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For the second season in a row, Nick Heidfeld began his FIA Formula E Championship campaign with a podium finish.
The Mahindra Racing star’s fine third place owed a lot to a super-aggressive start and opening lap, during which he climbed from 10th on the grid to run in sixth place.
“I was very happy with the start,” he said. “I think I made up more than one position on the launch but then braked very late into the first corner on the left-hand side, overtook a couple of cars and then just hoped nobody would squeeze me wide on the exit, as the wall comes back in, and luckily managed to make it stick as I gained four or five places on the first couple of corners.”
From there Heidfeld and new team-mate Felix Rosenqvist ran in tandem until the Swede spun. The team made the correct call to pit Heidfeld during the mid-race safety car period, but this meant managing the energy would be a real challenge and he crossed the line just as his power dropped to 0 per cent.
“It was quite tough, especially as I had a Renault behind me and last year it would have been quite difficult to keep them behind. So I was actually happy to see that I was pulling a bit of a gap to Nico [Prost]. It was a very tough race, physically harder than I expected, it was quite hot. The circuit is very short but I actually enjoyed it a lot, I think it was a nice circuit to drive. Apart from the chicane, which was not perfect.”
Heidfeld, and his fellow Formula E drivers, will be back in action in the inaugural Marrakesh ePrix, which takes place on November 12.