Renault e.dams driver and Formula E championship leader Sebastien Buemi says he “never expected to be competitive” at the Paris ePrix.
He thought the French team would go well on home soil, but was not anticipating pole position and a clear race victory.
Buemi beat Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne to pole position by just 0.006 seconds in qualifying, before leading away at the start.
He looked in control throughout the race, despite his advantage being cut with several safety cars and having to contend with a full-course yellow too.
“To be honest, I was never expecting to be competitive here,” Buemi admitted after claiming his fifth win in six races.
“Well, certainly not what I achieved. So, to be able to grab pole position and a win, is amazing.
“At the start of today, I knew if I took pole, I could do a good race. During the race, I had Jean-Eric under control even though he was pushing really hard.
“After the car swap, I knew I had to keep pushing and then he crashed. I thought I had a nine second advantage over José but then the safety car came out.
“I would really like to thank my team because they’ve done an amazing job: both engineers and mechanics. They all worked very hard. Everything worked out perfectly so they deserve this win more than me.”
With his title rival Lucas di Grassi failing to score after crashing out, Buemi now leads the championship by 43 points.
