After what many would call an anti-climactic start, Formula E’s second race on the streets of Hong Kong this weekend saw a disputed victory.
Formula E had a few hiccups on the streets of Hong Kong on Saturday afternoon, with a 30-minute delay being added to the 43-lap race won by Sam Bird. The series and its drivers looked to bounce back in the second half of the opening weekend doubleheader on Sunday afternoon, but saw controversy surround their winner.
Daniel Abt, who has raced for the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team since its inception in 2014, was believed to have won his first career Formula E race on his 25th birthday. Abt took advantage of a late mistake by Edoardo Mortara, who appeared to be cruising away with his first ever win with Venturi. However, an issue with the energy recovery system caused Mortara to spin, relegating him to a third-place finish.
Mortara was not the only driver to experience problems out front, however. After the race was forced to start behind the safety car when the staging lights failed at the Hong Kong circuit, polesitter Felix Rosenqvist spun on his own entering the first corner on the first green flag lap. This allowed Mortara to push through to the lead, a position he held for the majority of the race.
After the race was over, Formula E officials disqualified Daniel Abt and his #66 Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team for components that did not match regulations. This would give Felix Rosenqvist, who spun earlier in the race but bounced back to a second-place finish, the bittersweet victory. The decision is currently being appealed by Audi Sport to the FIA International Court of Appeal.
More from Formula E
- 5 ways the McLaren Formula 1, IndyCar situations could play out
- Formula E champion responds to comical social media mix-up
- NASCAR not the only series with devastating sim consequences
- Formula E: 5 things we learned upon return in Saudi Arabia
- Change to Beyond the Flag power rankings for 2020
Abt, in his first year as an official Audi factory driver, has often played second fiddle to former Formula E champion and teammate Lucas di Grassi. Now, Abt is the one on top heading into the next race in Marrakesh, while di Grassi has yet to score a single point. In fact, out of the three former champions – di Grassi, Buemi, and Piquet Jr. – only Nelson Piquet Jr. scored points in the opening doubleheader.
Unlike the first race of the weekend, there were no major crashes on Sunday in Hong Kong. The closest incident came on the opening lap when NIO’s Luca Filippi went long in a corner and came very close to the wall. Meanwhile, Dragon Racing likely had the worst weekend of all the teams, showing little speed with both drivers being lapped on track on Sunday by Abt and Mortara.
Here are the provisional race results from race 2 of the Hong Kong ePrix:
- Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing
- Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Formula E Team
- Mitch Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing
- Jean-Eric Vergne, Techeetah
- Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing
- Oliver Turvey, NIO Formula E Team
- Maro Engel, Venturi Formula E Team
- Nicolas Prost, Renault e.dams
- Alex Lynn, DS Virgin Racing
- Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams
- Antonio Felix da Costa, MS&AD Andretti
- Nelson Piquet Jr., Panasonic Jaguar Racing
- Andre Lotterer, Techeetah
- Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
- Jerome D’Ambrosio, Dragon Racing
- Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing
- Kamui Kobayashi, MS&AD Andretti
- Neel Jani, Dragon Racing
- Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
- Luca Filippi, NIO Formula E Team
Next: Hong Kong ePrix Race 1 Results
The all-electric Formula E world championship will now have a month-long break before their next race from Africa. Coverage of the Marrakesh ePrix can be seen on Saturday, January 13 at 2:00 pm eastern in the United States on FS1.