Envision_Virgin_Racing

Envision Racing

Envision Racing

British Formula E team

For the former Formula One team, see Virgin Racing.

The Envision Racing Formula E Team[1] is a British motor racing team, based at Silverstone Park and majority-owned by Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Envision Energy[2] that competes in Formula E.[3]

Quick Facts Founded, Team principal(s) ...

Currently, the two drivers are Robin Frijns and Sébastien Buemi.

History

Virgin was one of the first teams to enter Formula E, its entry was officially confirmed in December 2013.[4] Virgin partnered with Peugeot but rebadged as DS Automobiles from the 2015–16 season[5] to the 2017–18 season, competing as DS Virgin Racing during that time. With DS moving its support to rival team Techeetah from the 2018–19 season onwards, Virgin chose to establish a long-term customer car deal with Audi Sport.[6]

2014–15 season

The team signed drivers Jaime Alguersuari and Sam Bird for its inaugural season.[7] Bird scored three podiums (two of which were wins), which was enough for a fifth place in the Drivers' Championship. For the final round in London, which was a double-header event, the team replaced Alguersuari with Fabio Leimer.[8] Virgin would finish fifth in Teams' Championship with 133 points.

2015–16 season

For its second season, Virgin confirmed Sam Bird and Jean-Éric Vergne, who moved to the team from Andretti Autosport.[9] It was the first season in partnership with Peugeot but rebadged as DS Performance. The season was fairly successful, as the team recorded four pole positions (three with Bird, one with Vergne). The team finished third in Teams' Championship with 144 points.

2016–17 season

For the 2016–17 season, Virgin signed José María López to partner Bird who stayed in the team.[10] López was forced to miss the New York City ePrix due to his commitments in the FIA WEC series. For this event, he was temporarily replaced by Alex Lynn.[11] Lynn retired from both races, but scored a pole position on his debut. Bird, on the other hand, won both of these races. Lynn was later signed to the team for the next season as a full-time driver.[12] López returned to finish the season at the Montreal ePrix and finished his last race with the team on a podium as he finished third.

Virgin improved their points score to 190 points, but it was only enough for a fourth place in Teams' Championship.

2017–18 season

Sam Bird driving the DS Virgin DSV-03 at the 2018 New York City ePrix.

Virgin fielded Bird and the returning Alex Lynn for its fourth season. Bird was in contention for the Drivers' Championship as the main rival for Jean-Éric Vergne (who competed for Techeetah at the time), however, he got overtaken by Lucas di Grassi in the final weekend of the season in New York City, thus finished third. Lynn was unable to keep up with Bird for the entire campaign and was not kept for the next season.

Virgin would finish third in Teams' Championship with 160 points. This season would mark the end of the partnership with DS.

2018–19 season

For the 2018–19 season, as Peugeot-DS ended their partnership with the team, Virgin opted to become a customer team by switching to Audi powertrains. This move allowed the team to sign Robin Frijns, an Audi factory driver, as Bird's teammate.[13] The team also signed a sponsorship deal with Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Envision Energy, leading to the team rebrand to Envision Virgin Racing.

The Audi e-tron FE05 powertrain proved to be very competitive, giving Virgin a chance at multiple strong results. The team would finish third in Teams' Championship with 191 points, just a point ahead of Nissan e.dams. Both Bird and Frijns would find themselves at the top of the Drivers' Championship at various points during the season, but only finished ninth and fourth respectively.

2019–20 season

Bird and Frijns were retained for the 2019–20 season along with the Audi customer deal.[14] Bird won the 2019 Diriyah ePrix and got a podium in Race 1 of the 2020 Berlin ePrix. Frijns had a poor start until the season stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He then scored two podiums at Race 3 and 5 of the Berlin ePrix. Bird and Frijns finished 10th and 12th respectively that season and Envision Virgin finished 4th in the Teams’ Championship.

2020–21 season

Robin Frijns with the customer Audi e-tron FE07 at the 2021 Puebla ePrix.

After six seasons with the outfit, Bird left Virgin to join Jaguar Racing.[15] In July 2020, the team announced reigning Super Formula champion Nick Cassidy would partner Frijns for the 2020–21 season.[16]

2021–22 season

Following the 2020–21 season Virgin left the team as a partner and the team re-branded as Envision Racing, and introduced a new green livery for its entry. Cassidy and Frijns were retained as drivers, while Alice Powell became the Simulator and Development Driver for the team.

Results

More information Year, Chassis ...
Notes
  • ^1 – In the inaugural season, all teams were supplied with a spec powertrain by McLaren.
  • ^2 – Powertrain developed by DS Performance,[17] branded as Virgin.[18]
  • G – Driver was fastest in group qualifying stage and was given one championship point.

Notes

  1. [N 1]
    Simulator and development driver.

References

  1. [1]
    "Envision Racing goes green as new-look livery is launched at COP26". FIA Formula E. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  2. [2]
    Kalinauckas, Alex. "Virgin sells majority stake in Formula E team to Chinese company". Autosport.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  3. [3]
    "Virgin Racing". FIA Formula E Championship. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  4. [4]
    "Virgin enters Formula E electric car racing series". BBC News. 5 December 2013. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  5. [5]
    "Citroen poised to enter Formula E". Racer. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. 7 May 2015. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  6. [6]
    Kalinauckas, Alex. "Virgin's 'multi-year' Audi Formula E supply deal announced". Autosport.com. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  7. [7]
    "Jaime Alguersuari and Sam Bird join Virgin Racing". Formula E Operations. Formula E. 13 May 2014. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  8. [8]
    "Fabio Leimer in Alguersuari out at Virgin Racing". Formula E Zone. 23 June 2015. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  9. [9]
    Biesbrouck, Tim (8 August 2015). "DS Virgin Racing confirms Sam Bird and Jean-Eric Vergne". Electric Autosport. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  10. [10]
    Clarkson, Natalie (11 July 2016). "DS Virgin Racing name new driver". Virgin. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  11. [11]
    "Alex Lynn gets DS Virgin call-up for New York". FIA Formula E. 28 June 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  12. [12]
    "Lynn joins Bird for full-time drive at DS Virgin". FIA Formula E. 5 September 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  13. [13]
    Kilshaw, Jake (5 October 2018). "Frijns Confirmed Alongside Bird at Envision Virgin". e-racing365.com. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  14. [14]
    Smith, Sam (11 June 2019). "Bird, Frijns to Remain at Envision Virgin for 2019-20". e-racing365.com. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  15. [15]
    "Sam Bird to join Panasonic Jaguar Racing for season seven following mutual decision to part ways with Envision Virgin Racing". 14 July 2020. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  16. [16]
    "Envision Virgin Racing signs Nick Cassidy for season seven". 15 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  17. [17]
    Kane, Mark (8 September 2015). "DS Performance To Support Virgin Racing In Formula E". InsideEVs. Archived from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  18. [18]
    "BEIJING E-PRIX - Official Starting List" (PDF). FIA Formula E. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
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