Formula E: Winners and losers from 2018 Punta del Este ePrix

The sixth round of the 2018 Formula E Championship wrapped up in spectacular fashion in Punta del Este, Uruguay, making an interesting list of winners and losers.

Several controversies surrounding Formula E throughout week helped to shake up the list of winners and losers.

Winners

Jean-Eric Vergne: The Frenchman clinched his second victory of the season after qualifying fifth. With some luck in the controversy surrounding drivers hitting a marker in qualifying, he was propelled to the top of the list. He started the race in first and stayed there. The win also adds to his lead in the championship, giving him 109 points, which is 30 points higher than his closest competitor.

Mitch Evans: Mitch Evans may be the highlight of the winners from Punta del Este. With his roller coaster weekend, he made out well in qualifying, putting himself in third, but he lost his position when his car was penalized for “discrepancies with weight distribution”. He would start the race in 16th but fight all the way back to fourth, by making the best pass of the race on Alex Lynn, securing his place on this week’s list.

Sam Bird: After a dismal qualifying saw the Virgin Racing driver sitting 10th, he received a small boost with a race start in ninth, but he really shined when he drove around several other racers to join the leaders Vergne and Lucas di Grassi in the last couple of laps, getting himself a third place finish in the race and three points out of second place in the driver standings.

Felix Rosenqvist: The Swede also had a bad showing in qualifying, ultimately starting 12th. He would end up having a good race, getting himself and Mahindra RAcing some of those sweet, sweet race points by placing fifth in the end. He holds on to the second position in the championship with 79 points.

Losers

Lucas di Grassi: After a first place qualifying run, the driver of the Audi Sport FE04 was demoted from pole position for his role in bollard smashing. Di Grassi was great in the race, even providing some of the best action in his fight for the race win with Vergne, minus an almost race-ending slide as Vergne was fiercely defending. Sadly, the 2017 Formula E champion’s overall inability to make a move stick on Vergne for first place and his cutting of the track and subsequent demotion in qualifying, which possibly kept di Grassi from his first win this season, put him on the ‘L’ list.

Daniel Abt: Abt had an opportunity to do well in the Uruguay race with a starting position of fifth. The German had unbelievably bad luck due to his seatbelt being loose, forcing him to pit to fix the issue. That snafu would cost the driver of the other Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler car to see a final place of 14th.