MS Amlin Andretti didn’t score the results it had hoped for in round three of the 2016/2017 FIA Formula E Championship, held in Buenos Aires (ARG). The two MS Amlin Andretti ATEC-002 finished outside the points in the Buenos Aires ePrix: BMW works driver António Félix da Costa (PRT) came 11th, and Robin Frijns (NLD) placed 14th.
The Qualifying
It was a tough day from the start in Argentina. After problems in practice meant little running, Félix da Costa could manage only 17th, with a time of 1:13.326 minutes, after an on-track incident. Frijns fared a little better, managing 13th best time – 1:10.172 minutes.
The Race
With their midfield starting positions, it was tough for the two Andretti cars to make progress. Mired in traffic in the first stint, the heat left little room for any clever strategy with energy efficiency. Both drivers pitted at the half distance mark, lap 19, and despite some penalties and drama, there wasn’t quite enough pace for points in Argentina.
Félix da Costa enjoyed a late-race surge and improved to 11th, – six places higher than he started – but Frijns suffered towards the race’s conclusion and could manage only 14th. The team were pleased to see both cars finish the race despite a hot race in Buenos Aires. Sébastien Buemi (SUI) won the race, for the eDams Renault team.
The Reactions
António Félix da Costa, MS Amlin Andretti: “This is a track that historically has been pretty good for me, having won here in the past and then last year running second until we had some problems. I was looking forward to this race, but today I made things a little harder on us with the crash in FP1 – sorry to the MS Amlin Andretti crew for that. We tried to come back from that, but then I made another mistake in qualifying and we had some small issues with the battery. We struggled today. I think sometimes we need bad days like this to do big steps forward. That’s what I’m hoping for going to Mexico.”
Robin Frijns, MS Amlin Andretti: “The day started OK. In the race, we were able to keep our position with the start, and then I tried to hold it while I saved as much energy as possible. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t follow the guys surrounding us, so it was a difficult race. We’re going to review things, but are looking ahead to Mexico City. We need to learn from this and hopefully we’ll get some good information to move forward.”
The BMW i Vehicle Fleet
For Season 3, BMW i remains the “Official Vehicle Partner” for the FIA Formula E Championship. The BMW i8 (fuel consumption combined: 2.1 l/100 km / 134.5 mpg imp; CO2 emissions combined: 49 g/km) will continue as the high-performance, efficient Safety Car in Formula E.
The same goes for the BMW i3 (energy consumption combined: 12.9 kWh; CO2 emissions combined: 0 g/km), which is the “Medical Car” and “Race Director Car” and for the BMW X5 xDrive40e (fuel consumption combined: 3.4–3.3 l/100 km / 83.1–85.6 mpg imp; CO2 emissions combined: 78–77 g/km; figures based on the EU test cycle, may vary depending on the tyre format specified), which functions as the “Rescue Car” or “Extrication Car”.
The Outlook
The next race for MS Amlin Andretti and BMW i will be the Mexico City ePrix on 1st April. The fourth race of the season will see the FIA Formula E teams take to the AutĂłdromo Hermanos RodrĂguez – part baseball stadium, part race track and home of Formula One’s Mexican Grand Prix.
