2015 Miami ePrix

2015 Miami ePrix
The Miami ePrix layout for 2015.
Race Information
Date	14 March 2015
E-Prix No.	5
Official Name	2015 FIA Formula E Miami ePrix
Location	Biscayne Bay Street Circuit, Miami, Florida, USA
Format	{{{format}}}
Lap length	2.169 km (1.348 km)
Distance	39 laps / 84.591 km (52.562 mi)
Support Race	{{{support}}}
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Jean-Éric Vergne
Team	Andretti Autosport
Time	1:05.953
Fastest Lap
Driver	Nelson Piquet Jr.
Team	China Racing
Fastest Lap	1:07.969 on lap 29
ePrix Result
First	Second	Third
Nicolas Prost	Scott Speed	Daniel Abt
Winner Team	e.dams-Renault
Time	46:12.349
ePrix Guide
Previous		Next
2015 Buenos Aires ePrix		2015 Long Beach ePrix
Post-Race Test	{{{test}}}

The 2015 Miami ePrix, otherwise officially known as the 2015 FIA Formula E Miami ePrix, was the fifth ePrix of the inaugural 2014/15 FIA Formula E Championship, staged at the Biscayne Bay Street Circuit in Miami, Florida, USA, on 14 March 2015. The race, which was the only Miami ePrix to be staged, was won by Nicolas Prost of e.dams-Renault after a last lap duel with home racer Scott Speed.

Jean-Éric Vergne had been the man to claim pole for Andretti Autosport at their home race, beating Nelson Piquet Jr. by half a tenth. Prost was next ahead of Sam Bird, while Daniel Abt completed the top five ahead of Stéphane Sarrazin.

Vergne made a good getaway at the start of the race to take an early lead, surviving a tap from Prost as the Frenchman lost out to Bird. Later in the opening tour Charles Pic pitched himself into a spin but rejoined unharmed, with the rest of the first lap otherwise tame.

Vergne and Bird crept clear of the rest of the field during the early stages, while the pack steadily sorted itself out. Indeed, most of the field had got caught behind a fast starting Vitantonio Liuzzi at the back of the top ten, with a lot of half-moves failing to come off on the Italian.

Bird and Vergne ran nose-to-tail until the pit window opened, with Bird surging inside the Frenchman to take the lead a lap before their stops, only to run out of usable energy on his in-lap, dropping him down the field. Vergne, meanwhile, would endure a slow stop before his second car encountered a power issue, dropping him to the back of the pack.

It was Abt who duly inherited the lead, albeit under huge pressure from Prost, di Grassi and a charging Speed. Indeed, with two laps to run Abt was powerless to prevent Prost and Speed from making their way through, the latter having barged past di Grassi a few moments earlier.

Into the final lap and Prost was having to defend heavily from Speed, with the Andretti's nose appearing alongside the e.dams-Renault at almost every corner. Yet, a strong run out of the chicane was enough to see Prost clinch victory by half a second from Speed, with Abt five seconds off at the chequered flag.

Background

Formula E would make its debut in the United States of America in mid-March 2015, landing on the streets of Miami, Florida for its fifth ePrix. The circuit itself was forged around the American Airlines Arena, with a series of 90° corners spread over 2.2 kilometres on the bay of Miami. Indeed, the Biscayne Bay Street Circuit would be among the shortest on the calendar, which also featured a brief run under a freeway and a run along the harbour front.

Into the entry list and there was yet another change at Andretti Autosport, with Scott Speed joining Jean-Éric Vergne as their second driver, becoming the sixth driver for the American effort. Speed had already tested for the team at Donington Park over the summer, and replaced Marco Andretti who missed Miami due to other commitments. ex-Andretti racer Charles Pic, meanwhile, would also return to the grid, occupying the seat of Ho-Pin Tung at China Racing with the Chinese chaser absent due to other commitments.

Elsewhere, Dragon Racing proclaimed that Loïc Duval would race for them in around the Miami streets, with Oriol Servià heading into the boardroom as a partner and managing director. It was unclear whether Duval would become a permanent member of the Dragon crew, with the Frenchman committed to the Audi World Endurance Championship programme, while Servià had dedicated dedicated to running the team rather than racing. Another debutante in Miami would be Vitantonio Liuzzi, who joined the Trulli Formula E Team after Michela Cerruti left the Swiss based effort for 'professional reasons'.

Buenos Bounce

In terms of the Championship, Lucas di Grassi had arrived to North America in the lead, although his gap had been reduced to ten points by Sam Bird in Buenos Aires. Sébastien Buemi, whom retired in Argentina as had di Grassi, sat in third, as 21 points separated first from fifth in the championship. António Félix da Costa, meanwhile, had impressed in Argentina to take a shock victory for Amlin Aguri, meaning he came to Florida in sixth place overall.

e.dams-Renault, meanwhile, had pulled out a small gap in the Team's Championship, with an eleven point gap over Virgin Racing. The good form of Audi Sport ABT had ended in Buenos Aires, leaving them in third, while the best placed American team was in fourth, with Andretti ahead of compatriots Dragon Racing by three points. It was Aguri, however, that had gained the most in Argentina, as they leapt to eighth courtesy of da Costa's maiden victory.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2015 Miami ePrix is displayed below:

2015 Miami ePrix Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Car
2	Sam Bird	Virgin Racing	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
3	Jaime Alguersuari	Virgin Racing	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
5	Karun Chandhok	Mahindra Racing	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
6	Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
8	Nicolas Prost	e.dams-Renault	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
9	Sébastien Buemi	e.dams-Renault	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
10	Jarno Trulli	Trulli Formula E Team	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
11	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Trulli Formula E Team	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
21	Bruno Senna	Mahindra Racing	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
23	Nick Heidfeld	Venturi Formula E Team	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
27	Jean-Éric Vergne	Andretti Autosport	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
28	Scott Speed	Andretti Autosport	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
30	Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi Formula E Team	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
55	António Félix da Costa	Amlin Aguri	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
77	Salvador Duran	Amlin Aguri	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
88	Charles Pic	China Racing	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
99	Nelson Piquet Jr.	China Racing	Spark-Renault	SRT_01E
Source:

Practice

FP1

Free practice at the first ePrix based in the USA was likely to be a rapid one as the middle of the season started to approach, with Sam Bird leading the field at the end of FP1 with a time of 1:06.588, closely followed by Karun Chandhok by barely over a tenth. With only one practice session available on the usually busy Miami streets, being consistent and fast would be key to getting a good time in qualifying and for each of the drivers race preparations.

Practice Results

The full results from both practice sessions is outlined below:

2015 Miami ePrix FP1 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap
1st	2	Sam Bird	Virgin Racing	1:06.588	—
2nd	5	Karun Chandhok	Mahindra Racing	1:06.689	+0.101s
3rd	11	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT	1:06.909	+0.321s
4th	28	Scott Speed	Andretti Formula E	1:07.265	+0.677s
5th	66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT	1:07.414	+0.826s
6th	23	Nick Heidfeld	Venturi Formula E Team	1:07.446	+0.858s
7th	8	Nicolas Prost	E.Dams	1:07.570	+0.982s
8th	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Trulli Formula E Team	1:07.781	+1.193s
9th	30	Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi Formula E Team	1:07.892	+1.304s
10th	27	Jean-Éric Vergne	Andretti Formula E	1:07.980	+1.392s
11th	21	Bruno Senna	Mahindra Racing	1:08.254	+1.666s
12th	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	1:08.495	+1.907s
13th	9	Sébastien Buemi	E.Dams	1:08.571	+1.983s
14th	88	Charles Pic	China Racing	1:08.625	+2.037s
15th	3	Jaime Alguersuari	Virgin Racing	1:08.932	+2.344s
16th	99	Nelson Piquet Jr.	China Racing	1:09.211	+2.623s
17th	6	Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	1:09.239	+2.651s
18th	77	Salvador Duran	Amlin Aguri	1:09.357	+2.769s
19th	10	Jarno Trulli	Trulli Formula E Team	1:09.837	+3.249s
20th	55	António Félix da Costa	Amlin Aguri	1:10.156	+3.568s

Qualifying

Qualifying for the Miami ePrix of 2015 was held at 12:10, and ran as usual for an hour. 10 minutes was given to each group to set a time, with the fastest man overall starting from pole and taking home three points.

Group 1

Miami ePrix - onboard lap

Loic Duval mastering Miami.

Loïc Duval got his first taste of a Formula e qualifying session as the first time setter of the day, joined by the e.dams duo of Sebastien Buemi and Nicolas Prost, Jarno Trulli's own entry, and Nick Heidfeld in the Venturi. Buemi and Prost had already shared three of the season's four pole positions before Miami, and went into the session as favourites. Heidfeld and Trulli, meanwhile, would simply have been hoping to turn their previous misfortunes around, but that would be more difficult than they had perceived.

Prost claimed the honour of being fastest in the group, edging out Heidfeld by four tenths of a second, with Buemi a further half a second behind. Trulli managed to get within a tenth of the second e.dams car, while Duval struggled with his new equipment, his fastest time over three seconds slower that Prost's potential pole setter. It was not all doom and gloom for Duval, however, after Heidfeld was excluded for exceeding the maximum power usage limit, meaning the German would start from the back row.

Group 2

Another débutante featured in Group 2, as Scott Speed joined Sam Bird, Karun Chandhok and the Audi Sport ABT boys, Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt on the circuit. Di Grassi came to Miami as championship leader, and after his retirement in Buenos Aires was now under pressure from Sam Bird, whom had been stronger than him in qualifying throughout the season. Chandhok, Abt and Speed were therefore expected to watch as the championship leader and his nearest challenger went head to head.

So it proved, as Bird went to the top of the group, just missing out on Prost's time by 0.003s, with di Grassi taking seventh overall just two tenths behind. Abt managed to squeeze his ABT car in between the title contenders, claiming fifth overall just half a tenth behind Bird, while Speed looked to be on the pace of the field, setting a time ultimately good enough for tenth. Chandhok was almost a second off Speed's time, before becoming the second victim of the day to an energy use penalty, dumping him to the back of the grid.

Group 3

Charles Pic was joined on his return to Formula e by team mate Nelson Piquet, Jr., Jean-Eric Vergne, Stephane Sarrazin and the third and final debutant, Vitantonio Liuzzi. As the only other driver to take pole, Vergne was one of the favourites for the session, and had a time to beat with Prost having run earlier. Piquet had become increasingly strong as the season progressed, while Sarrazin, like team mate Heidfeld, was battling luck as well as electricity coming into the session. For Liuzzi and Pic, setting a competitive time was more the aim of the game.

Vergne showed his pace once again, taking pole away from Prost, beating his fellow Frenchman by two tenths, before almost being toppled himself. Piquet, who came to Miami with a five place grid penalty from Buenos Aires, stunned the paddock by claiming second behind Vergne, missing out on pole by less than half a tenth. Sarrazin became another barrier that di Grassi would have to bypass after claiming sixth overall, with Liuzzi joining Speed in the mid-grid pack. Pic, however, struggled at the tail end of the Group, only manage to beat Duval on the overall board, and more than two seconds slower than Vergne.

Group 4

Rounding out qualifying were the Amlin Aguri drivers Antonio Felix da Costa and Salvador Duran, Jaime Alguersuari in the second Virgin, Jerome d'Ambrosio's Dragon and Bruno Senna for Mahindra. None of the drivers in the final group were expected to challenge for pole, despite da Costa's surprise victory in Argentina, with mid-grid a fair result for all involved.

D'Ambrosio took the final honour of topping his group by claiming eighth overall, beating Alguersuari by 0.001s in ninth. Duran couldn't beat the debuting duo of Liuzzi and Speed, and so settled for twelfth, beating a disappointed da Costa by almost a second. Senna split the pair in the group, with his time good enough for fifteenth in the final qualifying standings.

Post Qualifying

The final qualifying results for the 2015 Miami ePrix are outlined below:

2015 Miami ePrix Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Grid	Group
1st	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Andretti Autosport	1:05.953	—	1	G3
2nd*	99	Nelson Piquet Jr.	China Racing	1:06.003	+0.050s	7	G3
3rd	8	Nicolas Prost	e.dams-Renault	1:06.167	+0.214s	2	G1
4th	2	Sam Bird	Virgin Racing	1:06.170	+0.217s	3	G2
5th	66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT	1:06.255	+0.302s	4	G2
6th	30	Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi Formula E Team	1:06.424	+0.436s	5	G3
7th	11	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT	1:06.424	+0.471s	6	G2
8th	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	1:06.502	+0.549s	8	G4
9th	3	Jaime Alguersuari	Virgin Racing	1:06.503	+0.550s	9	G4
10th	28	Scott Speed	Andretti Autosport	1:06.527	+0.574s	10	G2
11th	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Trulli Formula E Team	1:06.836	+0.883s	11	G3
12th	77	Salvador Duran	Amlin Aguri	1:06.888	+0.935s	12	G4
13th	9	Sébastien Buemi	e.dams-Renault	1:07.037	+1.084s	13	G1
14th	10	Jarno Trulli	Trulli Formula E Team	1:07.163	+1.210s	14	G1
15th	21	Bruno Senna	Mahindra Racing	1:07.283	+1.330s	15	G4
16th	55	António Félix da Costa	Amlin Aguri	1:07.678	+1.725s	16	G4
17th	88	Charles Pic	China Racing	1:08.243	+2.290s	17	G3
18th	6	Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	1:09.454	+3.501s	18	G1
107% Time: 1:10.570
EXC†	23	Nick Heidfeld	Venturi Formula E Team	1:06.510	+0.557s	19	G1
EXC†	5	Karun Chandhok	Mahindra Racing	1:07.223	+1.270s	20	G2
Source:

• * Piquet served a five place penalty given to him after Buenos Aires.
• ^† Heidfeld and Chandhok excluded for exceeding the maximum power usage.

Race

Before the race, the FanBoost result was announced, with Salvador Duran, Bruno Senna and pole sitter Jean-Éric Vergne gaining the five second power boost. There were no changes to the grid (other than those already applied immediately after qualifying) with the ePrix scheduled to start at 16:00 local time despite the earlier delay during practice.

Report

Vergne got off the line cleanly to take an early lead in Miami, as Nicolas Prost cost himself a position by tagging the back of the Andretti Autosport machine into the first corner. Sam Bird took advantage to take second a few turns later, while Charles Pic suffered an early spin to drop him out of the chasing pack half way round the opening lap. Otherwise, a clean opening lap in Miami to start the first ePrix to be held in North America.

Vergne and Bird established a small lead for themselves in the early stages, as battles emerged throughout the field. Scott Speed's first ePrix saw him in a battle with FanBoost buoyed Duran, whom used his extra 30kwh of power down the main straight to get past on lap three. Unfortunately for Duran, Speed positioned himself to the inside of the next left hander, preventing Duran from taking the position into the next corner. At the front, meanwhile, Bird was increasing the pressure on Vergne as energy use came to the fore.

The field continued to be separated by a matter of seconds as the race approached half distance, with numerous moves taking place, but rarely succeeding. The debuting Vitantonio Liuzzi had made a stunning start to leap into the top ten, but was soon found to be more of a road block than a challenger, with a queue of cars behind him. Among them was Loïc Duval, who tried to move past Senna on the inside of turn five, only to see Senna gain better traction on the clean side of the circuit and pull back ahead. Moments later Senna made a move Duran, while, at the front, Bird and Vergne were getting physical at the front.

Bird then grabbed the lead into turn five on lap 20, with Vergne heading in to the pits immediately after as Bird continued on. Unfortunately for the Brit, a misjudgement by himself and the team meant he had to crawl around the lap using minimal power, removing him from the lead battle. Vergne, however, did not have it all his own way, as a delayed pit stop was followed by power issues, dropping him even further down than Bird to last. The complexion of the race was therefore completely changed after the stops, with a surprise in store for the rest.

Daniel Abt emerged in the lead of the ePrix, with Prost, di Grassi and, for the time being, Vergne, in close attendance. Another surprise was the looming presence of Speed, whom had a perfectly timed stop (exactly 63 seconds, the minimum stop time permitted by the FIA) to leap into contention on his debut. It wasn't long before Speed began to close, taking Vergne three laps after his stop, claiming fourth and latching onto the back of di Grassi. Vergne tried to hold the position into turn six, but was left on the outside of the turn and dropped back.

Nelson Piquet Jr. was another man on a charge, a long stint in the first car meaning he had a significant power advantage over the rest of the field. Yet, as he caught as passed Vergne, Speed was making his move onto the podium. As the leading quartet came across the battling duo of Liuzzi and Karun Chandhok, Speed almost had a chance to take third at the kink on lap 33, before launching a confident move a lap later into turn five. Di Grassi fell away, while Speed became one of the favourites for victory, and managing a two percent power advantage over his competitors.

With just two laps to go, Prost sprung a move on Abt out of turn eight, claiming the inside into the corner and down the main straight. Abt tried to challenge, managing to get two thirds down the side of the e.dams car, before having to back out of the move as the pair entered the braking zone for turn one. It was an open door, therefore, for Speed, whom had picked up a good slipstream from the battling duo and was able to dive into the space that Abt had ceded to Prost. It was then to be a lap and a half duel to the finish between Speed and Prost for victory.

Under pressure as they started the final lap, Prost got out of shape through the chicane, tapping the wall out of turn eight and losing a fair amount of speed down the straight. Despite this, he held on to the position, with Speed too far back to take advantage into turn one. He opted to set up for turn five, but a clean exit out of turn four gave Prost an advantage that he held to the line. Speed would have to settle for second on his debut, while Abt successfully held off a late charge by Jérôme d'Ambrosio for third. D'Ambrosio had been a quiet force in the race, but his quiet afternoon proved particularly lucrative for Dragon Racing at their home race, backed by an impressive Duval whom claimed seventh on his debut.

Result

The final classification of the 2015 Miami ePrix is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold.

2015 Miami ePrix Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	8	Nicolas Prost	e.dams-Renault	39	46:12.349	1:08.916	25
2nd	28	Scott Speed	Andretti Autosport	39	+0.433s	1:08.786	18
3rd	66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT	39	+5.518s	1:08.918	15
4th	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	39	+5.941s	1:08.739	12
5th	99	Nelson Piquet Jr.	China Racing	39	+6.426s	1:07.969	12
6th	55	António Félix da Costa	Amlin Aguri	39	+8.754s	1:08.481	8
7th	6	Loïc Duval	Dragon Racing	39	+9.498s	1:08.391	6
8th	2	Sam Bird	Virgin Racing	39	+19.817s	1:08.718	4
9th	11	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT	39	+20.631s	1:09.021	2
10th	77	Salvador Duran	Amlin Aguri	39	+24.587s	1:08.710	1
11th	3	Jaime Alguersuari	Virgin Racing	39	+43.883s	1:08.854
12th	23	Nick Heidfeld	Venturi Formula E Team	39	+47.878s	1:08.863
13th	9	Sébastien Buemi	e.dams-Renault	39	+1:04.587	1:08.390
14th	5	Karun Chandhok	Mahindra Racing	39	+1:23.539	1:08.768
15th	10	Jarno Trulli	Trulli Formula E Team	38	+1 Lap	1:09.511
16th	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Trulli Formula E Team	38	+1 Lap	1:09.777
17th	88	Charles Pic	China Racing	38	+1 Lap	1:09.264
18th	27	Jean-Éric Vergne	Andretti Autosport	37	+2 Laps	1:08.857	3
Ret	30	Stéphane Sarrazin	Venturi Formula E Team	31	Retired	1:08.824
Ret	21	Bruno Senna	Mahindra Racing	25	Suspension	1:08.947
Source:

• Indicates a driver was awarded FanBoost during the race.

Milestones

• Miami hosted its first ePrix.
  • Also the first ePrix to be staged in North America.
• Debut race for Loïc Duval, Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi.
• Jean-Éric Vergne claimed his second pole start.
  • Also the second pole start for Andretti Autosport as an entrant.
• First win for Nicolas Prost.
• e.dams-Renault recorded their second victory as an entrant.
• First podium for Speed.
  • Also the American racer's first points finish.
• Maiden podium finish for Daniel Abt.
• Maiden points finishes for Duval and Salvador Duran.

Standings

It was Nicolas Prost whom left Miami in the lead of the Championship, holding a seven point margin over Lucas di Grassi, the first time all season that someone other than the Brazilian had led the championship. Sam Bird also dropped a place to third, with Sébastien Buemi the biggest loser in the title chase, falling two places to fifth. Nelson Piquet Jr. was now sat in fourth, while Scott Speed had joined three other drivers sat on 18 points in mid-table, a point behind Daniel Abt.

In the Team's Championship, e.dams-Renault increased their advantage at the front of the field, despite Buemi failing to score at all. Audi Sport ABT now sat as their closest challenger, but just a point ahead of Virgin Racing whom they overtook. Further down, Andretti Autosport retained their lead over Dragon Racing in the battle of the American teams, while Amlin Aguri climbed another place in the table thanks to António Félix da Costa and Salvador Duran both claiming valuable points.

2014/15 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Nicolas Prost 67 ▲3 2nd Lucas di Grassi 60 ▼1 3rd Sam Bird 52 ▼1 4th Nelson Piquet Jr. 49 ▲1 5th Sébastien Buemi 43 ▼2 6th António Félix da Costa 37 ◄0 7th Jérôme d'Ambrosio 34 ▲1 8th Jaime Alguersuari 26 ▼1 9th Daniel Abt 19 ▲8 10th Franck Montagny 18 ▼1 11th Scott Speed 18 ▲16 12th Karun Chandhok 18 ▼2 13th Bruno Senna 18 ▼2 14th Oriol Servià 16 ▼2 15th Jean-Éric Vergne 14 ◄0 16th Jarno Trulli 12 ▼3 17th Charles Pic 12 ▼3 18th Loïc Duval 6 ▲9 19th Nick Heidfeld 5 ▼3 20th Stéphane Sarrazin 3 ▼2 21st Takuma Sato 2 ▼2 22nd Salvador Duran 1 ▲4

2014/15 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st e.dams-Renault 110 ◄0 2nd Audi Sport ABT 79 ▲1 3rd Virgin Racing 78 ▼1 4th Andretti Autosport 62 ◄0 5th Dragon Racing 56 ◄0 6th China Racing 49 ◄0 7th Amlin Aguri 40 ▲1 8th Mahindra Racing 36 ▼1 9th Trulli Formula E Team 12 ◄0 10th Venturi Formula E Team 8 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers are shown.

References

Videos and Images:

• 'Miami ePrix - onboard lap', youtube.com, (FIA Formula E: YouTube, 14/03/2015), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTKqeL_UTqI, (Accessed 28/04/2015)

References: