Stoffel Vandoorne worked the strategy well to win Race 1 in Formula E weekend in Tokyo EPrix in wet conditions from Oliver Rowland.
The Safety Car led the pack away amid soggy conditions, after some 25mm of rain fell over the course of the morning in the lead up to lights out. After four laps, the field formed up for a standing start and Rowland headed Mortara through the Turn 1 and 2 chicane, while Barnard aimed to get his car’s nose up the inside of the Mahindra through the opening left-hander.
A few drivers – the highest-placed of which being Sebastien Buemi – jumped for the first of their mandatory 50kW four-wheel drive ATTACK MODE boosts. The extra traction firing him four seconds faster than the rest as he sliced from eighth to fourth in just a few turns. Even with 4WD, the Envision still looked a handful – the Swiss narrowly keeping his car out of the wall before dispatching Barnard for third at Turn 1 on Lap 7.
That same tour, he stole P2 from Mortara and set about leader Rowland. Of the leaders, Mortara and Barnard were next in ATTACK – the Mahindra driver taking full advantage to pinch P2 back from Buemi but finding himself three seconds shy of leader Rowland when his initial 50kW boost ended. McLaren’s Barnard did likewise, his boost propelling him to a storming move for a then-P4 around the outside of de Vries at the tricky Turn 16 where he shunted earlier in the weekend.
On Lap 10, Rowland found himself up on energy and three seconds clear out-front ahead of Mortarta, Buemi, Barnard, de Vries, Nato, Frijns, Vergne, Ticktum and Guenther. Lap 13 saw Guenther’s car go “red” and grind to a halt, demanding a Red Flag so it could be cleared safely.
The pack were led round by the Safety Car to a standing start on Lap 15, with Rowland firing off the line once again to lead the pack through Turn 1 – flying to a two-second advantage once again just a lap later before jumping to ATTACK number one as he aimed to build a buffer for his PIT BOOST stop as the windy conditions continued to help dry the circuit out.
Of the lead few, Barnard was first to move for PIT BOOST on Lap 18, with Vandoorne having gone first, pre-Red Flag – a godsend for the Belgian, with the time lost during that stop immediately wiped out with the enforced restart. As the stops began to shake out, Barnard managed to jump Mortara for a net while Vandoorne did indeed hit what would be the front ahead of Rowland, Barnard, Mortara and Buemi.
Ticktum put in some strong laps, led the race briefly, and filtered into a net fifth spot come Lap 27. At Turn 2 on Lap 28, Vandoorne ran wide before lighting the rear tyres up into a spin. With a 25-second lead over Rowland, though, it ultimately wouldn’t matter. From there, it was a waltz to the flag for the Maserati MSG Racing driver, with the scrap in-behind the Belgian. Buemi made use of ATTACK to dispatch Mortara for fourth on Lap 33 – the Mahindra lacking full power despite being in ATTACK himself.
UPDATE: Post-race de Vries was handed 5s time penalty which dropped him outside the points, allowing Vergne, Frijns and Cassidy to move up. Also, Dennis was disqualified.
[The story is as per press release]
