Only five drivers have managed to win a race during both FIA Formula E Championship seasons – and one of those select few is Jerome D’Ambrosio. And much like his first season in the all-electric city street racing series, during season two the Belgian was a regular frontrunner, but never more than an outside contender for the title.
For season two, Dragon Racing became Formula E’s first customer team, coming to an arrangement with Venturi for the supply of its new powertrain solution. The relationship started well, with D’Ambrosio fighting team-mate Loic Duval all the way in a double top-five finish in Beijing.
A certain podium was lost in Putrajaya following late suspension failure, which was followed up by a front row lock-out in Punta del Este, with D’Ambrosio claiming his first pole ahead of Duval. In the race D’Ambrosio ultimately lost out to the charging Sebastien Buemi, but second place was still a strong performance.
D’Ambrosio was out of luck in Buenos Aires but at least set his first fastest lap in Formula E to score a couple of bonus points. He was on pole position again in Mexico and drove a strong race, battling with Lucas di Grassi and Buemi throughout to take a deserved place on the spectacular – Rolling Stones stage – podium.
When di Grassi was subsequently disqualified for his car being underweight D’Ambrosio inherited the win. It was the undoubted high-point of the season, and the last time he visited the podium until the season finale in London.
“Giving a number is always difficult, but I’d give myself a seven,” says D’Ambrosio when asked to rate his season. “Why? Because I think there are things you can do better. I don’t like rating myself because it’s a team sport, we all work together – it’s a package. But we had some very good moments, but the potential we have is huge, which is why we can’t be satisfied and hence the seven. The potential is there to be a title contender in terms the team we have and that is what we are going to go for.”
After that win in Mexico, D’Ambrosio was seventh in Long Beach, failed to score in either Paris and Berlin, and was eighth in the first of the two Battersea races. It was a pattern of inconsistency he and the team need to address if they are to meet their aims of challenging for the championship.
“We had and ups and downs and that’s been the trend for the first two seasons and that’s what we need to work on this season to stop from happening,” he says. “The lack of development in the second season was very difficult for us – not being a manufacturer. When you see all the stuff that can be done – even if you can’t see it from the outside – there’s a lot of stuff that can be done and we need to work on that.”
For season three Dragon Racing has partnered with Faraday Future – an exciting high-tech company based in California that has ambitious plans for an all-electric hypercar. This has resulted in the renamed Faraday Future Dragon Racing team becoming a manufacturer in its own right. It is also symptomatic of how the team is progressing in general.
“Things are moving - we’re getting better and better,” D’Ambrosio confirms. “Every team is getting more professional, we jumped into the first season and everyone had the same car and everyone was wondering what direction it was going to take and it’s clearly taken the direction of extreme professionalism. Manufacturers are coming in so the competition is getting tougher and tougher, but the series is still approachable. There’s a good atmosphere between the drivers and we seem to have done that and managed to keep that connection with the fans.”
There’s just a couple of weeks until we will find out where Dragon and D’Ambrosio stand in the new pecking order. Winning a race for the third season in a row will be the minimum of their expectations, and with a race in Belgium on the calendar for the first time, there’s even more incentive for D’Ambrosio to be fighting at the front.
“In the first season someone asked me where I wanted to race and I said New York and Brussels and I’m getting both – so I better make sure I win there!”
Season Two stats:
Starts: 10
Championship position: 5th
Points: 83
Wins: 1
Poles: 2
Fastest laps: 1
FanBoosts: 1