Renault e.dams driver Sebastien Buemi is hoping that the French team's hard work "will pay off" as Formula E heads to Italy this weekend for the inaugural Rome ePrix and the start of the European leg of the Season Four calendar.
The Swiss racer, who was the champion of the all-electric championship in its second season, endured a tough start to the 2017/18 campaign, taking only one point away from the first two rounds
Despite securing redemption through three consecutive podium finishes in Marrakesh, Santiago and Punta del Este, for the first time in Formula E's short history, Buemi and the Renault e.dams squad are not involved in the fight for the championship, lying in fourth and fifth in their respective standings.
“I’m very happy to be back in Europe, in particular to discover a new town and a new circuit consisting of a great 2.85-km long layout," said Buemi, looking ahead to the Rome round of the championship.
"We’re really motivated to drive a good race and score points as we’ve been working very hard and we hope it will pay off.”
While Buemi has had some strong performances this season, by comparison, team-mate Nico Prost has struggled, scoring a mere seven points compared to Buemi's 52.
Looking ahead to this weekend, Prost admitted the struggles that he has faced this year but is looking to find a return to form and propel himself to the top half of the field:
“The first half of the season was very difficult and disappointing," he said.
"The gaps are very small and we don’t need much to be back fighting at the front again. I’m going to give my absolute maximum to get back and mix it with the front-runners.”
Season Four will be the last season of Formula E in which Renault will be involved, with the French marque leaving the championship at the end of this campaign to focus its efforts on its Formula 1 works team. Nissan will replace the manufacturer on the grid and will continue to partner e.dams for Season Five where the new 'Gen2' car will make its race debut.
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