Sebastien Buemi was simply in his own post-code for the Beijing ePrix, taking fastest lap and an imperious 11 second gap win over Lucas di Grassi and striking fear in anyone not at the wheel of a Renault e.Dams.
Even on the grid, drivers were making subtle down-force adjustments in relation to their competitors. It would be interesting how this would affect braking given the weight parameters according to each drivetrain and chassis configuration.
Sebastien Buemi made a decent start but a massive lock-up from Prost allowed Heidfeld to snag 2nd place who tagged onto the back of Buemi. Likewise, a poor apex line from Vergne gave Bruno Senna the opportunity to slipstream the Frenchman and hang him out to dry and take 5th position.
Meanwhile a mistake from Prost under brakes saw him run wide, losing him several positions in the process. Braking was an issue for many drivers, including Simona de Silvestro who made contact with the wall again after doing the same in qualifying. Simona’s stricken Andretti brought out a full-course yellow and a chance to regroup, although probably not welcomed by Jean-Eric Vergne who was making steady progress through the field.
Another driver unhappy was Lucas Di Grassi, who was complaining about distance between drivers behind the safety car. What it did do was take away some of the energy saving required during the race, but with it those who were relying on strategy to make up positions.
An opportunistic move from Sam Bird on Loic Duval came to nought at the next corner when the Englishman locked up and allowed Duval to retake his position. Bird, Piquet and Oliver Turvey were all beneficiaries of FanBoost, with Piquet choosing to use it early to bridge the 4 second gap to Nathanael Berthon ahead in 16th.
Meanwhile Sebastien Buemi was enjoying a comfortable 9 second gap and continued to extend the gap. In the absence of Jarno Trulli, Jean-Eric Vergne was beginning to form his own train whilst trying to conserve energy; himself and Bird down to 27%. Equally, after a strong start, Bruno Senna was beginning to slip back through the field, his team telling him over the radio to ‘forget his target lap’.
Jacques Villeneuve however was playing the smart game at the rear of the train, watching the cars’ body language and learning as much as he can as a newcomer to the series. He could learn a lot of Loic Duval who was still at 21% – the Dragon cars looking quite strong in this area.
There was a brief scare as a cat entered the circuit, but managed to scamper away unscathed as Buemi, Prost and Heidfeld made their stops. A poor pit-exit from Heidfeld effectively lost him second position and induced a red-mist moment for the German who immediately retook Prost for third place. It was a nervous moment for both teams after the pair came undone doing battle at this circuit 12 months ago.
One pair not so lucky was Villeneuve and Da Costa, coming together under brakes and taking both drivers out. Da Costa admitted fault immediately as the yellow flags came out.
At the turn of the green, Prost caught Heidfeld half asleep, mugging the German and retaking third position. With all the action it was easy to miss that Buemi was now some 24 seconds ahead of di Grassi at the head of the field. It was a cruel contrast for Nelson Piquet, who retired his NEXTEV TCR machine.
Prost was now catching di Grassi with 9 laps remaining but most impressive was both Dragon cars in 5th and 6th positions and Nathanael Berthon, who had moved into 8th for Team Aguri – strategy proving it still had a say in the second season.
Down-force was now no longer an issue for Nico Prost, with the Frenchman losing a rear pod, collapsing his rear wing. Whilst the issue wasn’t effecting his times, it did represent a safety issue. With five laps remaining, Renault e.Dams would be hoping against hope, but as it was the right decision was made with Prost getting the ‘meatball’ flag to come in and repair the damage. With Prost’s penalty, third was now up for grabs with Loic Duval closing fast on Heidfeld. Duval however had to worry about team-mate D’Ambrosio who was nipping at his heels and nearly sliding into his team-mate.
The big surprise however was Oliver Turvey who had made his way into 5th place, speaking volumes about his capacity to drag the recalcitrant NEXTEV racer so far up the field from 15th to 5th. On the other end of the scale, DS Virgin would have a lot of homework to do with both cars falling back through the field to 7th and 12th.
Heidfeld was now in coast mode and having to defend aggressively against attack from both Dragon drivers. It was enough to hang onto the final podium position. But all eyes were on Sebastien Buemi, taking the flag in dominant fashion. Those hoping for a close season were hanging their heads in disbelief.