Formula E ready for Chilean debut on the streets of Santiago
All-electric championship ready to race in the Chilean capital - the first stop in South America in season four
Round four of the 2017/18 FIA Formula E Championship sees the stars and cars of electric motor sport descend upon Santiago de Chile to do battle on the city streets this Saturday, 3 February. After a thrilling first three rounds Mahindra Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist leads the standings having won two races.
The competition in this year’s championship is fiercer and more unpredictable than ever, with many of the young pretenders like Rosenqvist outpacing the former champions so far. DS Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird lies second on the points table having won the opening round in Hong Kong and scoring a podium last time out in Morocco. He’s followed by Jean-Eric Vergne who has been consistently quick for TECHEETAH, while season one champion Nelson Piquet Jr has enjoyed a very strong start to the year in fourth having switched teams to Panasonic Jaguar Racing.
Both of last season’s main title protagonists struggled at the first event of the year in Hong Kong, with reigning champion Lucas di Grassi still not having scored a point for his Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler squad. Like di Grassi, Renault e.dams’ Sebastien Buemi had a Hong Kong to forget, but fared much better in Marrakesh scoring pole position and crossing the line in second to move him up the points table to sixth.
This weekend the board is reset as all the drivers will be taking to the 2.47km circuit in central Santiago for the very first time in the opening shakedown session on Friday (2 February), before a full day of Formula E action on Sunday culminating in the 37-lap E-Prix.
Away from the trackside action, the Santiago E-Prix is also playing host to the first FIA Smart Cities Forum of the new season. Under the directive “Clean Mobility for a Strong Economy”, FIA Smart Cities Forum will gather mobility stakeholders in both public and private sectors who take action towards the sustainable development of transportation in Chile.
The Mayors of Santiago de Chile as well as other cities in Latin America and Europe will join experts from leading international organisations in transport to discuss how cleaner and more sustainable mobility solutions can unlock new economic opportunities and foster market growth. The Forum will also reveal the latest innovations in the field of e-racing and demonstrate their potential transfer to road cars. For more information on FIA Smart Cities, click here: https://www.fia.com/fia-smart-cities
Event timetable:
Saturday 3 February
8:00 | 8:45 | 0:45 | NON QUALIFYING PRACTICE 1 | Track |
10:30 | 11:00 | 0:30 | NON QUALIFYING PRACTICE 2 | Track |
11:10 | 11:40 |
| VIP pitlane walk | Pitlane |
12:00 | 12:06 | 0:06 | QUALIFYING GROUP 1 | Track |
12:10 | 12:16 | 0:06 | QUALIFYING GROUP 2 | Track |
12:20 | 12:26 | 0:06 | QUALIFYING GROUP 3 | Track |
12:30 | 12:36 | 0:06 | QUALIFYING GROUP 4 | Track |
12:45 | 13:00 | 0:15 | SUPER POLE | Track |
13:45 | 14:15 |
| VIP pitlane walk | Pitlane |
13:45 | 14:00 |
| E-Race | Gaming Arena |
14:00 | 14:30 |
| Autograph session | Gaming Arena |
15:00 | 15:10 |
| Driver parade | Track |
16:00 |
|
| RACE (37 laps) | Track |
17:05 |
|
| Podium ceremony | Podium |
Championship standings:
| Drivers’ Championship | Teams’ Championship | ||
Driver | Points | Team | Points | |
1 | Felix Rosenqvist | 54 | Mahindra Racing | 75 |
2 | Sam Bird | 50 | DS Virgin Racing | 58 |
3 | Jean-Eric Vergne | 43 | TECHEETAH | 43 |
4 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | 25 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | 40 |
5 | Edoardo Mortara | 24 | Venturi Formula E Team | 30 |
6 | Sebastien Buemi | 22 | Renault e.dams | 28 |
7 | Nick Heidfeld | 21 | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | 12 |
8 | Mitch Evans | 15 | Andretti Formula E | 12 |
9 | Daniel Abt | 12 | NIO Formula E Team | 9 |
10 | Antonio Felix da Costa | 8 | DRAGON | 8 |