Formula E – Di Grassi opportunistic at the China ePrix

Nicolas Cheers (e.dams Renault) was nevertheless well on his way to winning the China ePrix in Beijing, the opening round of the inaugural season of Formula E. If his teammate Sébastien Buemi was only able to complete the first stint following a broken gearbox on one of his two cars, the Frenchman distinguished himself by taking pole and leading almost the entire race. Alas, the French driver made a mistake on the last lap, hitting the Spark Renault SRT_01E of Nick Heidfeld (Venturi) who was trying to overtake from the inside. The German hit the wall of tires at full speed but fortunately emerged unscathed from this impressive accident (video). Judged guilty by the commissioners, the son of the four-time world champion F1 will be penalized by ten places on the grid for the Malaysian ePrix in Putrajaya on November 22.

Lucas di Grassi took advantage of this double retirement to take the lead a few meters from the finish and become the first winner in the history of Formula E. The Brazilian won with a two-second lead over Franck Montagny ( Andretti Autosport) who had a sublime race after starting from eighth position following a three-place penalty imposed for cutting the pit exit line during qualifying. Daniel Abt completes the podium and allows Audi Sport Abt to lead the Teams Championship despite a significant amount of time lost in the pits by the team.

Sam Bird (Virgin Racing) and Charles Pic (Andretti Autosport) complete the top five even if the Frenchman thought he would retire on the first lap after being knocked down by his teammate. Karun Chandhok (Mahindra Racing) took sixth place ahead of Dragon Racing drivers Jérôme d’Ambrosio and Oriol Servia. Nelson Piquet Jr (China Racing) and Stéphane Sarrazin (Venturi Racing) complete the top ten ahead of Jaime Alguersuari (Virgin Racing). Although Takuma Sato (Amlin Aguri) only completed 21 laps, the Japanese won the two bonus points for the best lap in the race.

Discover the report from Formula E in Beijing in issue 1978 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.