Robin Frijns

Robin Frijns
Driver Details
Nationality		Dutch
P.o.B.		Maastricht, Netherlands
D.o.B.		7 August 1991
Date of Death		Unknown
Début		2015 Beijing ePrix
Final Race		Unknown
Best		Unknown
First Win		2019 Paris E-Prix
Teams		MS Amlin Andretti Envision Racing ABT CUPRA Formula E Team
Formula E Career
Entries		103 (102 Starts)
Wins		2
Poles		2
F.L.s		6
T.P.s		454
Podiums		16
FanBoosts		0
Duel Record
Duels		30
Quarters		Semis		Finals
W	L	W	L	W	L
7	11	4	4	1	3
Current Season
Team		ABT CUPRA Formula E Team
Number		Standings		Points
4		17th		0

Robin Frijns (born 7 August 1991 in Maastricht, Netherlands) is a Dutch racing driver who competes for the ABT CUPRA Formula E Team in the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Frijns would start 2020/21 season as the de facto lead driver for ABT as they rejoined FE in 2022/23, as he was partnered by fellow Audi and ABT racer Nico Müller.

Frijns' initially spent two seasons in FE in 2015/16 and 2016/17 with Andretti Formula E, although after several promising results the Audi backed Dutchman was dropped as BMW prepared to take over the team ahead of the 2018/19 season. However, Frijns would secure a return to the series with Virgin in 2018/19, using his connections as a factory Audi driver to secure a seat with the team, who were to become a customer Audi team from that season onward.

With Audi power and Virgin's expertise, Frijns would go on to win two races in 2018/19, claiming his first triumph at the 2019 Paris E-Prix, as he united with Sam Bird at the British squad. A second victory at the season finale in New York City left the Dutchman in fourth in the Championship, 21 points ahead of teammate Bird who had raced with Virgin since 2014/15.

Retained alongside Bird for the 2019/20 season, Frijns would endure a more difficult campaign, only claiming one points finish in the first half of the season. Indeed, while the Dutchman's form improved enough for him to claim two podium finishes in the hastily organised finale in Berlin, Frijns would end the season down in twelfth in the Championship, albeit just five points down on Bird.

Background

Having karted across Belgium and France, Frijns obtained his first drive in a racing car, joining the Formula BMW Europe Championship of 2009. An impressive debut season saw him claim third in the title race and become the second highest placed débutante in the series' history. A second season saw him go two better and take the title, with the flying Dutchman also getting his first taste of Formula Renault at 2.0 level.

Frijns moved to the Eurocup Formula Renault for 2011, completing s stunning rookie season to beat future Formula One racer Carlos Sainz Jr. by over 45 points to clinch the title. Promotion to the full flavour Formula Renault 3.5 Series followed for 2012, where the Dutchman once again tasted success at his first attempt, although in controversial circumstances. Accused of running the late Jules Bianchi off track at the final race, and causing an avoidable collision, Frijns was penalised 25 seconds, putting his title chance in doubt. However, with Bianchi in the wall, and Sam Bird failing to climb high enough in the points, Frijns escaped with the title.

Testing Times

Frijns was rewarded with a test for the Sauber F1 team over the winter of 2012, where he impressed enough to get a testing role for the new season. But, Sauber wished him to compete during the year, with the Dutchman obtaining a test for the DTM Championship with Mercedes. Despite an impressive display, the Stuttgart Squad had already filled their quota for the year, with Frijns ultimately ending up in the GP2 Series for the year.

A win in his second weekend saw many expect the Dutchman continue his run of Championships, but Frijns would struggle throughout the rest of the season. Finishing the season in fifteenth, he moved to the Caterham F1 Team as their test and reserve driver, but would not get a chance with the team after they folded before the end of the season. He started 2015 in the Blancpain Endurance Series, before getting the call to compete in Formula E.

Formula E History

Frijns' first taste of Formula E came during the 2015 Donington Test, with the Dutchman only recording a handful of laps in the troublesome Andretti car, until the team switched to the old Spark-Renault SRT_01E for the final day. The Dutchman stated his intention to get into the Championship in the weeks following the test, with Andretti offering him a race seat for the 2015/16 FIA Formula E Championship. The deal was signed and Frijns was partnered with Simona de Silvestro for the season opening race in Beijing, where the Dutchman scored his first point.

Frijns' natural talent then shone through at the 2015 Putrajaya ePrix, where the Dutchman battled to a maiden podium finish, despite using a year old car. It would be the the highlight of the season for Frijns, as he spent most of the rest of the season scoring minor points, although he remained a threat for the podium numerous times. Unfortunately for Frijns, the season would end in dismal fashion in London, with the Dutchman retiring from both of the races, both the result of accidents.

ATEC Advancement

His impressive performances in season two saw Frijns retained by Andretti into the 2015/16 season, now partnered by relative FE veteran António Félix da Costa. The pair would test the new Andretti ATEC-02 at the 2016 Donington Test, which, unlike the original car, proved to be both quick and reliable with Frijns the faster of the drivers.

It would be a strong start to the season for Frijns in Hong Kong, the Dutchman fighting with teammate da Costa throughout the race to finish fifth and sixth, the Portuguese racer ahead. However, both would soon begin to struggle with the new Andretti, a lack of one lap pace meaning both qualified down the order in the next for rounds, neither picking up a point. Indeed, da Costa would go for the rest of the season without claiming a points finish, while Frijns himself had to wait for a disorderly race in Paris to claim his next points haul.

The lack of one-lap pace denied Frijns points in Berlin, the Dutchman running at the back of the field throughout. However, Frijns then managed to secure points in both New York ePrix, despite starting from sixteenth and nineteenth in two races, producing excellent fighting performances in both. The Dutchman then inadvertently involved himself in the title fight in the first Montreal ePrix, colliding with Sébastien Buemi at the start and damaging the Swiss racer's steering. That minor collision for Frijns was not enough to deny the Dutchman eighth on the day, although he would round out the season outside of the points at the season finale.

The second Montreal ePrix would prove to be Frijns' last with Andretti, who opted to drop the Dutchman in favour of da Costa and another BMW backed driver, despite the fact that Frijns had outperformed da Costa throughout the season. Andretti co-team principle Roger Griffiths revealed that it was Frijns' relationship with Audi that effectively meant that the Dutchman had to leave the team, with BMW increasing their involvement with the team in 2017/18.

A Virgin Re-birth

After a year competing in the DTM championship with ABT Sportsline, Frijns would return to FE for the 2018/19 season to partner Sam Bird at Virgin Racing, following the team's switch to Audi powertrains. Frijns and Bird performed well at the 2018 Valencia Test, and duly battled with the factory Audis at the season opening 2018 Ad Diriyah E-Prix, although both himself and Bird failed to score. However, Frijns would impress in Marrakech after the new year, narrowly missing out on a maiden victory to Jérôme d'Ambrosio, having fought with the Belgian for first on the final lap.

Frijns subsequently claimed fifth place in the 2019 Santiago E-Prix as teammate Bird claimed victory, before failing to score in a chaotic 2019 Mexico City E-Prix. Yet, Frijns would bounce back to claim third in Hong Kong a few weeks later, albeit only after teammate Bird was relegated to sixth after a post-race penalty. After a pointless race in Sanya, however, Frijns would make his bid for the title with an impressive display in Paris, having secured fourth in the Rome E-Prix.

Pre-race rain ensured that the Circuit des Invalides was treacherous at the start of the race, with Frijns able to battle through to second in the early stages. A long battle with Sébastien Buemi followed for most of the race, with Frijns eventually emerging triumphant from their duel when Buemi picked up a puncture. Unfortunately for Frijns his hopes of building momentum from that win would be ended in the closing stages of the Monaco E-Prix a few weeks later, when Alexander Sims smashed him out of contention.

Frijns' title hopes subsequently came apart over the following three rounds, with a non-score in Berlin followed by retirements in Bern and the 2019 New York City E-Prix I courtesy of collision damage. Yet, having dropped out of the title fight Frijns would bounce back in the season ending New York City E-Prix II, barging past Buemi to claim the lead before easing away to claim a dominant victory. That win left Frijns in fourth in the Championship on 106 points, a point ahead of Mitch Evans who had started the race as a dark horse for the crown.

Factory Faulter: 2019/20

Frijns was considered a serious contender to join the factory Audi squad throughout the 2018/19 season, until the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler squad announced that they would retain Daniel Abt. The Dutchman hence opted to remain with Virgin alongside Bird for the 2019/20 season, with the duo once again equipped with customer Audi powertrains. The pair would once again impress in the Pre-Season Test in Valencia, with Frijns setting the fastest time of all of the Audi powered drivers.

Virgin's Vanguard: 2020/21

Frijns was retained by Virgin for a third campaign in 2020/21, with the Dutchman becoming the team's new lead driver as the Series became a World Championship. Once again armed with an Audi built powertrain, Frijns would get a new teammate in the form of the highly rated Nick Cassidy for the season, with the pair going on to better the pace of the factory cars at the 2020 Valencia Test. Unfortunately for Frijns he would endure a slow start to the season, with the Dutchman only managing to secure seventeenth in the season opening 2021 Diriyah E-Prix I after starting at the back of the field due to a battery change.

ABT Ascent? 2022/23

For the 2022/23 season Frijns would opt to leave Envision after the gradual departure of his key supporters and faith within the British squad during the 2021/22 campaign. As a result the Dutchman would appear on the radar of several teams, although it would be his former DTM employers ABT Sportsline who secured Frijns' signature, as the German squad made their return to the FE field in season nine. Frijns would partner his former DTM stablemate Nico Müller for the 2022/23 season, with the duo taking part in a significant amount of development and testing of the Mahindra M9Electro, despite ABT running said car as a customer entry.

Full Formula E Record

Shown below are a series of tables outlining Robin Frijns's career in Formula E in statistical form.

Formula E Entries

The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for Robin Frijns during their FE career:

Robin Frijns's Overall Formula E Record
Year	Entrant	No.	Car	Pos.	Pts.
2015/16	Amlin Andretti Formula E	27	Spark-Renault SRT_01E	12th	45
2016/17	MS Amlin Andretti	27	Andretti ATEC-02	13th	24
2018/19	Envision Virgin Racing	4	Audi e-tron FE05	4th	106
2019/20	Envision Virgin Racing	4	Audi e-tron FE06	12th	58
2020/21	Envision Virgin Racing	4	Audi e-tron FE07	5th	89
2021/22	Envision Racing	4	Audi e-tron FE07	7th	126
2022/23	ABT CUPRA Formula E Team	4	Mahindra M9Electro	22nd	6

Career Results

Below is a table showing Robin Frijns's full Formula E record:

FIA Formula E Championship Record
Year	Rounds																Pos.	Pts.
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
2015/16																	12th	45
	10th	3rd	10th	8th	5th	15th	7th	6th	CAN	Ret	Ret
2016/17																	13th	24
	6th	11th	14th	11th	12th	6th	18th	18th	9th	9th	8th	13th
2018/19																	4th	106
	12th	2nd	5th	11th	3rd	14th	4th	1st	17th	13th	Ret	Ret	1st
2019/20																	12th	58
	5th	Ret	15th	DSQ	12th	Ret	4th	2nd	DNS	2nd	NC
2020/21																	5th	89
	17th	2nd	4th	18th	6th	19th	2nd	16th	11th	5th	8th	13th	4th	15th	12th
2021/22																	7th	126
	16th	2nd	7th	2nd	3rd	4th	12th	5th	17th	18th	3rd	6th	16th	7th	8th	4th
2022/23																	22nd	6
	Ret					14th	14th	17th	13th	9th	13th	10th	Ret	Ret	Ret	17th

Results Key
Symbol	Meaning		Symbol	Meaning
1st	Winner		Ret	Retired
2nd	Second		DSQ	Disqualified
3rd	Third		DNS	Did Not Start
7th	Points Finish		16th	Non-Points Finish
NC	Not Classified		CAN	Race Cancelled
INJ	Driver Injured		Italics	Fastest Lap
Bold	Pole Position		G	Group Fastest Lap

References

Videos and Images:

References: