Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website No reward for a fighting performance: No points in Argentina for MS Amlin Andretti
febbraio 20, 2017 - BMW Motorsport

No reward for a fighting performance: No points in Argentina for MS Amlin Andretti

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

MS Amlin Andretti didn’t score the results it had hoped for in round three of the 2016/2017 FIA #formulae Championship, held in #buenosaires (ARG). The two MS Amlin Andretti ATEC-002 finished outside the points in the #buenosaires 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 #buenosaires. 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 #formulae 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 #formulae. 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 #formulae teams take to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez – part baseball stadium, part race track and home of Formula One’s Mexican Grand Prix.