As the first ever FIA Formula E Champion, Nelson Piquet Jr’s place in the history of all-electric racing is assured. Unfortunately for him, it’s unlikely that his title defence will received such attention from future aficionados.
Piquet and the NEXTEV TCR team had been in fine form during the second half of the inaugural Formula E season, but with the regulations opening up for the second installment, the previous year’s accomplishments counted for very little. Along with DS Virgin Racing, NEXTEV took the unusual route of opting for a twin motor, single-speed gearbox solution. Whatever the theoretical benefits of the configuration, on track, the additional weight at the rear of the car meant that not only was the NEXTEV TCR Formula E 001 off the pace, it was also difficult to drive.
While it appeared that Piquet and the team were struggling at the pre-season test at Donington, the layout of the track and the fact that testing is notoriously difficult to draw accurate conclusions from, meant it was only when the series started in earnest with the Beijing ePrix that a true indication of the team’s pace could be drawn. And it didn’t make for pretty reading. With the Trulli cars not making it through customs, Piquet found himself 18th and last on the grid, a whopping 3.1 seconds off Sebastien Buemi’s pole position pace.
While things didn’t improve in the race for Piquet, there were reasons to be optimistic as he set the sixth fastest lap of the race (now only 1.5s off Buemi), while his team-mate Oliver Turvey drove a strong race to take sixth. However, a reality check followed in Putrajaya as Piquet and Turvey lined-up 16th and 17th on the grid. In the race Piquet took advantage of the high rate of attrition to take eighth. Remarkably, it would be his best result of the season.
“After the first race we knew it was going to be really hard but we still thought there was hope, saying ‘this will get better, or that might’, but after the third race we saw that there was nothing we could do. I think we should’ve realised it sooner but the thing is emotions took over and we had a lot of hope, we couldn’t give up that easily. It took us a while to realise how far back we were and after we did obviously we tried to manage the situation we had.”
When reality bit, focus then turned on simply making the best of a bad situation. But with the car very unpredictable under heavy braking, Piquet suffered a couple of sizeable crashes in Punta del Este and Mexico City as he pushed the limits in an effort to rescue a point or two.
“The car was heavy, we were all frustrated, and we were pushing the cars too hard making mistakes because we were overdriving the cars,” he admits. “It wasn’t really anything our side. Nothing really went on our side and when things go bad, they go really bad and then things go well, they really go well. You saw me in the first season when I started to really put things together and look really optimistic I knew I could win it and I could do the impossible. In London, the last race, we did the impossible – we came from all the way back on a track you can’t overtake on and we did what we did. It happens both ways.”
Mid-way through the season there were some significant changes on the engineering side, with the vastly experienced Gerry Hughes joining the team. While the majority of the hard work he’s put in place ought to bear fruit in season three, there was a noticeable pick up in performance – especially in qualifying – at the final three venues. In Paris, both cars qualified in the top 10 for the first time, with Turvey seventh and Piquet ninth. Piquet followed up this up with fifth on the grid in Berlin, while in London, Turvey produced one of the laps of the season to make it into the Super Pole shoot-out. But Piquet feels that this was down himself and Turvey making the best of the circumstances rather than any step change in performance.
“Tracks were a bit harder and the other drivers made mistakes that allowed us to qualify better,” he reckons. “Oliver is an amazing driver and we both complement each other and we both managed to qualify in the top 10. Oliver did an amazing job in London on a very hard track. You know if we had Oliver in the same stage last year, I’m sure we would’ve both made the front row several times.”
A fastest lap in London and ninth in the season finale meant there was a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, but overall the season was one to forget for Piquet and the team. Now everyone is focused on erasing the bad memories of 2015/16 and finding a way of returning to the podium and fighting for the title again.
Season Two stats: Nelson Piquet Jr
Starts: 10
Championship position: 15th
Points: 8 Wins: 0 (best finish: 8th)
Poles: 0 (best qualifying: 5th)
Fastest laps: 1
FanBoosts: 1