Piquet pleased with first podium

Nelson Piquet, Jr.

Nelson Piquet Jr. was satisfied with his performance in the Punta del Este ePrix after scoring his and China Racing’s first podium finish.

The Brazilian led the opening lap after jumping pole man Jean-Eric Vergne (Andretti) at the start. But a brush with wall on the opening lap slightly damaged his car, which would leave him powerless to prevent first Vergne and then the e.dams-Renault drivers Sebastien Buemi and Nico Prost from passing him.

However, following his car-swap the balance returned, and with Prost penalised for excessive energy usage and Vergne forced out with damaged suspension, second place was confirmed.

“It was a great start, immediate reaction and the car handled very well on the first lap," said Piquet. “I attacked the chicane a little bit too hard trying to build a gap and I think I damaged my front suspension. After that it was just trying to maintain really – that’s why we were so slow and holding up everybody. I was locking up going into the corners, the car was lifting a little bit – so it was really nerve-wracking for many laps until we finally got the pitstop and then the car was back to normal and that’s why we had our speed at the end of the race.

“At the same time I had the suspension [issue] I had the team screaming at me to save energy. I was like ‘save energy? When the car was locking wheels every time I hit the brakes?’ So it was a bit complicated. But we managed – we got a bit lucky to get second place [when] Jean-Eric had a problem but we’re all happy. The team did a good job and we’ve been working hard and improving race after race."

Formula E