Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi conveyed his unhappiness at Formula E’s continuing calendar clashes with the World Endurance Championship after taking victory in the Monaco E-Prix.
The Swiss driver stormed to a dominant display in the wet on Sunday’s Race 2 in the principality, his first FE win in over five years.
It was also the British team’s first win in almost two years, and in doing so, Buemi became the outright win record-holder in the all-electric championship, with 14 triumphs.
There has been growing speculation as to whether Buemi, who has competed in Formula E since Season 1 over 10 years ago, will remain in the series.
He is one of six drivers – along with Nyck de Vries, Jean-Eric Vergne, Stoffel Vandoorne, Norman Nato and team-mate Robin Frijns – who compete in WEC alongside their FE duties.
And this season will see yet another date clash, with the Berlin E-Prix coinciding with the Six Hours of São Paulo in July.
The issue has caused contention within FE, as it causes drivers to make a crucial decision as to which series they will opt to race in.
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week after his Monaco masterclass, Buemi spoke of his incredulity that such clashes are allowed to happen.
“We’ll see [if I stay in FE], he said. “I mean, as I said before, the problem, it’s not going to be my decision.
“It’s going to be a political decision on whether they try to avoid clashes or not. If clashes persist at some point, I’m not sure the teams will be open to have people doing those championships, which I think it’s a shame.
“You know, I’ve said it so much for so long that I can’t understand you [FE] don’t manage to avoid three clashes in six months.
“Because if you look at the WEC, they have four or five races after London. And Formula E has like, I don’t know, five or six before the WEC even starts.
“So you have a period of six months where you have to potentially align three dates. And they can tell me anything they want. You know, I can’t believe it’s not possible.”
Child’s drawing spurred on Buemi to long-awaited win
Despite his unhappiness at FE’s logistical headaches, Buemi was nonetheless ecstatic at his victory.
He revealed that a drawing from one of his children was, and has been, an inspiration and motivation for him to keep achieving in the sport.
“I mean, the win is important, but as I was saying, I feel like it’s more important for my team and my kids,” he said.
“My kids, when you go home and you don’t win for a long time, it’s hard. I have a little drawing from one of my kids inside the car – and it’s me on the podium.
“He drew it and we put it inside the chassis. So for once, actually, I can say that it was what he designed!”
The race was the first fully wet Formula E race since the London E-Prix in Season 9. And despite the new Hankook tyre being virtually useless in the rainy conditions, the race was far less chaotic than many predicted.
Buemi was quick to point-out that the pack race was likely to make it even more chaotic, but said his strategy was to stay out of trouble and build energy for a late push.
“Yeah, I think London was actually the only real one where we had the whole race in wet, as well as here.,”
“Yeah, we were able to have some good references from qualifying, because it was wet and the start of the race was clean.
“Those cars have less spread than Formula 1 cars, obviously, so that helps a bit, but they have less grip. So it moves a lot, but you have better visibility.
“So somehow the fact that it didn’t rain again and the track got drier and drier was good.
“The fact that the rain made the saving a lot easier. I hate those races where you go four wide and everyone thinks it’s great, but it’s not, because you flick a coin and hopefully you don’t lose your front wing or get pushed from behind.
“And having a race like yesterday with the Pit Boost [Race 1], which obviously reduced the saving, it’s less carnage.
“And today was the same, because today was just a bit of saving to create opportunities to pass, but not a lot to create a mess.”
READ MORE – Monaco E-Prix: Sebastien Buemi takes first Formula E win in five years with dominant drive
Discussion about this post