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Debut podium for surprised Frijns

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After a thrilling race in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Robin Frijns became the first rookie this season to stand on the podium. He also took the first podium finish for a season 1 powertrain this campaign.

Frijns qualified strongly, with the Dutchman putting his electric blue car eighth on the grid. Team-mate Simona de Silvestro, meanwhile, struggled with battery issues throughout the day and was unable to put in a representative full-power lap. She started 18th and last.

In the race, Frijns made regular progress through the field, driving aggressively but maturely to take advantage of accidents or incidents for those ahead of him. He also showed strong battery management for a rookie, with a long first stint allowing him to push more in the second. After Loic Duval hit the wall with a few laps to go, Frijns passed the Frenchman but clouted the wall himself. Somehow, in a heroic effort, Frijns brought his car home in third place despite suspension damage.

A surprised Frijns exclaimed: “It was a really exciting race. The pace was actually really good. The energy in the first car was really good as well – we went one lap longer than everyone else. The second car had some temperature issues because it’s really warm here in Malaysia. Then I hit the wall. I was overtaking someone and got in the marbles and was just a passenger. Hit the wall and broke the suspension with three laps to go. But we managed to bring it home in P3. It was a big surprise – so glad we crossed the line!”

Constantly effected by battery issues, de Silvestro meanwhile was unable to get consistent performance out of her car in the race. She did however manage to make an impressive overtaking manouvre on reigning champion Nelson Piquet Jr in the first stint. She brought her car home in 13th.

The Swiss racer explained: “Interesting race. It was good to finish for sure after Beijing. We struggled quite a bit with battery temperature, especially on the first car and I think that limited us quite a bit because we couldn’t really keep pace. We had to look after that instead of just energy. We have to look into that. Other than that, good experience, looking forward to coming back because with each race you learn a lot.”

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Podium image courtesy of Amlin Andretti Formula E
Images of Simona de Silvestro and Robin Frijns courtesy of FIA Formula E Media

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