Sebastien Buemi criticises Berlin Formula E “convoy” racing as “too much”

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Formula E stalwart Sebastien Buemi criticised the extent of pack racing seen in the Berlin E-Prix, saying drivers were effectively running in a “convoy” for much of the race.

Last weekend’s double-header in Germany saw several drivers deliberately give up track position and drop down the order to conserve energy, bunching up the field considerably.

After Nico Muller executed this strategy to perfection to claim his maiden Formula E win on Saturday, others followed suit on Sunday. Some drivers, including eventual race winner Mitch Evans, even admitted to driving slowly in qualifying to start from further back, allowing them to save energy in the opening stages.

This led to the entire field being compressed for the first third of the race, before drivers began deploying attack mode to charge to the front.

This also led to a number of collisions, with Buemi getting involved in a four-way incident early in the race before having another run-in with Citroen’s Nick Cassidy, who suffered front-wing damage.

While such pack-style racing is common in Formula E, Buemi believes the combination of Berlin’s layout and extreme energy saving pushed it too far.

“I don't like it,” the 2015-16 champion told Motorsport.com. “That's the way it is. I need to get better at it. I'm getting less bad now, I would say.”

Asked if the pack-style racing got extreme in Berlin, he added: “It’s too much. But the nature of the track makes it bad - the [energy] saving and the nature.”

“It's bad because you drive in a convoy for like 20 minutes and of course, contact will happen.”

Sebastien Buemi, Envision Racing