The first Formula E race in Beijing was epic beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. We won’t spoil anything and beg you to not look at the results without watching the first Formula E race in its entirety. You will not regret it, I promise.
Formula E’s first race makes history
This is history in the making and this race will go down in history as an important milestone. The first Formula E race had one of the most exciting ends you will ever witness in racing. You can say racing is back and the first Formula E race has delivered more excitement than you spectators would have anticipated. All I can say is that this race was one of the best races I’ve seen in decades. Nothing is ever set in stone until the last corner.
The last Formula One race I watched was in 1994 when the Frenchman, Alain Prost, was famously duking it with his Brazilian archrival, Ayrton Senna. (Senna is still widely considered the greatest race car driver of all time.) The 1994 Formula 1 season was epic as with any when these two were racing against each other. Senna’s 110% pedal to the metal driving clashed mightily with Prost’s 99% smooth curb cutter driving. They called Prost “The Doctor”, and Senna was the wild one.
Why mention all of this? What was special about this first Formula E race is that Alain Prost’s son, Nico Prost, was one of the drivers competing. He actually dominated the majority of the Beijing race but watch below what happens at the end. Nick Heidfeld driving for Venturi held the heat on Prost up until the last few laps. Venturi has put a lot of money and effort into fast electric cars since they are the current world land speed record holders with the title of the “fastest electric vehicle”, clocking in with a mind blowing 495kph (307mph).
For season two, the team will build its own Formula E car using a powertrain based on its 3,000hp Venturi VBB-3 electric streamliner that aims to set a new World Record of 700kph on the Bonneville Salt Flats by 2015.
Formula E first race was Epic!
The guy and team to watch out for is Franck Montagny driving for the Andretti Autosport team. Montagny is a very likeable character and clocked some of the fastest laps on the track. He was on a mission and the results were fantastic. Another one to keep your eyes on is the Brazilian Lucas di Grassi driving for Audi Sport ABT. I spoke to Di Grassi here in Long Beach where he talk about electric vehicle (EV) racing and how when all Formual E race cars are out on the track, the noise level is comparable to one Formula 1 car. I presume, last year’s Formula 1, as this year’s sound is nothing very thrilling. (It depends on who you are.)
Another driver to keep in mind in Formula E race is Sam Bird racing for Virgin Racing, who squeezed an extra lap before switching his car. He managed to not gain a position, but ended up with more battery power to use throughout the second part of the race.
Formula E features Women Drivers
Something to highlight are no less than two women drivers who raced the first Formula E race in Beijing. Michela Cerruti racing for Trulli and Katherine Legge Amlin racing for Aguri came in a little behind, but made a great first impression on the track. We hope to see more women racing in Formula E and the motorsports world in general.
You can see the results here if you can’t wait.
Here’s the race and there is a downloadable PDF below the video. Enjoy and let us know what you think.
Formula E – Beijing
What was probably the most disappointing was to see Jarno Trulli racing for his own team coming in at almost last in front of Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton Senna, racing for Mahindra Racing who didn’t score any points.
