Nissan e.dams is yet to click in Season 8, with just three points-scores from a possible 10 before the trip to the Principality. There's cause for optimism leaving Monaco for the Japanese outfit, though, after it added more points to its tally with an encouraging Round 6 showing.
Qualifying left Sebastien Buemi right at the back of the pack despite top six pace in practice, while teammate Maximilan Guenther narrowly missed out on the Duels to line up 11th. Buemi's drive through the pack was quite something, however, with the Frenchman carving by 14 cars to cross the line in the points with eighth spot.
HIGHLIGHTS: Catch up with the Monaco E-Prix Round 6
"I've got mixed emotions," says Buemi. "Overall, we had a great race from last on the grid up to eighth, and I think we deserved our points. Qualifying was disappointing after being fifth in FP1, and I am struggling to understand what happened.
"I know we have pace; it’s just a matter of making sure we can put it all together. But the changes we made to the car and the result we achieved gives me confidence that we can go to Berlin with full focus to do a better job in qualifying.”
Guenther was also on course for a strong finish, running just ahead of his teammate until the last lap when energy management became critical, causing him to fall to 17th.
"I started from 11th, so we were fighting right from the beginning," said 24-year-old Guenther. "Our efficiency wasn’t quite as good as the cars around me, which I noticed from the outset so we were a little bit down on energy throughout but we gave it everything.
"Overall, we did a good race; I did gain a few positions with some opportunistic moves and run in seventh for much of the time until the last lap. We did everything we could and left nothing on the table but when you're left two or three percent down on energy then you can only do so much. I have no regrets about our team performance – no points for me, but there are positives to take away. I am very motivated for Berlin.”
“It was a bittersweet Monaco E-Prix for us," adds Tommaso Volpe, General Manager Nissan Formula E. "We still have some improvements to make in our qualifying performance, and Max missed out on the duels by a very small margin. However, our race strategy was strong and our pace was good.
“Overall, we are moving in the right direction in terms of performance and come away from Monaco with some positives and a few points.”