jaguar-powered Envision that ultimately raced to the top step, despite also intermittently leading the race. Nevertheless, he wase pleased to have scored strongly, with an eye on the long game as the season passes its halfway stage.

“It was really chaotic. I’m very glad the race is over,” declared Vergne. “I’ve never really experienced this kind of racing where no one really wants to be leading at the beginning and creating a lot of chaos at the back. I was just trying to manage to stay in the top 4 or 5, every time I was sixth I was pushing to come back because otherwise you’re glued to the back and then you can’t come back. So it’s a bit of a strategy game, but it’s mental — it was a very difficult race so I’m very happy to finish on the podium in third. It could have been very easy to do otherwise today, so I’m going to take those points gladly and move on.”

Wehrlein started sixth, in a stronger position than recent races, having complained of poor one-lap pace in qualifying, but found himself shuffled to seventh at the race’s end.

Saturday Berlin winner Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) made up a spot from his grid position to finish fourth, making it a superb weekend’s work for the New Zealander and Jaguar TCS Racing. Despite teammate Sam Bird getting into contact and being forced out of contention, the Jaguar powertrains have driven to victory in three consecutive races for the first time in Formula E history, albeit in the hands of customers Envision Racing this time.

A day after securing the team’s first podium in Round 7, the standout drive was arguably Maserati MSG Racing’s Max Guenther, who climbed 15 positions from 21st position to sixth. Polesitter Robin Frijns of the ABT Cupra team struggled to maintain pace and dropped to 17th at the end, with teammate and fellow front-row starter Nico Mueller faring better with ninth on home soil to score the team’s first points in the GEN3 era.

That left Wehrlein on top of the pile but by a narrow four-point margin to Cassidy, with Vergne third. TAG Heuer Porsche’s advantage in the teams’ table also continues to fade away, with the Jaguar-powered Envision Racing squad now just 15 points back in second.

A capacity crowd estimated at 34,000 took in the weekend’s two races, which featured a total of 362 overtakes.

Next up for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is the Monaco E-Prix on Saturday, May 6.