Sebastien Buemi is quite literally bulletproof.

The Swiss Formula E driver is showing me his brand new bulletproof vest – a quirky gift from a team sponsor – during a video call from Envision Racing HQ.

"It's a pretty weird present," he laughs.

While the vest is just a gimmick, its as apt a metaphor as any for the 37-year-old's remarkable racing career.

He's clocked a whopping 14 wins and 36 podiums in Formula E, making him one of the all-electric championship's all-time greats.

"A lot of people do get a little bit drained and tired after a lot of years and may lose… I wouldn't say the love of the sport, but it becomes more difficult to keep the motivation," he says.

"But for me, to be honest, it's never really been an issue."

Before making the switch to Formula E for its inaugural season in 2014, the Swiss racer spent three seasons in Formula One racing for Toro Rosso.

Buemi is also one of the world's top endurance racers and has won the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans four times to date.

But this week he's strictly in Formula E mode, and hoping to add to his trophy cabinet during Saturday's Sanya E-Prix.

Sanya – a sunny resort city in south China's Hainan Province – originally joined the calendar in 2019 but has not hosted an E-Prix since the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Seven years later, racing finally returns to the streets of China's favorite tropical holiday destination for Round 11 of the 2025–26 Formula E World Championship.

While some weekends feature two races back to back, Sanya is a one-off race, meaning drivers will have to go for broke if they want to get on the podium.

The Haitang Bay Circuit has been slightly altered for 2026 to accommodate the current generation of Formula E vehicles and promises plenty of thrilling on track action over 37 laps.

Buemi has form over here – two of his biggest E-Prix victories have been on Chinese soil in Beijing and Hong Kong, respectively.

Buemi and teammate Joel Eriksson will also be racing for a home crowd, as the lime green team is owned by Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Envision Energy.

The Shanghai-based company first came on board as a majority owner of the team back in 2018 before taking full ownership in 2021.

Buemi has been coming to China for over two decades and has witnessed the country's green revolution first hand.

"I remember the first time I've been in Shanghai – I think that was 2005 – and I could not see anything past the racetrack because of the pollution, and now it's so much better," he said.

"China has embraced electric cars, scooters and bikes and they have so many new brands selling lots of electric cars. So I think it's a great market and it's a great place to be racing at."

China is currently in the midst of a banner year for motorsport which kicked off with the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix in March.

After Sanya, the Formula E circus heads north for back-to-back rounds at the Shanghai International Circuit on July 4-5.

Then in December, the world's greatest racing talents will converge on Shanghai's iconic Bund for the 2026 FIA Awards, the motorsport industry's night of nights.

Meanwhile, rumors are swirling that Chinese carmaker BYD is eyeing entry into Formula One, possibly helmed by former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

Back at Envision Racing HQ, Buemi is keeping his race strategy for Haitang Bay close to the vest.

"It's going to be very warm so the battery management will be important," he offers.

The Swiss racer has faced all the highs and lows of the pointy end of motorsport: From losing his F1 seat at the end of 2011 to successful pivots into endurance racing and Formula E.

"I don't think you're gonna have a very long career if you don't really care and you just turn up and drive the car," Buemi says.

"That's going to be enough maybe when you have a good team, a good car. But then when things become difficult – because you're not always going to be in the best car at the right time – that's where you have to be committed and disciplined, otherwise, your career will basically stop.”

Elite motorsport can be notoriously fickle, but Buemi – often called the renaissance man of motor racing – shows no signs of slowing down.

The key to Buemi's on-track resilience may lie in the Swiss racer's ability to turn mistakes into learnings and then reset.

"Once you've made the mistake, you obviously have to learn from the mistake, but then you have to erase it from your mind," he says.

"You do the best you can with what you have, and you move on."