In a messy opening race for season four of the FIA Formula E world championship, Sam Bird took home the in on the streets of Hong Kong.
The Formula E world championship now stands alone, racing in the first weekend of December to kick off season four. New races, new faces, and new manufacturers have created a series of changes for the all-electric championship. But those changes will be put to the test in a season-opening doubleheader in Hong Kong.
Coming out of the chaos of the first race of the season, DS Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird took his sixth career win in Formula E on Saturday. Bird won in what could only be described as a topsy-turvy race, where neither Renault e.dams or Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler led a single lap. Jean-Eric Vergne, who won the pole for Techeetah, and Mahindra Racing’s Nick Heidfeld rounded out the podium spots.
The race was marred on the first lap by a thirty-minute red flag period after four cars stalled in the fourth corner, completely blocking off the track. Andre Lotterer, Mitch Evans, Nicolas Prost, and Neel Jani were involved in the incident. Race officials then needed to correct timing and scoring and reset the field before the race could go back to green.
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The madness wasn’t over with the red flag, however. Sam Bird was penalized while leading after pit stops for an illegal car change, after jumping out of his first car on pit lane. Even with the pass-through penalty on pit road, Bird still came out with the lead and never looked back. He will try to defend his victory today on the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday in race two.
For the championship contenders from the 2016-17 season, it was a bad day to start the new season. Lucas di Grassi had a tire problem that forced him into his second car early. He would struggle to finish the race with enough power, ending the day in 18th. Sebastien Buemi, meanwhile, stalled out before he pitted, losing valuable time on track. He would finish outside the points in 12th place.
Here are the full race results from race one of the Hong Kong ePrix:
- Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing
- Jean-Eric Vergne, Techeetah
- Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing
- Nelson Piquet Jr., Panasonic Jaguar Racing
- Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
- Antonio Felix da Costa, MS&AD Andretti Formula E
- Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing
- Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Formula E Team
- Alex Lynn, DS Virgin Racing
- Nicolas Prost, Renault e.dams
- Luca Filippi, NIO Formula E Team
- Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams
- Mitch Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing
- Maro Engel, Venturi Formula E Team
- Kamui Kobayashi, MS&AD Andretti Formula E
- Andre Lotterer, Techeetah
- Oliver Turvey, NIO Formula E Team
- Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
- Neel Jani, Dragon Racing
- Jerome D’Ambrosio, Dragon Racing
Next: Sao Paulo Formula E Race Delayed to 2019
The next race for the all-electric Formula E world championship will come in under 24 hours. The second race of the doubleheader weekend at Hong Kong comes on Sunday, December 3, with coverage in the United States on the networks of Fox Sports. Qualifying can be seen at 1:00 am eastern on FS2, with live race coverage at 2:00 am eastern on FS1.