Formula E: Sam Bird wins 2019 Santiago ePrix
By Asher Fair
Sam Bird earned his first victory of the 2018-2019 Formula E season by winning the season’s third race, the Santiago ePrix, at Parque O’Higgins Circuit.
Envision Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird became the third different winner of the 2018-2019 Formula E season in the third race on the season’s 13-race schedule, as he won the Santiago ePrix to claim his first victory of the season.
Bird started the 14-turn, 1.492-mile (2.401-kilometer) Parque O’Higgins Circuit in Santiago, Chile in fourth place in his #2 Spark-Audi. He won the race by 6.489 seconds over Mahindra Racing rookie Pascal Wehrlein in second in his #94 Spark-Mahindra.
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Daniel Abt, Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara and Envision Virgin Racing’s Robin Frijns rounded out the top five by finishing in third, fourth and fifth place in their #66 Spark-Audi, #48 Spark-Venturi and #4 Spark-Audi, respectively.
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Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans, BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Alexander Sims, Mahindra Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio, NIO’s Oliver Turvey and Geox Dragon Racing’s Jose Maria Lopez rounded out the top 10 by finishing in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #20 Spark-Jaguar, #27 Spark-BMW, #64 Spark-Mahindra, #16 Spark-NIO and #7 Spark-Penske, respectively.
The entire complexion of the timed 45-minute (plus one lap) race changed with just under 16 minutes remaining when Nissan e.dams’ Sebastien Buemi, who started the race from the pole position and had led it ever since it began, hit the wall. At this point in time, Bird took the lead, and he never looked back.
Buemi qualified for the race in second place but started it from the pole position as a result of the fact that Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Lucas di Grassi, who took the pole position for it, was forced to start in 22nd (last) on the grid after he was penalized for a technical infringement in group qualifying. Di Grassi ended up finishing the race in 12th.
Bird passing Buemi for the race lead after Buemi hit the wall was the race’s lone lead change. Buemi led more laps than Bird, however, as he led the first 25 of the race’s 36 laps while Bird led the final 11. Of the 22 drivers who started the race 14 finished it, and of the 14 who finished it, 13 finished it on the lead lap. Abt recorded the race’s fastest lap.
Buemi, meanwhile, ended up being forced to retire from the race and was officially scored in 18th place.
Here are the full race results of the 2019 Santiago ePrix.
Race Results
1st – Sam Bird
2nd – Pascal Wehrlein
3rd – Daniel Abt
4th – Edoardo Mortara
5th – Robin Frijns
6th – Mitch Evans
7th – Alexander Sims
8th – Jerome d’Ambrosio
9th – Oliver Turvey
10th – Jose Maria Lopez
11th – Nelson Piquet Jr.
12th – Lucas di Grassi
13th – Andre Lotterer
14th – Gary Paffett
15th – Oliver Rowland
16th – Antonio Felix da Costa
17th – Jean-Eric Vergne
18th – Sebastien Buemi
19th – Stoffel Vandoorne
20th – Maximilian Gunther
21st – Felipe Massa
22nd – Tom Dillmann
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The next race on the 2018-2019 Formula E schedule is the Mexico City ePrix, which is the fourth of 13 races on this season’s schedule. This race is scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 16, and it is set to take place at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico. Be sure not to miss it.