Battersea Park Street Circuit

Battersea Park Street Circuit
Circuit Details
Name	Formula E Visa London ePrix
Location	Battersea Park, London, UK
Length	2.925 km (1.818 mi)
Corners	17
First Race	2015 London ePrix I
Last Race	2016 London ePrix II
Only Race	unknown
Circuit Records
Fastest Lap	Qualifying	Race
1:22.033	1:24.152	2
Sébastien Buemi	Sébastien Buemi	Nicolas Prost

The Battersea Park Street Circuit is a former temporary street circuit in Battersea Park, London, UK, that hosted four London E-Prix during the 2014/15 and 2015/16 editions of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship. The Battersea Park Circuit would see both Nelson Piquet Jr. and Sébastien Buemi crowned as Champions, although it was ultimately removed from the calendar after complaints from the local population ahead of the 2016 ePrix.

Battersea Park was eventually replaced as the host of the London E-Prix by the ExCeL E-Prix Circuit during the 2019/20 season.

Formula E History

Battersea Park was first proposed as a host of the FIA Formula E Championship after a deal was reached between London city officials and Formula E Holdings ahead of the 2014/15 season. Wandsworth Council duly entered negotiations to form the circuit itself, with a plan to use Battersea Park approved on 19 February 2015. Simon Gibbons led the circuit design, with the paths around Battersea Park used to form the circuit.

Circuit History

Battersea Park's maiden FE weekend would see complaints about the bumpiness of the circuit, with a suspension failure for Jérôme d'Ambrosio during practice a major talking point. Indeed, the first corner would be modified ahead of the first London ePrix, resulting in the race starting behind the BMW Qualcomm i8 safety car. That race was won by Sébastien Buemi, before Sam Bird claimed victory in the second race. That latter race would also see Nelson Piquet Jr. claim the first FE Championship with a series of late overtakes.

The circuit was unchanged for the two London ePrix staged in 2016, although the entire weekend was in doubt through to early June. Indeed, the local residents had formed a group to resist the race, naming themselves the Battersea Park Action Group, and were determined to prevent the races from being staged at all. Fortunately a deal between FE and BPAG was reached before the 2016 London ePrix, although the series would be forced to leave Battersea for good at the end of the weekend.

Both of the 2016 London ePrix would be won by Nicolas Prost, as his teammate Buemi claimed the 2015/16 FIA Formula E Championship crown.

Circuit Layouts

Dario Franchitti's guide to Battersea

The official circuit guide to the Battersea Park Street Circuit.

A lap of the Battersea Park Street Circuit began with a sweeping pair of corners, a left-right combination before the field hit the brakes to take turn three, a sharp left. A short straight followed before the field weaved through a pair of chicanes, a left-right combo followed by a right-left, split by a short straight. Another short blast followed before the field came into turn eight, a left hand hairpin.

A weaving "straight" follows turn eight, before a right-left flick forms turns nine and ten to break up the back section of the circuit. Another "straight" follows before the turn eleven/twelve chicane, a left-right combo, before the field sweep through turn thirteen, a long left curve. Turns fourteen/fifteen/sixteen form a tight chicane, before a short blast to the tight turn seventeen, a 90° left that carries the field back onto the start/finish straight.

The pitlane entry was found on the exit of turn sixteen, while pit-out was located on the exit of turn seventeen.

Records

A full list of records for the Battersea Park Street Circuit are outlined below, including a list of race winners.

Winners

Below is a list of all of the winners of ePrix held at the Battersea Park Street Circuit:

Battersea Park Street Circuit Winners List
Season	Event	Date	Winner	Report
2014/15	2015 Visa London ePrix I	27 July 2015	Sébastien Buemi	Report
2014/15	2015 Visa London ePrix II	28 July 2015	Sam Bird	Report
2015/16	2016 Visa London ePrix I	2 July 2016	Nicolas Prost	Report
2015/16	2016 Visa London ePrix II	3 July 2016	Nicolas Prost	Report

Race-by-Race Records

The race-by-race records for the Battersea Park Street Circuit are outlined below:

Battersea Park Street Circuit Race-by-Race Records
Event	Qualifying		Fastest Lap		Winner
	Driver	Time	Driver	Time	Driver	Time
2015 Visa London ePrix I	Sébastien Buemi	1:24.648	Lucas di Grassi	1:28.239	Sébastien Buemi	47:54.784
2015 Visa London ePrix II	Stéphane Sarrazin	1:23.901	Sam Bird	1:26.790	Sam Bird	45:48.792
2016 Visa London ePrix I	Nicolas Prost	1:23.237	Nelson Piquet Jr.	1:25.783	Nicolas Prost	53:56.653
2016 Visa London ePrix II	Sébastien Buemi	1:22.033	Sébastien Buemi	1:24.150	Nicolas Prost	56:32.648

References

Videos and Images:

• ABB Formula E, 'Dario Franchitti's guide to Battersea', youtube.com, (YouTube: ABB Formula E, 27/06/2015), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjgztaf-J88, (Accessed 01/10/2019)

References: