Before the sounds of the Millennium Falcon descended upon south beach Miami again after qualifying, there was the matter of penalties to be dealt with. Both Karun Chandhok and Heidfeld had their wrists slapped for exceeding power usage during qualifying. They had a large FIA finger waved at them which eventually pointed them to the back of the grid from where they were to start the race.
A five place grid penalty was also handed to Nelson Piquet of China Racing for speeding under caution in Buenos Aires.
In the “Knight Rider” category, fans voted and awarded Fan Boost to Jean-Eric Vergne, Salvador Duran and Bruno Senna. If you’re new to the series, here is how Formula E explains Fan Boost:
Fans can give their favourite driver an extra speed boost by voting for them prior to the race. The three drivers with the most votes will each receive a 5-second ‘power boost’ per car per driver, temporarily increasing their car’s power from 150kw to 180kw. Just click here to cast your vote. You can change your mind as many times as you want until voting closes a short time before the start of the race.
Jean Eric Vergne was perched on pole position like a Condor ready to snap up the field like Miami road kill and held the lead after launching off the line. Sam Bird took second position after Charles Pic pirouetted. Bird, looking quick all weekend, hounded Vergne trying to bait him into a WWII style dog fight.
Meanwhile, Nico Prost quietly snagged quickest lap behind the leading pair holding of Daniel Abt. It wasn’t long before Pic was lapped after his ballet performance. Chandhok and Heidfeld struggled to make up ground while Buemi overtook Liuzzi in the midfield. Things got worse for Mahindra racing as Chandhok was handed yet another penalty for Max use overuse of power.
Back at the front, a Bird in a Virgin lead the race as Vergne pitted but his race was compromised as he was running low on power. Daniel Abt took over the lead with Prost chasing. Also on the chase was American Scott Speed for Andretti FE, in his first Formula E race.
A dismal day for Mahindra goes from bad to worse with Senna retiring. We suspected that he was late for his reservations at a nearby beachfront bar. It turns out we were mistaken as the team cited suspension failure as the reason. Piquet moving forward as fast Vergne was moving backward after having lost out to Piquet and d’Ambrosio.
Another retirement as gearbox gremlins attack Sarrazin. Joining Chandhok in the naughty corner for max power over use was Nick Heidfeld. These former F1 drivers really like the “Go Fast” peddle. On the topic of “Go Fast”, Speed somehow worked his way into a podium position as Prost slips past Abt for the lead who eventually falls prey to FE rookie Speed in the final laps.
Just like that, the Miami ePrix was over. A thrilling shot of adrenaline in the mid-day sun on the beach. The sounds of Star Wars vanished as quickly as they came.