Monaco is the home of the most famous street course in the world, with racing taking place on the streets of the Principality since 1929.
In 2015, Formula E took its unique brand of all-electric racing to the hallowed asphalt, where Sir Stirling Moss, Graham Hill and Ayrton Senna among many others, cemented their status with legendary performances.
After a year’s break, the Monaco ePrix is back, and here are the key facts and stats around the race.
Rolling records
A point for the Visa fastest lap last time out ensured that Sebastien Buemi kept his amazing run of point-scoring races rolling on to a phenomenal 20 straight ePrix, dating back to Long Beach in Season 1.
Buemi’s point, and Nico Prost’s fifth place, ensured Renault e.dams kept up its enviable record of having scored a point in every single Formula E race ever held. Lucas di Grassi’s win narrowed Buemi’s points lead to just five, the smallest the gap has been all season.
Mexico milestones
Di Grassi’s win from 15th on the grid in Mexico smashed the record for the lowliest starting position from which a Formula E race has been won. The previous best was set by Antonio Felix da Costa in Buenos Aires in Season 1.
Panasonic Jaguar Racing scored its first points in Formula E. And with Mitch Evans taking fourth and Adam Carroll finishing eighth, it has leapfrogged Venturi into ninth place in the teams’ standings.
Carroll and Evans weren’t the only drivers to score their first point in Mexico, Esteban Gutierrez also broke his Formula E duck on his debut. He’s the 10th different driver to score points on his maiden outing (excluding all those who scored points in the first ever Formula E race). The others are: da Costa, Jean-Eric Vergne, Loic Duval, Justin Wilson, Oliver Turvey, Robin Frijns, Nathanael Berthon, Felix Rosenqvist and Maro Engel.
Turvey took his first Julius Baer pole position in Mexico. A front row start for Jose Maria Lopez was also his best starting position. Other drivers to set career best qualifying performances were: Carroll (10th), Evans (11th), while Engel matched his previous best of 12th.
Engel actually made Super Pole for the first time, and set the second fastest lap, but a 10-place grid penalty bumped him down the order.
Lopez’s sixth place was his best result to date in Formula E.
In terms of time, the Mexico race was the longest of the season, clocking in at just over 56 minutes.
Di Grassi’s winning margin of 1.966 was the closest of the season so far. And with just over 15 seconds covering the top 10, the race was by far the closest in terms of the gap between the first and the last of the points scorers.
Monaco memories
Buemi’s win in Monaco was the first time that the pole sitter went on to win the race in Formula E history. He also became the first multiple race winner in the process.
At just 1.765km, the Monaco track remains the shortest used in Formula E. It is also the shortest in terms of lap time too, with Buemi establishing an unofficial lap record of 53.478.
The Season 1 Monaco ePrix is one of only two races not to feature a change of leader. Race 1 in London Season 2 is the other.
With just 13 cars crossing the line, the Monaco ePrix had the fewest finishers of any Formula E race.
