Formula E heads back to the Crown Jewel of motorsports, Monaco, for a double header. Ahead of the race, The Girls Who – Motorsport spoke with Envision Racing driver Sébastien Buemi about how he aims to change his championship position after the weekend.
No Pressure for the Swiss
Last season in Monaco marked one of Buemi’s most defining moments with Envision. A chaotic race gifted him a win on such an iconic track. The Swiss driver acknowledges the pressure to mirror his results from last season but accepts that he is just ”happy to be back.” The excitement to be back at a track that brings him happy memories is overshone by his current-season performance. He explains his mindset moving into the race weekend: ”You are always as good as your last race.” He admits that Berlin wasn’t the greatest for him but looks forward to working hard to ”see our wins again on the big screens.”
One Lap Pace vs Raw Speed
Monaco poses a few difficulties for the drivers, with the return of Pit Boost and the already narrow nature of the street circuit. Buemi talks about how he aims to tackle these difficulties by ”putting temperature in the tyres at the right time” to maximise success. With a low-grip circuit, generating tyre temperature at the right moment is the difference that Buemi needs to qualify high.
Despite acknowledging how important track position is, Buemi is honest about his thoughts on his one-lap pace this season. He expresses how it has been ‘a weakness for me this year’. For drivers to avoid spending their energy on working for overtakes, qualifying towards the top of the grid will put them in the best position to finish the race on a podium. However, the Swiss driver has used this as motivation, saying that it is an ”incentive to practise qualifying.”
However, the Envision team has hope for a good performance this weekend. Having already experienced crossing the finish line as a winner, they believe that the ”work they (the team) have done between Berlin and Monaco will pay off.” Envision will have spent the break addressing their setup to figure out what is working to ensure better preparation for the double header.
Looking Forward to the GEN4
With almost half the season left of the GEN3 Evo, Buemi highlights the shift in the evolution of the electric racecrafts. The GEN4 announcement has brought a lot of attention to the sport, and Buemi believes this ”is a step in the right direction and getting credibility.”
He makes comments about how fast the GEN4 craft is, offering both a negative and a positive about it. He is proud, as the speed is a ”mega step forward”, but predicts that it might ”not be easy to pass around here as we currently have.” It will be a new, but thrilling, adjustment for the drivers.