Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula E

Buemi dominates Formula E opener in Beijing

©FormulaE

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Sebastien Buemi dominated the opening round of season two of the Formula E championship to take maximum points in Beijing.

Securing pole position in the new Super Pole shootout by over a quarter of a second from Renault-e.dams team-mate Nico Prost, Buemi held off the challenge of Nick Heidfeld in to Turn 1 and dominated the race despite two full course yellows. In setting the fastest lap on his way to an 11-second victory, Buemi ensured he became the first driver to take away the maximum 30 points from a weekend.

While Prost had started second he was jumped by Heidfeld at the start and later engaged in an on-track battle with the German who he famously collided with at the end of last year's Formula E opener. While Prost held track position, he then suffered damage to the rear of his car which resulted in the stewards giving him the black and orange flag, with Prost retiring in the pits.

Prost's retirement promoted Heidfeld to third place behind Lucas di Grassi, with the ABT driver gaining position in the pit stops as Heidfeld suffered from an issue with his seatbelt. However, third still marked Mahindra's first podium in Formula E to complete an impressive result for the team.

The Dragon Racing pair of Loic Duval and Jerome D'ambrosia were fourth and fifth following Prost's problem, engaging in a close fight with Heidfeld until the flag. Oliver Turvey secured his best Formula E result to date with sixth place for NEXTEV TCR having been one of the three FanBoost winners, coming through from 15th on the grid to lead home another FanBoost winner in Sam Bird.

Nathanael Berthon scored on his debut in eighth place, while Stephane Sarrazin and Robin Frijns rounded out the top ten, with Frijns scoring a point despite coasting over the line having run out of energy on his Formula E race debut.

Defending champion Nelson Piquet Jr. was the third FanBoost winner but suffered a tough race as a technical fault dropped him to 15th place outside the points.

©FormulaE

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.