NIO 333 Formula E Team – Round 14, 2021 London E-Prix Report

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The 2021 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship has returned to Tempelhof airfield in Berlin, Germany, in spectacular style for the season finale event.

Round 14 of the all-electric racing series did not go to plan for the NIO 333 Formula E Team, however the final day of track action for Season 7 starts at 08:00 CET tomorrow with Free Practice 1 for Round 15 followed by Free Practice 2 at 09:30 CET, Qualifying at 11:30 CET and the final race of 2021 at 16:30 CET.

Tom Blomqvist, NIO 333 FE 001 #88

Qualifying Group 4 - Race Grid Position: P17 Round 14 Race Result: P23 (DNF)

“The Qualifying times were super tight around here today and the final classification could have seen us much higher up. P17 was a harsh result, but my race start was very strong. I made up a couple of positions with a good first corner, but then got hit from behind at turn 6 and broke the track rod again, so that was a shame. Then you obviously have to repair it and lose a few laps, so that was my race done really. It was then important to collect data to try to learn a few things, but overall it was a hard day! Formula E is a tough Championship, hopefully tomorrow we can improve again, further tune our package and move up the table.”

Oliver Turvey, NIO 333 FE 001 #8

Qualifying Group 4 - Race Grid Position: P20 Round 14 Race Result: P17

“Free Practice went pretty well. We made some changes that gave me a better feeling on the push laps and the car felt quite competitive in both Free Practice sessions. Unfortunately, in Qualifying, all the times were just so close. I had a good clean lap, but just not quite as good as my practice lap. The race start went well also. I managed to gain a few positions in the first lap, but as the race progressed, we struggled with the rear tyres in the hot conditions, and for pace. It was a difficult race, but we learned a lot today and hopefully we can implement that to make improvements for tomorrow.”

Russell O’Hagan, Operations Director, NIO 333 FE Team

“Ultimately today’s race has left us frustrated. After some promising developments through Free Practice we had expected more. We again fell foul to the physical nature of Formula E racing, which robbed Tom of a potentially strong result halfway through the first lap. With the championship so open and a lot of title contenders qualifying behind us, we knew it would be a frantic first few laps, but the level of ongoing contact in recent races is hard to accept. Oliver started the race well, building on some good performances in practice, but was unable to maintain the pace we wanted throughout the race. There are some lessons to be learnt for tomorrow on how we better balance our setup and strategy over a full race distance. It was clear up and down the field that there were cars which performed well initially, and those which flourished later on. Without the early safety car, our approach would for have fared better. Unfortunately, that’s the way it goes sometimes.
We remain upbeat and have already put today behind us. We are ambitious in what we hope to achieve tomorrow and are pushing hard to end the season how we started it - with a good points finish.”

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