Formula E comes back this week-end for the first race of 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Buemi, the man to beat
With two race wins in the first two races of the season, Sébastien Buemi appears as the man to beat for this first part of the season. Although qualifying sessions have not been the easiest so far for him, he proved how fast and how superior the Renault e.dams car is in this third season of Formula E. With already 22 points more than his closest rival who is Lucas Di Grassi, Buemi can come rather serine to Buenos Aires although he never won in Argentina. Nevertheless, Buemi could build his gap up to 29 points and give him one free e-prix after only three races.
However, the other drivers will want to threaten Buemi on track, especially two impressive rookies this season. Felix Rosenqvist, who will focus on his Formula E season and dropped from DTM, comes back from a pole position and a podium in Marrakech. The fast Swede will undoubtedly show his speed again in Buenos Aires. The other rookie who can have a great week-end is José-Maria Lopez. Despite two difficult races, Lopez has been rather impressive in his Formula E debuts and he will undoubtedly be helped by his home crowd cheering for him and probably awarding him the fanboost.
Welcome to America
Formula E returns to South America and to Argentina. Buenos Aires is the first track of the season that is not new to Formula E and is also the only track featuring in all seasons. The Puerto Madero street circuit is 2.4 km long and features 12 turns. The lap record is hold by Jérôme D’Ambrosio in 1:11.048 with Dragon Racing in 2016.
In 2015, Sébastien Buemi had set pole position but he retired from the race, offering Antonio Felix Da Costa his first victory in Formula E. in 2016, Sam Bird claimed both pole position and race win for DS Virgin which will try to do the same this year and claim their first victory of the season.
This race is the first race of the season hosted on the American continent and, for the first season, the only one in South America, as the Punta del Este e-prix has been removed from the Formula E calendar. Formula E will then flight to Mexico in the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez with Esteban Gutiérrez as guest driver. And after the European season, Formula E will come back to America in July for the two double headers of New York and Montréal.
