2015–16 Formula E Championship

The 2015–16 FIA Formula E Championship was the second season of the FIA Formula E championship, held from 24 October 2015 to 3 July 2016. The season saw seven new manufacturers, who were allowed to develop new power trains, specifically the e-motor, the inverter, the gearbox and the cooling system.[1] Nelson Piquet Jr. was the defending Drivers' Champion and Renault e.dams the defending teams' champion. After ten rounds, Sébastien Buemi won the championship by just two points over Lucas di Grassi after setting the fastest lap in the final race, where neither driver finished following an opening lap crash and several attempts to set the fastest lap in their second cars. Renault e.dams retained the teams' championship.

Sébastien Buemi won the Drivers' Championship by 2 points
Lucas di Grassi (pictured in 2010) finished the season second, following a controversial crash with Buemi in the final race
Nicolas Prost (pictured in 2012) finished the season third
Renault e.dams won the Teams' Championship

Teams and drivers

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The second season was planned to again feature ten teams that were essentially identical from the inaugural season. But, the withdrawal of Trulli after failing to enter the first two races left nine teams competing for the 2015–16 season.[2] Additionally, there were eight manufacturers of power trains that worked together with or were part of the individual teams. Initially only Team Aguri decided to keep the power train from the previous season, while Dragon used the Venturi power train. Due to the regulations, all teams used the same chassis as in the first season. The eight manufacturers were homologated by the FIA in August 2015.[1] After troublesome preseason testing, Andretti decided to revert to the power train from the inaugural season.[3] All teams used the mandated Spark chassis.

Team Powertrain No. Drivers Rounds
  NEXTEV TCR Formula E Team         NEXTEV TCR FormulaE 001[4] 1   Nelson Piquet Jr.[5]         All
88   Oliver Turvey[6] All
  DS Virgin Racing Formula E Team         Virgin DSV-01 2   Sam Bird[7] All
25   Jean-Éric Vergne[7] All
  Venturi Formula E Team Venturi VM200-FE-01 4   Stéphane Sarrazin[8] All
12   Jacques Villeneuve[9]   1–3
  Mike Conway[10] 4–10
  Dragon Racing Venturi VM200-FE-01 6   Loïc Duval[8] All
7   Jérôme d'Ambrosio[11]       All
  Renault e.Dams Renault Z.E 15 8   Nicolas Prost[8] All
9   Sébastien Buemi[8] All
  Trulli Formula E Team Motomatica JT-01[12] 10   Salvador Durán[13] 1‡
  Jarno Trulli[14] 2‡
18   Vitantonio Liuzzi[13] 1–2‡
  ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport         ABT Schaeffler FE01 11   Lucas di Grassi[15] All
66   Daniel Abt[16] All
  Mahindra Racing Formula E Team Mahindra M2ELECTRO 21   Bruno Senna[17] All
23   Nick Heidfeld[17] 1–2, 4–10
  Oliver Rowland[18] 3
  Amlin Andretti Formula E Team SRT01-e[3] 27   Robin Frijns[19] All
28   Simona de Silvestro[20]       All
  Team Aguri SRT01-e[21] 55   António Félix da Costa[22]       1–7, 9–10
  René Rast[23] 8
77   Nathanaël Berthon[24] 1–3
  Salvador Durán[25] 4–6
  Ma Qinghua[26] 7–10
Source:[1]

‡ Drivers were present at the first two rounds of the championship, but the team failed to pass scrutineering both times.

Team changes

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  • All ten teams from the first season intended to compete in season two, with some name changes due to sponsorship changes or manufacturer cooperations.[1]
  • Eight teams became manufacturers and produce components either by themselves or with a technology partner: Abt (with Schaeffler), Andretti, e.Dams (with Renault) Mahindra, NEXTEV, Trulli (with Motomatica), Venturi, and Virgin (with DS Automobiles).[1] On 25 August 2015, Andretti decided to retain the powertrain from the previous season.[3]
  • After failing to pass scrutineering of their new drivetrain for the first two races, Trulli withdrew from the championship, leaving 9 teams to compete for the rest of the season.[2]

Driver changes

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Mid-season changes

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Rule changes

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  • The rules were opened up for the second season, in keeping with the series' long-term plan to use a single car over the course of a race instead of two separate chassis. Teams were free to pursue their own development of the powertrain, including the e-motor, inverter, gearbox and cooling system.[36]
  • The maximum power usage during the race was increased from 150 kilowatts (200 bhp) to 170 kilowatts (230 bhp). The total allowed energy consumption from the battery remained limited to 28 kWh.[37]

Calendar

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The season was scheduled to include 11 races, held between October 2015 and July 2016. The final calendar was approved by the World Motor Sport Council in October 2015.[38] However, in May 2016, the Moscow ePrix was cancelled "due to recent and unforeseen circumstances related to road closures", reducing the season to 10 races.[39]

Round ePrix Country Track Date
1 Beijing ePrix   China Beijing Olympic Green Circuit 24 October 2015
2 Putrajaya ePrix   Malaysia Putrajaya Street Circuit 7 November 2015
3 Punta del Este ePrix   Uruguay Punta del Este Street Circuit 19 December 2015
4 Buenos Aires ePrix   Argentina Puerto Madero Street Circuit 6 February 2016
5 Mexico City ePrix   Mexico Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez 12 March 2016
6 Long Beach ePrix   United States Long Beach Street Circuit 2 April 2016
7 Paris ePrix   France Paris Street Circuit 23 April 2016
8 Berlin ePrix   Germany Berlin Street Circuit 21 May 2016
9 London ePrix Race 1   United Kingdom Battersea Park Street Circuit 2 July 2016
10 London ePrix Race 2 3 July 2016
Source:[38][40]

Calendar changes

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Race results

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Round Race Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Report
1   Beijing   Sébastien Buemi   Sébastien Buemi   Sébastien Buemi   Renault e.Dams Report
2   Putrajaya   Sébastien Buemi   Sébastien Buemi   Lucas di Grassi   ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport Report
3   Punta del Este   Jérôme d'Ambrosio   Sébastien Buemi   Sébastien Buemi   Renault e.Dams Report
4   Buenos Aires   Sam Bird   Jérôme d'Ambrosio   Sam Bird   DS Virgin Racing Formula E Team Report
5   Mexico City   Jérôme d'Ambrosio   Nicolas Prost[N 1]   Jérôme d'Ambrosio[N 2]   Dragon Racing Report
6   Long Beach   Sam Bird[N 3]   Sébastien Buemi   Lucas di Grassi   ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport Report
7   Paris   Sam Bird   Nick Heidfeld   Lucas di Grassi   ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport Report
8   Berlin   Jean-Éric Vergne   Bruno Senna   Sébastien Buemi   Renault e.Dams Report
9   London   Nicolas Prost   Nelson Piquet Jr.   Nicolas Prost   Renault e.Dams Report
10   Sébastien Buemi   Sébastien Buemi   Nicolas Prost   Renault e.Dams
Source:[42]
Notes
  1. ^ Jérôme d'Ambrosio set the fastest lap during the race but his lap was removed due to corner-cutting.
  2. ^ Lucas di Grassi and Audi Sport Abt were the initial winners but were disqualified when di Grassi's car was found to be underweight.
  3. ^ António Félix da Costa set the fastest time but he was excluded due to an irregular tyre pressure level.

Championship standings

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Points system

Championship points are awarded as follows:

Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th  Pole FL
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 3 2

Unlike the previous season, all results count towards the total.

Drivers' Championship

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Pos. Driver BEI
 
PUT
 
PDE
 
BUE
 
MEX
 
LBH
 
PAR
 
BER
 
LDN
 
Pts
1   Sébastien Buemi 1 12 1 2 2 16 3* 1* 5* Ret* 155
2   Lucas di Grassi 2 1 2 3* DSQ* 1* 1 3 4* Ret* 153
3   Nicolas Prost Ret 10 5 5 3 11 4 4 1 1 115
4   Sam Bird 7* 2 Ret* 1* 6 6 6 11 7 Ret 88
5   Jérôme d'Ambrosio 5 14† 3 16 1 7* 11 16 8 3 83
6   Stéphane Sarrazin 9 4 9* 4 9 2 5 10* 10 5* 70
7   Daniel Abt 11 7 8 13 7 3 10 2 Ret 2 68
8   Loïc Duval 4 16† 4 6 4 8 Ret* Ret Ret 4 60
9   Jean-Éric Vergne 12 Ret 7* 11* 16* 13 2* 5 3 8 56
10   Nick Heidfeld 3 9* 7 8 4* 12 7* 13* 7 53
11   Bruno Senna 13 5 Ret 10 10 5 9 15 2 6 52
12   Robin Frijns 10 3 10 8 5 15 7 6 Ret Ret 45
13   António Félix da Costa Ret 6 6 Ret Ret Ret 8 6 11 28
14   Oliver Turvey 6* Ret* 12 9 11 12 13 12 15† 10 11
15   Nelson Piquet Jr. 15†* 8* 15† 12 13 Ret Ret 13 12 9 8
16   Mike Conway 15 12 10 14 8 9 13 7
17   Nathanaël Berthon 8 15 14 4
18   Simona de Silvestro Ret 13 11 14 14 9 15 9 14 Ret 4
19   Ma Qinghua Ret 14 11 12 0
20   Jacques Villeneuve 14 11 DNS 0
21   Oliver Rowland 13 0
22   Salvador Durán DNP Ret 15* 14 0
23   René Rast NC 0
  Vitantonio Liuzzi DNP DNP 0
  Jarno Trulli DNP 0
Pos. Driver BEI
 
PUT
 
PDE
 
BUE
 
MEX
 
LBH
 
PAR
 
BER
 
LDN
 
Pts
Source:[43]
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
* – FanBoost

Notes

† – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Teams' Championship

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Pos. Team No. BEI
 
PUT
 
PDE
 
BUE
 
MEX
 
LBH
 
PAR
 
BER
 
LDN
 
Points
1   Renault e.Dams 8 Ret 10 5 5 3 11 4 4 1 1 270
9 1 12 1 2 2 16 3* 1* 5* Ret*
2   ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 11 2 1 2 3* DSQ* 1* 1 3 4* Ret* 221
66 11 7 8 13 7 3 10 2 Ret 2
3   DS Virgin Racing 2 7* 2 Ret* 1* 6 6 6 11 7 Ret 144
25 12 Ret 7* 11* 16* 13 2* 5 3 8
4   Dragon Racing 6 4 16† 4 6 4 8 Ret* Ret Ret 4 143
7 5 14† 3 16 1 7* 11 16 8 3
5   Mahindra Racing 21 13 5 Ret 10 10 5 9 15 2 6 105
23 3 9* 13 7 8 4* 12 7* 13* 7
6   Venturi 4 9 4 9* 4 9 2 5 10* 10 5* 77
12 14 11 DNS 15 12 10 14 8 9 13
7   Amlin Andretti 27 10 3 10 8 5 15 7 6 Ret Ret 49
28 Ret 13 11 14 14 9 15 9 14 Ret
8   Team Aguri 55 Ret 6 6 Ret Ret Ret 8 NC 6 11 32
77 8 15 14 Ret 15* 14 Ret 14 11 12
9   NEXTEV TCR 1 15†* 8* 15† 12 13 Ret Ret 13 12 9 19
88 6* Ret* 12 9 11 12 13 12 15† 10
  Trulli 10 DNP DNP 0
18 DNP DNP
Pos. Team No. BEI
 
PUT
 
PDE
 
BUE
 
MEX
 
LBH
 
PAR
 
BER
 
LDN
 
Points
Source:[44]
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
* – FanBoost

Notes

† – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "FIA homologates manufacturers for second Formula E season". Formula E Holdings Limited. 2015-08-03. Archived from the original on 2015-08-22. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
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  3. ^ a b c "Andretti reverts to season one powertrain". fiaformulae.com. 2015-08-27. Archived from the original on 2015-10-31. Retrieved 2015-08-27.
  4. ^ Watkins, Gary (26 March 2015). "Formula E targeting races without car changes by 2018/19 season". Autosport. Haymarket. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Nelson Piquet Jr signs multi-year Formula E deal". Motorsport.com. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  6. ^ a b Mitchell, Scott (September 14, 2015). "Team China Racing confirms Oliver Turvey for Formula E season". Autosport. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c "DS Virgin Racing confirms Sam Bird and Jean-Eric Vergne". electricautosport.com. 2015-08-08.
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  9. ^ a b DeGroot, Nick (7 August 2015). "Villeneuve signs with Venturi for upcoming Formula E season | Formula E news | Motorsport.com". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
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  23. ^ a b Smith, Topher (18 May 2016). "Rast to debut at Berlin ePrix". e-racing.net. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  24. ^ a b "Berthon secures second Aguri Formula E seat". Motorsport.com. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
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  27. ^ Giordmaina, Jack (6 August 2015). "Chandhok Set to Walk away from Formula E". Formula E Zone. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  28. ^ Giordmaina, Jack (6 August 2015). "Alguersuari Rules Himself out of Virgin Drive". Formula E Zone. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
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  33. ^ @afelixdacosta (26 April 2016). "@RFrijns too bad i miss the next 2!..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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  35. ^ Klein, Jamie (2 May 2016). "Turvey reinstated for Berlin Formula E race". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
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  38. ^ a b c d Biesbrouck, Tim (1 October 2015). "Updated Formula E calendar and rules for season 2". Electric Autosport. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  39. ^ a b "Formula E will not race in Moscow on June 4". fiaformula.com. 6 May 2016.
  40. ^ "2015–16 FIA Formula E Championship". formulae.com. Archived from the original on 2014-12-28. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  41. ^ "New central location for Berlin ePrix". fiaformulae.com. 15 February 2016. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
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  43. ^ "Driver Standings". FIA Formula E. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  44. ^ "Team Standings". FIA Formula E. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
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