The defending FIA Formula E Champion Sebastien Buemi had to make a hard choice ahead of this weekend.
Should he aim at defending the current lead in the Formula Championship, or should he aim at grabbing the first place in FIA WEC?
The Swiss driver haven chosen the latter, in which must have been a hard decision.
The date clash has been known for a long time, but the decision has only happened at the very last second. Buemi was on the FIA WEC entry list for the Nürburgring round, that was released two weeks ago. But there was still the option for him to race the Saturday race in New York for Renault e.dams, and then return to FIA WEC for Toyota Gazoo Racing on the Sunday.
Instead it will be Frenchman Pierre Gasly who will drive the Spark-Renault Z.E 16 car through the whole weekend in New York. He will drive alongside the regular driver in the team, Nico Prost.
Photo: Zak Mauger/LAT/Formula E
Alain Prost, co-owner of the Renault e.dams team:
“I deeply regret this clash between the WEC and FE which could have been avoided. However, we have to move forward and we are very pleased to welcome Pierre Gasly. Racing in New York is going to be a challenge as he makes his Formula E debut at the end of the championship. But looking at our preparation, we are confident and our goal remains the same, to score the maximum points to strengthen our lead in the championship.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing doesn’t mention anything about Formula E – naturally because both their Formula E driver, Sebastien Buemi and Jose Maria Lopez, will be present in the cars at Nürburgring.
