Category: Formula E

Sanya (China), 23 March 2019: Jean-Eric Vergne secured a much-needed victory in Sanya on home soil for the Chinese DS TECHEETAH team, vaulting the reigning champion to third in the standings and re-igniting his title defence.

Without a point to his name in the previous three races, Vergne’s championship aspirations were at a crossroads coming to Sanya. However, such is the close competition of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, the win jumps Vergne up the order to sit only eight points adrift of Antonio Felix da Costa.

Not only is it a sixth victory for Vergne in Formula E, the result sees a sixth different driver standing on the top step in as many races – still without a repeat winner this season.

Vergne started on the front row alongside Oliver Rowland, who lined-up in pole position for Nissan e.dams. With the leading pack running nose-to-tail in the early stages of the race, Vergne made his move at just over half race distance – catching Rowland unawares up the inside of the tight left-hander at Turn 11.

From there Vergne maintained position and held on to victory, despite a late scare for not respecting the safety car procedure which resulted in a reprimand. Vergne also collected a point for fastest lap, which puts him tied on points with Envision Racing’s Sam Bird – who failed to score after a coming together with Stoffel Vandoorne on the opening lap.

Rowland crossed the line in second place – disappointed to miss out on a maiden victory in Formula E, but earning a first podium finish for the Nissan e.dams outfit after squandering a number of chances in Santiago, Mexico City and Hong Kong.

The podium positions were rounded-out by Da Costa who held station in third, moving the BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver back to the top of the standings after another large haul of points.

Vergne’s team-mate Andre Lotterer added to DS TECHEETAH’s tally in fourth – avoiding damage after a scuffle with Alexander Sims. Although, Sims wasn’t so fortunate after stopping on track with suspension damage and bringing out the red flags. After a short delay in the pitlane the race got back underway with 12-minutes left on the countdown clock.

Daniel Abt was the highest-placed Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler driver in fifth, with Sebastien Buemi bouncing back to sixth after starting in the pitlane due to a technical infringement in qualifying – later dropping to ninth for causing a collision with Robin Frijns.

Daniel Abt was the highest-placed Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler driver in fifth, with Sebastien Buemi bouncing back to sixth after starting in the pit lane following issues in qualifying.

Approaching the halfway point of the season, the top-six drivers are only separated by 10 points. It’s wide open in the title race as the series heads to Rome on April 13 – round seven of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

Jean-Eric Vergne said: “This is our first win as a new team, as DS TECHEETAH, and I feel very proud and happy to have been able to bring this victory to DS. It’s a new relationship and it’s always difficult when you start, but after 20 races in a row with points, the last three races not being able to score any points was extremely hard, tough on me and I didn’t sleep very well between Hong Kong. The fact that we were able to stick together as a team and keep working with the same wish of moving forward doing the best job as possible has paid off today and I couldn’t be any happier with the job we’ve done. It was a big day for us – we are a Chinese team and winning here was absolutely amazing, on the podium when we had the Chinese anthem and all the fans were singing, it was actually quite emotional.”

Oliver Rowland said: “On one side I’m happy and on the other a little bit disappointed. I had a good opportunity there – JEV did a good job – he surprised me and I knew he was going to surprise me at some point. I am of course very happy with the podium and it’s been a while – I lost pole in Mexico and again I was leading in Hong Kong. It’s been a pretty tough three races with three DNFs, it’s nice to score some points, and at the end I just wanted to consolidate my position and I didn’t want to risk too much. It was a really good race in general.”

Antonio Felix da Costa said: “I am happy with the points obviously, but I wanted to take a little bit more today. Certainly after following these two guys I thought we had the car to win but it’s not easy to overtake, you have to take a lot of risks especially if it’s someone like Ollie (Oliver Rowland). Like he said, I knew exactly what was going on in his mind, he wanted this podium a lot and he knew that I needed the points so I took a little risk at some point but he defended late and I was already half-committed. It could’ve ended badly but luckily everything worked out. I was sitting there, a little bit frustrated, I couldn’t go forward so I had to make sure I wasn’t going backwards. It is what it is. I’m happy with this, there’s still a long way to go, we’re only just halfway now and we need to make sure we’re there in July.”

Race result:

Championship Standings:

Teams’ standings:

Hong Kong, 10 March 2019: Edoardo Mortara inherited his first-ever Formula E victory in Hong Kong after Sam Bird was handed a time penalty for causing a collision with Andre Lotterer on the penultimate lap.

Bird and Lotterer were locked in a race-long duel, with seconds separating the pair throughout the duration of the entire E-Prix. As the clock counted down, Bird made a lunge for the lead into Turn 2 and made contact with the rear of Lotterer.

Despite the hit from behind Lotterer held position and managed to keep Bird at bay, but Lotterer soon started to slow after suffering a puncture from the earlier contact leaving him limping home and eventually coming to a stop out on track.

This allowed Bird to swoop in front and take the chequered flag. However, Bird was later denied his second victory of the season after being issued with a five-second penalty – dropping him to sixth position.

Mortara is therefore elevated to first place – marking a maiden win for the Swiss driver and a first victory for VENTURI Formula E Team. Mortara progressed up the field from sixth on the grid to claim his second consecutive podium finish on the road – with a third-place last time out in Mexico City.

It was another Venturi-powered car that led away from the front, with Stoffel Vandoorne setting the fastest lap in wet conditions to secure pole position and get HWA RACELAB off the mark with three points.

Vandoorne maintained the trend this season of no driver converting pole into victory – again highlighting that nothing is a given in Formula E. With damp patches and puddles out on track, Vandoorne was beaten off the line by Oliver Rowland. But it didn’t last long as Rowland briefly slowed and dropped down the order.

Bird jumped to the head the pack, however soon relinquished the lead to Lotterer after locking-up in the slippery braking zone of Turn 2. Proceedings were soon brought to a standstill after a coming together between Felipe Nasr and the two MAHINDRA RACING drivers.

Nasr – who was struggling to slow the car with damaged bodywork – went into the wall at Turn 2, with Pascal Wehrlein and Jerome D’Ambrosio close behind and following him to the scene of the accident. The red flag halted running in order to clear the cars and the race later restarted behind the safety car.

With changes to the classification, Lucas di Grassi was promoted to second and Bird’s team-mate Robin Frijns rounded-out the podiums places for Envision Virgin Racing. Despite losing out on maximum points, Bird moves to the top of the standings – with an extra point for fastest lap.

With yet another different winner and only two points between the top-four drivers, Formula E returns to mainland China for the inaugural race in Sanya – round six of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship on March 23.

Edoardo Mortara, VENTURI Formula E Team, said: “The result today is fantastic. Fourth in Santiago, third in Mexico, now my first victory in Hong Kong! I’m so proud and finding out that I had won was an incredible feeling for me. The race was awesome and I’ve had a wonderful weekend – historically racing in Asia brings me so much luck – honestly, I’m over the moon and I couldn’t be happier. The team have done a brilliant job, they put in all the hours and pull out all the stops – this result is a tribute to their hard work. This result is for them – I know that it will motivate them even more and I can’t wait to get back out on the track.”

Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, said: “Sometimes you have to race with your head, not with your heart and today I had to do that. I had a bad start not because of anything but because I chose the wrong path and I was overtaken by Sam and Edo. If you go flat out, the only way to overtake is to force your way through and when you do that there are risks of crashing, penalties, so I tried to wait for Edo to make a mistake in the last two laps. He didn’t and then from me it was impossible to overtake with only half a second left on ATTACK MODE so we had to calm down and collect the points.

Five drivers have done all the 50 races I have been on the podium 31 times, I have been disqualified twice, so 29! We must believe in this championship, for me there is no better way to race and everybody should be very proud of what we have achieved together.”

Envision Virgin Racing, Robin Frijns, said: “It’s been a mixed day with the ever-changing conditions and our first wet race. We got unlucky in qualifying meaning I started the race in P10, but having multiple safety cars and using my Attack Mode at a different time to most of the other drivers, allowed me to make my way forward during the race.”

Race Result: 

Drivers’ Championship Standings:

Teams’ Championship Standings: