The 2016 Hong Kong ePrix (formally the 2016 FIA Formula E HKT Hong Kong ePrix for sponsorship purposes) was a
Formula E electric motor race held at the
Hong Kong Central Harbourfront Circuit in Hong Kong before a crowd of 30,000 people on 9 October 2016. It was the first race of the
2016–17 Formula E Championship and the first edition of the event. The 45-lap race was won by
e.Dams-Renault driver
Sébastien Buemi
Sébastien Olivier Buemi (born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss professional racing driver, who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship for Envision Racing. He competed for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One from 2009 to 2011. After leaving Formula ...
who started from seventh place.
Audi Sport ABT's
Lucas di Grassi finished second and
Mahindra driver
Nick Heidfeld
Nick Lars Heidfeld (born 10 May 1977) is a German professional racing driver.
Despite scoring regular podium finishes in with Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams, and in and with BMW in Formula One, BMW Sauber, Heidfeld never won a rac ...
was third.
Nelson Piquet Jr.
Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born July 25, 1985), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 seaso ...
won the
pole position by recording the fastest lap in qualifying. He pulled away from the rest of the field and led until he collided with the barrier after swerving to avoid
José María López
José María "Pechito" López (born 26 April 1983) is an Argentine race car driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing and 2014–2016 World Touring Car Champion. He raced in the 2006 GP ...
's crashed car on the 17th lap allowing
Sam Bird
Sam Jamie Bird (born 9 January 1987) is a British professional racing driver who currently drives for Jaguar TCS Racing in the FIA Formula E World Championship.
Career
Formula BMW
Bird made his name in single seater racing in the Formula B ...
to take the lead. Some drivers elected to make
pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lan ...
s to switch to their second cars with Bird choosing to remain on the circuit until his own stop eight laps later. He had technical problems with his second car and Buemi moved into the lead. Di Grassi was no more than two seconds behind Buemi but was unable to get close enough to challenge him because he had to conserve
electrical energy and Buemi remained the leader for the rest of the race to win. There were three lead changes among four different drivers during the course of the race.
It was Buemi's first victory of the season and the seventh of his career. The result gave the Buemi of the Drivers' Championship with 25 points, seven ahead of di Grassi and ten in front of Heidfeld. Buemi's teammate
Nico Prost
Nicolas "Nico" Jean Prost (born 18 August 1981) is a French professional racing driver. He most recently raced in the FIA Formula E Championship before quitting the series. Also, he was a longstanding racer in the FIA World Endurance Championship ...
was fourth on 12 points and
António Félix da Costa
António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born 31 August 1991) is a Portuguese professional racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team and the 2019–20 Formula E Drivers' Champion.
He won the Macau Grand Prix invitational Formula Thr ...
was fifth with ten points. e.Dams-Renault held a 19-point advantage in the Teams' Championship over joint second-placed Audi Sport ABT and
Andretti Andretti is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Mario Andretti (born 1940), Italian-born American father of the prominent Andretti racing family:
** Michael Andretti (born 1962), son of Mario
*** Marco A ...
. Mahindra Racing were nine points ahead of the fifth-placed
NextEV with eleven races left in the season.
Background
![Lung Wo Road Formula Race view 20161009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Lung_Wo_Road_Formula_Race_view_20161009.jpg)
The idea for a race in Hong Kong was first raised in 2013 when a design team visited the city. It was intended for inclusion in the
2014–15 season schedule but negotiations and approval from local authorities and motorsport's international governing body, the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA), went longer than anticipated.
In October 2015 the Hong Kong ePrix was announced by the CEO and founder of Formula E
Alejandro Agag
Alejandro Tarik Agag Longo (born 18 September 1970, in Madrid) is a Spanish businessman and former politician. He is based in London as the Chairman of Addax Capital LLP.
Early life and education
Born to an Algerian- Belgian father Youssef ...
in a press conference at the Central Harbour Front Event Space, pending further review from the FIA. The event was later confirmed as part of Formula E's 2016–17 schedule in September 2016 by the
FIA World Motor Sport Council
The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) is a major organ within the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's governance structure. Its primary role is amending current regulations and drafting new regulations for all of international motor spo ...
.
It was the first of 12
single-seater
An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have the ...
electric car races of the season, and was held at the
Hong Kong Central Harbourfront Circuit on 9 October 2016.
A total of ten squads entering two drivers each competed in the event.
Heading into the new season, some teams opted to keep the same line-up as they had in the previous season; however, some teams changed drivers. One of the main changes involved the début appearance of
Jaguar in the sport with the
2008–09 A1 Grand Prix champion
Adam Carroll Adam Carroll may refer to:
* Adam Carroll (racing driver)
Adam Carroll (born 26 October 1982) is a Northern Irish professional racing driver. He last raced in the 2016–17 Formula E season for Jaguar Racing. He has also raced for Team Ireland ...
and the
2012 GP3 Series
The 2012 GP3 Series season was the third season of the GP3 Series, a feeder series for the GP2 Series. The season began at Barcelona on 12 May and concluded at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on 9 September after eight rounds made up of two races each a ...
title winner
Mitch Evans
Mitchell William Evans (born 24 June 1994) is a New Zealand professional racing driver. He currently drives for the Jaguar TCS Racing team in Formula E. In 2012, he won the GP3 Series and he raced in the GP2 Series for four years, achieving ...
competing for the team.
Team Aguri
Team Aguri, formerly Amlin Aguri and officially the Team Aguri Formula E Team, was an international motor racing team founded by former Formula One and 24 Hours of Le Mans driver Aguri Suzuki (Executive Chairman) and Mark Preston (Team Principal ...
was purchased by Chinese sports development and management firm SECA in mid-2016 and was renamed
Techeetah
DS Techeetah (, ) is a Sino-French motor racing team under ownership of SECA - China Media Capital that competes in the electric racing series, Formula E.
Formula E
Team Aguri principal Aguri Suzuki announced he would leave the team in April 2 ...
with
Jean-Éric Vergne
Jean-Éric Vergne (born 25 April 1990), also known as JEV, is a French racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship with Dragon Racing. He became the 2017–18 ABB Formula E Champion, after clinching fifth in the New York ePrix ...
and
Ma Qinghua
Ma Qinghua () (born 25 December 1987 in Shanghai) is a Chinese racing driver currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup with Cyan Performance Lynk & Co.
Ma became the first Chinese driver to win an FIA World Championship race when h ...
announced as the team's drivers. Defending
FIA GT World Cup champion
Maro Engel was hired by
Venturi to replace
World Endurance Championship World Endurance Championship may refer to:
* FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series held since 2012
* World Sportscar Championship, an auto racing series which used the title World Endurance Championship from 1981 to 1985
* Endura ...
driver
Mike Conway
Mike Conway (born 19 August 1983) is a British professional racing driver. He lives in Sevenoaks, Kent and is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing.
Biography
Conway who was born in Bromley, Lo ...
, while
Virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
employed three-time consecutive
World Touring Car champion
José María López
José María "Pechito" López (born 26 April 1983) is an Argentine race car driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing and 2014–2016 World Touring Car Champion. He raced in the 2006 GP ...
to partner Formula E race winner
Sam Bird
Sam Jamie Bird (born 9 January 1987) is a British professional racing driver who currently drives for Jaguar TCS Racing in the FIA Formula E World Championship.
Career
Formula BMW
Bird made his name in single seater racing in the Formula B ...
.
The final change involved two-time
Macau Grand Prix
The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...
winner and reigning
European Formula Three champion
Felix Rosenqvist
Felix Rosenqvist (born 7 November 1991) is a Swedish professional racing driver who currently drives the No. 6 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren SP in the NTT IndyCar Series. He was named Rookie of the Year for the IndyCar Series in 2019.
Racing car ...
joining the series with
Mahindra, partnering
Nick Heidfeld
Nick Lars Heidfeld (born 10 May 1977) is a German professional racing driver.
Despite scoring regular podium finishes in with Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams, and in and with BMW in Formula One, BMW Sauber, Heidfeld never won a rac ...
. Defending drivers' champion
Sébastien Buemi
Sébastien Olivier Buemi (born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss professional racing driver, who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship for Envision Racing. He competed for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One from 2009 to 2011. After leaving Formula ...
stayed at
e.Dams-Renault after his title-winning campaign, and was again joined by
Nico Prost
Nicolas "Nico" Jean Prost (born 18 August 1981) is a French professional racing driver. He most recently raced in the FIA Formula E Championship before quitting the series. Also, he was a longstanding racer in the FIA World Endurance Championship ...
.
Buemi said the increase in competition for the championship's third season meant he was not thinking about the title but on winning as many races as possible.
Audi Sport ABT's
Lucas di Grassi, who finished second to Buemi in the previous season's drivers' championship, stated his team was highly motivated and aimed to win the championship after having placed third and second in the previous two seasons. He spoke of his feeling that the series was going to possibly experience "the most diverse and perhaps most exciting Formula E season.” Di Grassi said that his objective was to win the race and spoke of his astonishment if he became its inaugural winner.
Heidfeld revealed that he was looking forward to the new season and aimed to help his team gain positions in the championship.
The 10-corner long track was designed by Rodrigo Nunes.
It was constructed in eight days and was completed on the Friday before the event because the local authorities denied permission for the streets to be closed to traffic before that day.
US$2.6 million (HK$20 million) was spent on relocating
street lighting,
cutting down trees, lowering underground facilities covers and converting existing roadside infrastructure.
The circuit received positive feedback from drivers. Ma called the track "very exciting" and stated his belief that the race would see a large amount of overtakes.
Rosenqvist said that he felt the track appeared "incredible" which went beyond his expectations. It reminded him more of American race circuits than the
Guia Circuit
The Guia Circuit, or Circuito da Guia, is a street circuit located at the southeast region of the Macau Peninsula in Macau. It is the venue of the Macau Grand Prix and Guia Race of Macau. The circuit consists of long straights and tight corner ...
and noted the track's bumpiness.
Concerns were raised over the turn three chicane which had no kerbs or any visible markings. Heidfeld felt there was an risk of a driver crashing his car in the area with
António Félix da Costa
António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born 31 August 1991) is a Portuguese professional racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team and the 2019–20 Formula E Drivers' Champion.
He won the Macau Grand Prix invitational Formula Thr ...
backing up his view and calling for the installation of tyres and observation of the turn's
run-off area
A run-off area is an area on a motorsport race track used for racer safety. Run-off areas are usually located along a road racing circuit where racers are most likely to unintentionally depart from the prescribed course. There are different typ ...
.
Practice
![Loïc Duval Le Mans drivers parade 2011 crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Lo%C3%AFc_Duval_Le_Mans_drivers_parade_2011_crop.jpg)
Two practice sessions—both on Sunday morning—were held before the Sunday late afternoon race. The first session ran for 45 minutes and the second for 30 minutes.
A 30-minute shakedown was held on Saturday afternoon before the practice sessions and had Ma post the fastest time of 1 minute, 8.633 seconds, four-tenths of a second faster than
Nelson Piquet Jr.
Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born July 25, 1985), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 seaso ...
in second. The session was temporarily halted when Prost's car stopped on track.
Both practice sessions took place in warm weather.
Di Grassi used of power to post the first practice session's fastest lap at 1 minute, 2.381 seconds, 0.145 seconds faster than Buemi in second.
Daniel Abt
Daniel Johannes Abt (born 3 December 1992) is a German former racing driver. He has competed in such series as the German Formula Three Championship, the GP3 Series, the GP2 Series, and won the 2009 ADAC Formel Masters championship. He competed i ...
, Engel, Vergne, Bird,
Stéphane Sarrazin, Prost, Félix da Costa and Rosenqvist rounded out the session's top ten fastest drivers.
The session was first disrupted when
Oliver Turvey
Oliver Jonathan Turvey (born 1 April 1987) is a British professional racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula E, and is currently signed to McLaren as a test driver. He was a notable kart racer, with two national titles, and was t ...
's vehicle stopped on track with an electrical issue after four minutes, necessitating the brief deployment of
red flags,
to allow course workers to remove his car from the circuit.
A second stoppage occurred when the
Andretti Andretti is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Mario Andretti (born 1940), Italian-born American father of the prominent Andretti racing family:
** Michael Andretti (born 1962), son of Mario
*** Marco A ...
of
Robin Frijns
Robin Frijns (born 7 August 1991) is a Dutch motor racing driver. He is the 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion, and the first driver to have won the series in his debut season since Robert Kubica in 2005. Frijns is currently competing in F ...
(who previously spun twice) lost control of his car at turn nine and blocked the track, and Rosenqvist impacted the first turn barrier and was stranded at the corner's run-off area.
In the second practice session, Vergne was quickest with a lap of 1 minute, 2.350 seconds, ahead of Prost, Bird, Rosenqvist, Félix da Costa, Heidfeld, Buemi, Ma, Sarrazin and
Loïc Duval
Loïc Duval (; born 12 June 1982) is a French professional racing driver racing for Audi Sport as a factory driver in DTM and driving for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He won the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans with Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen dri ...
(
Dragon).
Duval lost control of his car and crashed into the turn ten outside barrier's exit, removing both of his right-hand side tyres, and stopping the session for ten minutes to allow his car to be removed from the centre of the track.
Engel spun and damaged his right-rear suspension, but was able to drive slowly back to the
pit lane
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lan ...
.
Di Grassi ran wide and went deep onto the turn two run-off area. He spun his car to exit the corner but struck a wall, removing his rear wing. López lost his vehicle's nose cone in a collision with a wall at the same corner, and his rear wing was removed from his car when he hit the turn eight barrier. His rear wing was off the
racing line
In motorsport, the racing line is the optimal path around a race course. In most cases, the line makes use of the entire width of the track to lengthen the radius of a turn: entering at the outside edge, touching the "apex"—a point on the inside ...
, avoiding the need for
yellow flags. The session concluded early when Piquet collided with the chicane exit barrier.
Qualifying
![Piquet Jr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Piquet_Jr._2015.jpg)
After practice but before qualifying, circuit officials elected to remove a kerb at the chicane with the teams notified of the change shortly before qualifying began.
Saturday afternoon's qualifying session ran for 60 minutes and was divided into four groups of five cars. Each group was determined by a lottery system and was permitted six minutes of on-track activity. All drivers were limited to two timed laps with one at maximum power. The fastest five overall competitors in the four groups participated in a "Super Pole" session with one driver on the track at any time going out in reverse order from fifth to first. Each of the five drivers was limited to one timed lap and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest times (Super Pole from first to fifth, and group qualifying from sixth to twentieth). The driver and team who recorded the fastest time were awarded three points towards their respective championships.
Qualifying was held in warm weather.
The modifications to the kerb and a dirty track slowed lap times by at least one second than in practice. Super Pole was cancelled following several long delays caused by multiple crashes and the starting order was determined by the fastest overall times in the four groups.
Piquet clinched the first
pole position of his career and the first for
NextEV with a time of 1 minute, 3.099 seconds. He was joined on the
grid
Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to:
Common usage
* Cattle grid or stock grid, a type of obstacle is used to prevent livestock from crossing the road
* Grid reference, used to define a location on a map
Arts, entertainment, and media
* News ...
's front row by teammate Turvey who was 0.132 seconds slower.
In his first Formula E qualifying session, López qualified third in front of his teammate Bird.
Buemi went out first in the fourth group and was initially two-tenths of a second slower than Piquet despite no driver errors on his full power lap and took fifth place. Rosenqvist was the first driver to venture onto the track in the group three and drove aggressively which saw him make light contact with the barrier to qualify sixth.
Abt took seventh place, ahead of Duval but he served a three-place starting position penalty after he was observed speeding under red-flag conditions in shakedown.
Hence, Vergne inherited eighth and his fastest time was set on cold tyres and brakes.
Prost's full power lap saw him narrowly avoid hitting the chicane and his car slid at the final turn, leaving him ninth.
Heidfeld took tenth,
ad Engel was the fastest driver who was not issued with a penalty to not qualify within the top ten. He was more than one-tenth of a second faster than 13th-placed qualifier Félix da Costa, who in turn, was nearly four-tenths ahead of débutant Carroll. The trio were followed by Sarrazin in 15th, and Evans 16th; cold brakes and tyres slowed Evans.
Ma's left-rear quarter was damaged when he made contact with a barrier beside the circuit and qualified 17th.
Jérôme d'Ambrosio
Jérôme D’Ambrosio (born 27 December 1985) is a Belgian former professional racing driver, motorsport executive and former Team Principal of Venturi Racing in Formula E.
He has previously driven for Marussia Virgin Racing and Lotus F1 in t ...
struggled and began behind Ma.
Di Grassi, 19th, pushed hard and made an error at the chicane, hitting the wall, damaging his front-left quarter, and triggering red-flag conditions with three minutes left in the second group.
Frijns completed the field and temporarily stopped qualifying when his car went airborne after hitting the kerbs at the chicane and collided with the barrier.
Qualifying classification
Notes:
* —
Loïc Duval
Loïc Duval (; born 12 June 1982) is a French professional racing driver racing for Audi Sport as a factory driver in DTM and driving for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He won the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans with Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen dri ...
received a three-place grid penalty for speeding under red flag conditions in the shakedown session.
Race
![Lucas di Grassi Paris EGP 2016 winner-cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Lucas_di_Grassi_Paris_EGP_2016_winner-cropped.JPG)
A special feature of Formula E is the "Fan Boost" feature, an additional of power to use in the driver's second car. The three drivers who were allowed to use the boost were determined by a fan vote.
For the Hong Kong race, Buemi, di Grassi and López were handed the extra power
and the results were announced on the 14th lap.
The weather at the start was dry, warm and mostly sunny. The air temperature ranged from with a track temperature between .
Rain showers from an nearby typhoon had been forecast for the race but moved away from Hong Kong before it started.
The event was attended by 30,000 people. When the event started at 16:00
Hong Kong Time (
UTC+8
UTC+08:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +08:00.
With an estimated population of 1.708 billion living within the time zone, roughly 24% of the world population, it is the most populous time zone in the world, as well as a ...
), Piquet and his teammate Turvey made clean getaways and maintained first and second on the
straight
Straight may refer to:
Slang
* Straight, slang for heterosexual
** Straight-acting, an LGBT person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of the gay stereotype
* Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture
Sport and games
* ...
heading into the first turn.
López ran wide leaving the first corner, made minor contact with the turn's barrier, allowing teammate Bird and Buemi to overtake him.
López lightly hit Bird and fell down the running order because of heavy steering damage.
Under braking for the second turn, Abt's rear wing was removed when Félix da Costa collided with him,
causing Ma to apply his brakes and strike the back of Félix da Costa's car, leading to the removal of the former's front wing. Di Grassi was unable to slow and collided with Ma's rear, removing the front-right section of his nose cone.
Prost fell from ninth of 14th by the end of the first lap because of an incorrect power setting, while Heidfeld made four positions over the same distance.
At the end of the first lap Piquet led from teammate Turvey, who was followed in turn, by Bird, Buemi, López, Heidfeld, Rosenqvist, Duval, Vergne and Abt.
Piquet pulled away from the rest of the field as Buemi started to draw closer to Bird and Turvey.
López fell to eighth on the second lap after Mahindra's Heidfeld and Rosenqvist along with Duval overtook him.
Both di Grassi and Abt were shown a
black flag with an orange circle, requiring both drivers to make pit stops for car repair. Ma switched to a second car but became the race's first retirement soon after because of a
battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
issue.
Bird placed Turvey under pressure which allowed Piquet to open up a two-second lead by lap four.
On lap five,
Di Grassi moved to the outside line into the chicane on the fifth lap and overtook Sarrazin and López leaving the turn and moved in front of Carroll into the second corner. Bird overtook Turvey for second position on lap six,
and Buemi passed Turvey by turning left into turn one on the following lap.
![ÖAMTC Welt des Motorsports 2016-80](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/%C3%96AMTC_Welt_des_Motorsports_2016-80.jpg)
Di Grassi made his required pit stop for a new front wing on lap eighth and narrowly avoided striking a trackside
marshal leaving his pit stall. Vergne dropped down the order when his car developed a water pump battery failure and had to make an unscheduled pit stop to move into his second vehicle on lap nine.
López had dropped to 16th place by the start of the next lap.
Bird briefly reduced the time deficit to Piquet until the latter responded to his fast pace.
Rosenqvist lost control of the rear of his car and slid backwards into the turn five barrier on the 14th lap, damaging his rear wing. The crash forced him to make a pit stop to switch into his second car.
López carried a large amount of speed exiting the chicane and made contact with a wall on lap 17. Piquet was close behind and took avoiding action but reacted late and had an
understeer
Understeer and oversteer are vehicle dynamics terms used to describe the sensitivity of a vehicle to steering. Oversteer is what occurs when a car turns (steers) by more than the amount commanded by the driver. Conversely, understeer is what occ ...
that sent him into a barrier.
He did not damage his car and extricated himself from the barrier but lost the lead to Bird and Buemi moved to second.
The incident necessitated the
safety car's deployment to allow marshals to repair the wall and remove López's car from the track. Some drivers, including Buemi, made their mandatory pit stops to switch into their second cars under safety car conditions at the end of the 20th lap.
Bird elected to not to make a pit stop and maintained the lead at the lap-22
restart, ahead of Félix da Costa.
Piquet chose to make his pit stop immediately after racing resumed. Bird pulled away from Félix da Costa whom the delayed Vergne slowed.
He chose to remain on the circuit with a strategy to conserve
electrical energy which was followed by both Jaguar drivers.
Bird made his pit stop at the end of the 25th lap and it appeared that he would rejoin the race in the top ten but technical problems with his second car caused him to search for different reset procedures, losing 1 minute, 27 seconds and emerged one lap down in 15th position.
An electrical issue was discovered on Evans' second car during his pit stop and his team elected to retire him on the same lap to prevent further damage. Frijns led the field for one lap before making his pit stop on the 26th lap.
Buemi took the lead from Frijns with di Grassi second and Heidfeld third.
Di Grassi closed to within less than two seconds of Buemi with ten laps left with the latter reacting by extending his advantage to 2 seconds.
Rosenqvist set the race's
fastest lap
In motorsport, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race. Some racing series, like Formula One, Formula 2 and Formula E award championship points for a driver or team that set the fastest lap.
In Grand Prix motorcycle racing no point ...
of 1 minute, 2.947 on lap 36, earning him one point.
By the 38th lap, drivers who made their stops under safety car conditions entered their electrical energy conservation phase.
Andretti chose to allow their drivers to remain on the circuit for as long as possible, allowing Félix da Costa and Frijns to catch and overtake d'Ambrosio and Turvey for fifth and sixth in the closing laps.
Félix da Costa then attempted to catch the fourth-placed Prost but was unable to get close to him.
As the final lap began, di Grassi, Heidfeld and Prost had five per cent of usage electrical energy remaining. Buemi was unchallenged for the rest of the lap to take his first victory of the season and the seventh of his career.
Di Grassi finished second, ahead of Heidfeld in third. Prost, Félix da Costa, Frijns, d'Ambrosio, Turvey, Engel and Sarrazin rounded out the top ten. Piquet, Carroll filled the next two positions.
Bird was fast enough to unlap himself by passing the race leaders,
despite
spinning his tyres at the circuit's low-speed exit turns,
and finished 13th. Duval and Rosenqvist were the final finishers.
There were three lead changes in the race; four drivers reached the front of the field. Buemi led once for a total of 20 laps, more than any other competitor.
Of the two other retirees, Vergne stopped with an overheating battery,
and Abt lost all electrical energy in his car after 34 laps.
Post-race
The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in a later press conference. Buemi said that the race had not been easy because his battery had greatly overheated and another lap would have prevented him from finishing. Nevertheless, he was happy to begin the new season with a victory after having ended the previous season badly.
He later confessed that luck played a role in him winning as his car was not set-up to his preference but reserved praise to his strategist. Second-place finisher di Grassi spoke of his delight with the result and that his race had been "crazy" which demonstrated that this team they did not stop and it was "a great start" to his season.
He praised his mechanics for helping him stay on the same lap as the leaders and believed that he was targeting the fastest lap award. Heidfeld, who finished in third, stated that he was happy to achieve a podium position in the first race of the season and hoped that his team could finish their forward progress in the championship.
Piquet said it was a mixed day for his team considering that he had the pole position and made a quick getaway at the start but was disappointed to finish 11th. He claimed that the incident with López may have happened to any other driver but was looking forward to the season's next race where he hoped to qualify well and his team were going to keep pushing. Bird was disappointed with the result, saying it was beneficial if the technical problems with his second car at the pit stop were diagnosed in the season's first race rather than later on.
His teammate López thanked the sport's fans for voting him to receive the FanBoost and was upbeat despite retiring from his first event: "The car is fast and I think qualifying proved that. I’m sure the end result will be much, much better in Marrakech."
Vergne told the press that he lost the chance to achieve a strong result in the race when his car developed problems with his car's water pump and described the event as "a big mess" but felt certain that he could secure the championship.
As this was the first race of the season, Buemi led the Drivers' Championship with 25 points, seven ahead of di Grassi in second, who in turn, was a further three in front of the third-placed Heidfeld. Prost was fourth on 12 points, and Félix da Costa was fifth with ten points.
e.Dams-Renault's first and fourth-place finishes meant they became the leaders of the Teams' Championship with 37 points; Audi Sport ABT and Andretti were tied for second with 18 points each. Mahindra stood in fourth on 16 points, nine ahead of NextEV in fifth place with eleven races left in the season.
Despite negative press reviews about the Hong Kong ePrix, Agag reaffirmed his commitment to holding a race in the city and stated that he would not be discouraged by any financial losses incurred from the event.
Race classification
Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold.
Notes:
* — Three points for pole position.
* — One point for fastest lap.
Standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
;Teams' Championship standings
*
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
External links
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2016 London ePrix
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FIA Formula E
Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...
Championship
2016–17 season
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2016 Marrakesh ePrix
The 2016 Marrakesh ePrix (formally the 2016 FIA Formula E Marrakesh ePrix) was a Formula E electric motor race held on 12 November 2016 at the Circuit Moulay El Hassan in Marrakesh, Morocco in front of a crowd of 7,000 people. It was the se ...
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Hong Kong ePrix
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2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
2016–17 Formula E season
ePrix
2016 in Chinese motorsport
October 2016 sports events in China