Zürich EPrix
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The 2018 Zurich ePrix (formally the 2018 Julius Baer Zurich E-Prix) was a
Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...
electric car race held before a crowd of about 150,000 spectators at the Zurich Street Circuit in
Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, Switzerland on 10 June 2018. It was the tenth round of the
2017–18 Formula E Championship The 2017–18 FIA Formula E Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2017–18 ABB Group, ABB FIA Formula E Championship) was the fourth season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Formula E motor racing. It fea ...
, the inaugural running of the
event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...
, and the first Swiss circuit race since the
1954 Swiss Grand Prix The 1954 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Bremgarten on 22 August 1954. It was race 7 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. The 66-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from seco ...
. The 39-lap race was won by
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...
driver
Lucas di Grassi Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Lola Yamaha ABT. In formula racing, di Grassi competed in Formula One in , and won the 2016–17 Formula E Championship with Abt. In endu ...
after starting from fifth.
Sam Bird Sam Jamie Bird (born 9 January 1987) is a British people, British professional racing driver who is currently driving for McLaren#Formula E, NEOM McLaren in Formula E. He won the LMP2 title at the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, and was ...
finished second for
Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...
and
Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
driver
Jérôme d'Ambrosio Jérôme d'Ambrosio (; born 27 December 1985) is a Belgian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Since October 2024, d'Ambrosio has served as deputy team principal of Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari in F ...
was third.
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
driver
Mitch Evans Mitchell William Evans (born 24 June 1994) is a New Zealand professional racing driver. He currently (since 2016) drives for the Jaguar Racing, Jaguar TCS Racing team in Formula E. In 2012, he won the GP3 Series and he raced in the GP2 Serie ...
won the first
pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...
of his career by recording the fastest lap in qualifying and he led the opening 17 laps despite reporting rising
battery Battery or batterie 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 * Battery indicator, a device whic ...
temperatures limiting his ability to harvest electrical energy under braking. Di Grassi gained positions by passing other drivers and he overtook Evans driving into the first corner at the start of lap 18 to take the lead. He maintained the lead for the remainder of the race to claim his first victory of the season and the seventh of his career by 7 seconds over Bird. The consequence of the final positions meant
Jean-Éric Vergne Jean-Éric Serge Raymond Vergne (; born 25 April 1990), also known by his initials JEV, is a French racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Peugeot and in Formula E for DS Penske. In formula racing, Vergne compete ...
still led the Drivers' Championship despite a drive-through penalty for accelerating before a full course yellow was lifted to clear debris on the track. Bird narrowed Vergne's lead to 23 points and di Grassi's win moved him from sixth to third.
Sébastien Buemi Sébastien Olivier Humbert Buemi (; born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota and in Formula E for Envision. In formula racing, Buemi competed in Formula One from to , and w ...
moved to fourth by finishing fifth and
Felix Rosenqvist Karl Felix Helmer Rosenqvist (born 7 November 1991) is a Swedish professional racing driver who currently drives the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series. He was named Rookie of the Year for the IndyCar Series in 2019. ...
fell to fifth after scoring no points. Audi lowered
Techeetah DS Techeetah (, ) was a Sino- French motor racing team under ownership of SECA - China Media Capital that competed in the electric racing series, Formula E. Formula E Team Aguri principal Aguri Suzuki announced he would leave the team in A ...
's advantage in the Teams' Championship to 33 points while Virgin maintained third with two races left in the season.


Background


Preview

There were ten teams of two drivers each for a total of 20 competitors entered for the event. Coming into the race from
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
four weeks earlier,
Techeetah DS Techeetah (, ) was a Sino- French motor racing team under ownership of SECA - China Media Capital that competed in the electric racing series, Formula E. Formula E Team Aguri principal Aguri Suzuki announced he would leave the team in A ...
driver
Jean-Éric Vergne Jean-Éric Serge Raymond Vergne (; born 25 April 1990), also known by his initials JEV, is a French racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Peugeot and in Formula E for DS Penske. In formula racing, Vergne compete ...
led the Drivers' Championship with 162 points.
Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...
's
Sam Bird Sam Jamie Bird (born 9 January 1987) is a British people, British professional racing driver who is currently driving for McLaren#Formula E, NEOM McLaren in Formula E. He won the LMP2 title at the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, and was ...
was second with 122 points and
Felix Rosenqvist Karl Felix Helmer Rosenqvist (born 7 November 1991) is a Swedish professional racing driver who currently drives the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series. He was named Rookie of the Year for the IndyCar Series in 2019. ...
of Mahindra was third with 86 points.
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...
's
Daniel Abt Daniel Johannes Abt (born 3 December 1992) is a German former racing driver. He is most notable for competing and winning races in Formula E with the Audi Sport ABT team. Previously, Abt raced in German Formula Three, GP3, and GP2, as well as ...
was close behind in fourth with 85 points and
Sébastien Buemi Sébastien Olivier Humbert Buemi (; born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota and in Formula E for Envision. In formula racing, Buemi competed in Formula One from to , and w ...
of e.Dams-Renault was close behind in fifth with 82 points. Techeetah led the Teams' Championship with 205 points; Audi were second with 161 points and Virgin were third with 139 points. Mahindra were in fourth with 108 points and
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
were fifth with 96 points. 87 points were available for the season's final three races which meant Vergne could clinch the Championship in Zurich. Vergne needed to win the race with Bird failing to score any points to win his first Drivers' Championship. Vergne finishing second would mean that Bird would have to win both
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
races with the former not scoring points to become the champion on count-back.


Preparations

Preparations for a Formula E race in Switzerland commenced in March 2015 when the Council of States backed a motion put forward by the National Councillor
Fathi Derder Fathi Derder (4 December 1970 – 25 January 2025) was a Swiss journalist and politician of the Liberal-Radical Party (PLR). Life and career Early life and family Born in Lausanne on 4 December 1970, Derder had an Algerian father and a Valasia ...
to exempt electric car racing from a long-standing ban on motor racing in the country. The motion was adopted by the Federal Council in December, allowing
electric vehicles An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
to race in Switzerland from 1 April 2016 pending authorisation from local authorities with regards to maximum speeds. Organisers then began putting forward their candidacies for cities to hold the race. They plead for the ePrix to be held in
Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...
on 7 May 2016 to replace the
Berlin ePrix The Berlin ePrix is an annual race of the open-wheel car, single-seater, Electric car, electrically powered Formula E championship, held in Berlin, Germany. It was first raced in the 2014–15 Formula E season, 2014–15 season. Circuits Tempel ...
but this was withdrawn because the required funding of €10 million was not raised and they later supported holding it in Switzerland's largest city
Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
. On 21 September 2017, Zurich was included on the 2017–18 Championship's final calendar in a
FIA World Motor Sport Council The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) is a part of the governance structure of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. It has responsibility for all aspects of international motor sport. It meets at least three times a year to decide on r ...
meeting in Paris. It was the tenth of twelve scheduled
single seater An open-wheel 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 their wheels below the body or inside fend ...
electric car An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger car, passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric motor, electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a p ...
rounds of the 2017–18 Championship and took place at the Zurich Street Circuit on 10 June 2018. Prior to the ePrix, Switzerland's last motor race was the
1954 Swiss Grand Prix The 1954 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Bremgarten on 22 August 1954. It was race 7 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. The 66-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from seco ...
at
Circuit Bremgarten The Circuit Bremgarten was a motorsport race track in Bern, Switzerland, which formerly hosted the Swiss Grand Prix from 1933 to 1954 (Formula One, 1947 to 1954) and the Swiss motorcycle Grand Prix in 1949 and from 1951 until 1954. Bremgarten ...
in
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
: Switzerland banned most motor racing in 1955 after the
1955 Le Mans disaster The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a major crash that occurred on 11 June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing spectators and French dr ...
. Organisers of the race expected around 25,000 to 150,000 people to attend. Although it was reported in the local press that Zurich City Council had granted permission for the race to be run, a spokesperson denied these reports two hours later. However, the city council did give their approval for the race to be held the following month. Preparation for the ePrix commenced, and a three-year contract was signed with the option for an extension to 2024, which was subsequently increased by another three years to 2027. Permits were granted by the office of the mayor of Zurich
Corine Mauch Corine Mauch (born 28 May 1960) is an American-born Swiss politician who currently serves as Mayor of Zurich since 2009. She previously served on the city council of Zürich between 1999 and 2008 for the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (o ...
to project leader Pascal Derron who led negotiations with local politicians. Derron ensured those who provided the city's infrastructure services were satisfied the ePrix could be held. In December, a board member of Zurich's pedestrian association filed a complaint with Zurich City Council concerning the event. He sought for a referendum as the city was paying CHF 2 million towards the race and argued there was a risk of deteriorating the quality of life and disrupting local transport routes. No action was taken by Zurich City Council. The layout of the 11-turn circuit was not designed by a professional planner like other tracks but by the CEO of e-Mobil Züri Roger Tognella and his son Andrin by using
Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...
on their home computer. It was officially unveiled to the public on 5 January 2018. Drivers began a lap of the circuit on Enge Harbour at
Mythenquai Quaianalagen (German, plural; ; from ) or Seeuferanlagen (German, plural for lakeshore sites) on Lake Zurich is a series of lakefronts in Zurich, Switzerland. Inaugurated in 1887, the quaysides are considered an important milestone in the developm ...
and the layout led back to the harbour via the Stockerstrasse and Alfred-Escher-Strasse streets. The track had different surfaces such as circuit asphalt and new concrete. Some
tramlines The Tramlines Festival is an annual music festival held in Sheffield, UK. The festival was originally free to attend, but now requires tickets. The line-up consists of national and local artists. The festival was curated and organised by a pan ...
at turns seven and nine were filled for the weekend and others were untouched. Because of
cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on Cobble (geology), cobble-sized stones, and is used for Road surface, pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Sett (paving), Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as " ...
s in the
pit lane Pitstop may refer to: * Pit stop Pitstop may refer to: * Pit stop, in motor racing, when the car stops in the pits for fuel and other consumables to be renewed or replenished * ''Pit Stop'' (1969 film), a movie directed by Jack Hill * ''Pit ...
, teams adapted to a new software mode as the speed limit was lowered to . Construction of the circuit began in late May and local officials ensured the public lost no access to the city's roadside infrastructure. It was dismantled on 12 June, two days after the ePrix. Buemi stated his belief that a low-
downforce Downforce is a downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic features of a vehicle. If the vehicle is a car, the purpose of downforce is to allow the car to travel faster by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more gri ...
set-up would provide drivers with opportunities to reach their top speeds on the two long straights.


Practice

Two practice sessions—both on Sunday morning—were held before the early evening race. The first session ran for 45 minutes and the second lasted half an hour. A half an hour untimed shakedown session was held on Saturday afternoon to enable teams to check the reliability of their cars and their electronic systems at low speed. In the first practice session, held in warm weather, di Grassi used of power to set the fastest lap of 1 minute, 11.995 seconds. Jaguar's
Mitch Evans Mitchell William Evans (born 24 June 1994) is a New Zealand professional racing driver. He currently (since 2016) drives for the Jaguar Racing, Jaguar TCS Racing team in Formula E. In 2012, he won the GP3 Series and he raced in the GP2 Serie ...
, Abt, Nelson Piquet Jr. of Jaguar,
Oliver Turvey Oliver Jonathan Turvey (born 1 April 1987) is a British people, British professional racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula E, and is currently signed to DS Penske as a reserve driver and a sporting advisor. He was a notable Karti ...
for
NIO Nio or NIO may refer to: * NI Opera, Opera company * Nio (Buddhism), guardians of the Buddha * Nio Inc., a Chinese electric automobile manufacturer * Nicaraguan córdoba, currency by ISO 4217 currency code * National Institute of Oceanography (d ...
, Bird, Vergne, Rosenqvist, Buemi and
José María López José María "Pechito" López (born 26 April 1983) is a Argentine race car driving, driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Akkodis ASP. He is three-time World Touring Car Championship, World Touring Champi ...
of
Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
placed second through tenth. During practice, which saw several drivers venture deep onto the
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 types ...
s, Bird was close by the
electrical energy Electrical energy is the energy transferred as electric charges move between points with different electric potential, that is, as they move across a voltage, potential difference. As electric potential is lost or gained, work is done changing the ...
conservative López and was impeded by him at the final corner. López caught Bird out by braking early and trying to let him through on the main straight and Bird lost control of his car's rear on the bumpy track by locking his front brakes. Bird crashed into the barrier, damaging his right-rear
suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Car suspension * Cell suspension or suspension culture, in biology * Guarded suspension, a software design pattern in concurrent programming suspending a method call and the calling ...
and steering but returned to the pit lane to switch into a second car. Turvey damaged his suspension by glancing a barrier and
Stéphane Sarrazin Stéphane Jean-Marc Sarrazin (born 2 November 1975) is a French racing and rally driver. He has won races across a number of single-seater, sportscar and rallying disciplines and competitions, was French Formula Renault champion in 1994, and Le ...
of Andretti and
Luca Filippi Luca Filippi (born 9 August 1985 in Savigliano, Italy) is an Italian former auto racing driver. He competed in GP2 Series from 2006 to 2012, and the IndyCar Series from 2013 to 2016. In 2008 he was the official Honda Racing F1 test driver. Career ...
for NIO stopped at turns one and two towards the session's conclusion. After first practice, an annoyed Bird went to López's garage, confronted him about the crash, and the latter attempted to explain his perspective to Bird. López then spoke to his team who reviewed television footage of the incident and apologised to Bird through the media. In second practice, Rosenqvist was fastest with a maximum power lap of 1 minute, 12.007 seconds that he set ten minutes before practice concluded. Evans was 0.054 seconds slower in second and the Dragon pair of
Jérôme d'Ambrosio Jérôme d'Ambrosio (; born 27 December 1985) is a Belgian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Since October 2024, d'Ambrosio has served as deputy team principal of Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari in F ...
and López were third and fourth. The rest of the top ten heading into qualifying were Virgin's
Alex Lynn Alexander George Lynn (born 17 September 1993) is a British people, British racing driver who is from Great Dunmow. He currently competes in the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship driving the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series.R for Jota Sport. Lynn h ...
, Bird, Vergne,
André Lotterer André Lotterer (born 19 November 1981) is a German racing driver, who most recently competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Porsche in motorsport, Porsche. In formula racing, Lotterer competed in Formula One at the in , and Formu ...
of Techeetah, Buemi and Piquet. Traffic forestalling competitor's running and several drivers locked their brakes. Some again went onto the track's run-off areas. Buemi spun entering turn four but sustained light damage to his vehicle's rear from contact with the outside barrier. López locked his rear tyres under braking for turn one and slid sideways into the left-hand side TecPro barrier but he returned to the pit lane with minor bodywork damage. In the session's closing seconds, Lotterer misjudged his braking point and hit the rear of
Nico Prost Nicolas 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. Previously, he was a longstanding racer in the FIA World Endurance Championship ...
's e.Dams-Renault car at the turn ten
hairpin A hairpin or hair pin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place. It may be used simply to secure long hair out of the way for convenience or as part of an elaborate hairstyle or coiffure. The earliest evidence for dressing the ha ...
, dislodging Prost's left-rear sidepod.


Qualifying

Sunday's afternoon qualifying session ran for an hour 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. In the first group of five runners, all competitors bar Vergne waited for four minutes to begin their lap times on the bumpy track. Bird paced the session with a benchmark time, ahead of Buemi, Rosenqvist and Abt. Pole position favourite Vergne could not feel the grip in his car and was the first group's slowest driver. Vergne was summoned to the stewards and reprimanded for violating series regulations because his team misread the line indicating the end of the second sector. This meant he intermittently activated the power mode approximately before then. Evans set the fastest overall lap time in group qualifying in group two of 1 minute, 12.594 seconds. Lotterer took second in the closing seconds of the group, and di Grassi and Piquet were third and fourth. Turvey glanced the turn two barrier with his right-rear wheel, bending a track-rod and he was slowest overall in group qualifying. Track conditions improved as each group passed and attention switched to the third group and whether they could demote the championship contenders further down the grid. However, nobody in group three recorded a lap that put them in the top five as Lynn was fastest, followed by Heidfeld,
Edoardo Mortara Edoardo Alberto Gérard "Edo" Mortara (born 12 January 1987) is a Swiss-Italian- French professional racing driver currently competing in Formula E for Mahindra Racing and in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Automobili Lamborghini Squadra ...
of Venturi and Andretti driver
António Félix da Costa António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born 31 August 1991) is a Portugal, Portuguese professional racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and the 2019–20 Formula E Championship, 2019–20 Formul ...
. Venturi's
Maro Engel Maro René Engel (born 27 August 1985) is a Germans, German professional racing driver based in Monaco. He is a Mercedes-AMG factory driver since 2008 & brand ambassador since 2017. He is a FIA GT World Cup Champion (2015, 2024), Nürburgring 2 ...
made an error and was the third group's slowest driver. In group four, the Dragon pair of d'Ambrosio and López were first and second and prevented di Grassi from entering super pole. Prost lost confidence after locking his tyres on his warm-up lap but came within 0.023 seconds of teammate Buemi for seventh overall. Sarrazin and Filippi were group four's two slowest drivers. At the end of group qualifying, Evans, d'Ambrosio, López, Lotterer and Bird qualified for super pole. Evans was the last driver to set a super pole lap and took a wide line over the bumps at turn one. He took his and Jaguar's first pole position in single seater racing with an error-free lap of 1 minute, 12.811 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Lotterer—his best qualifying performance of the season—who had pole position until Evans' lap. Bird, who was first on-track, clipped the barrier for third and it prevented him from reducing Vergne's lead in the Drivers' Championship. D'Ambrosio appeared to go faster than Lotterer but he lost a tenth of a second at the final turn and took fourth. Fifth-placed López drifted sideways and lost a second as he narrowly avoided hitting a wall leaving the turn one right-hander. After qualifying, López received a three-place grid penalty for not slowing under yellow flag conditions in first practice. Lynn lost the same amount of positions due to an inter-team miscommunication that caused him to drive into the fast lane of the pit lane before it opened for group three.


Qualifying classification

Notes: * —
José María López José María "Pechito" López (born 26 April 1983) is a Argentine race car driving, driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Akkodis ASP. He is three-time World Touring Car Championship, World Touring Champi ...
received a three-place grid penalty for speeding under yellow flag conditions during the first practice session. * —
Alex Lynn Alexander George Lynn (born 17 September 1993) is a British people, British racing driver who is from Great Dunmow. He currently competes in the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship driving the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series.R for Jota Sport. Lynn h ...
was demoted three places because of a miscommunication that caused him to drive in the fast lane of the
pit lane Pitstop may refer to: * Pit stop Pitstop may refer to: * Pit stop, in motor racing, when the car stops in the pits for fuel and other consumables to be renewed or replenished * ''Pit Stop'' (1969 film), a movie directed by Jack Hill * ''Pit ...
before his qualifying group.


Race

The weather at the start of the race was dry and sunny with the air temperature between and the track temperatures ranged from . The hot weather caused teams to prioritise
battery Battery or batterie 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 * Battery indicator, a device whic ...
temperature maintenance. A special feature of Formula E is the "FanBoost" 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 Zurich race, Buemi, di Grassi and Rosenqvist were handed the extra power. Around 150,000 people attended the event. The ePrix began at 18:04
Central European Summer Time Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+02:00), sometimes referred to as Central European Daylight Time (CEDT), is the standard clock time observed during the period of summer daylight-saving in those European countries which observe Central E ...
( UTC+02:00) rather than the usual 16:04 because Formula E did not wish to clash with the men's singles finals of the French Open and race organisers held it on a Sunday for better localised traffic management. Evans made a good start and defended his lead from Lotterer on the approach to turn one. Lotterer then blocked Bird from taking second. Di Grassi tried to pass d'Ambrosio on the outside for fourth but no space was left for an overtake. The rest of the field passed through the next sequence of corners with minor contact and it appeared all had escaped without issue. However, as everybody closed up at the Tramstop chicane, Piquet mounted the rear of Abt's car, removing Abt's rear wing and a section of Piquet's front wing. The accident scattered debris on the track. At the end of the first lap, Evans led Lotterer by two seconds and Bird, d'Ambrosio and di Grassi were close by. Vergne overtook Engel to move into sixteenth place while di Grassi passed d'Ambrosio entering the Tramstop chicane around the inside for the fourth position on the next lap. D'Ambrosio lost fifth to Buemi entering turn one at the start of the third lap. By the next lap, Piquet and Abt were shown the black flag with an orange disc, which required them to enter the pit lane for repairs to their cars. Both entered the pit lane on the following lap. In the meantime, Evans reported rising battery temperatures, lessening his ability to harvest electrical energy under braking. On lap eight, one of Mortara's tie-rods on his right-rear suspension sheared on a kerb heading to the Tramstop chicane and forcing him to retire. By the ninth lap, Vergne moved into the top ten with successive overtakes on Lynn, Mortara and Heidfeld entering the first corner as he conserved
electrical energy Electrical energy is the energy transferred as electric charges move between points with different electric potential, that is, as they move across a voltage, potential difference. As electric potential is lost or gained, work is done changing the ...
. Similarly, Di Grassi had an electrical energy advantage over the top three due to the better efficiency of his Audi's powertrain. He used this to close up enough to Bird and overtake him for third place by turning left on the entry to turn ten on lap 13. Di Grassi had enough momentum to provide him with an opportunity to pass Lotterer on the outside into turn ten on the next lap but Lotterer turned right to block him. He tried again on the start/finish straight but Lotterer again blocked di Grassi. At his third try at the beginning of lap 16, di Grassi aggressively overtook Lotterer for second into the first turn. Further back in the field on the 17th lap, Vergne steered right entering turn one as he to pass the eighth-placed Rosenqvist on his left. Rosenqvist resisted Vergne's attack and the two made contact. He slid wide into a TecPro barrier at the first corner while Vergne continued without damage to his car. Rosenqvist extricated himself from the barrier; debris from his car littered the track and his front wing detached leaving turn two. At the end of the same lap, Evans held off di Grassi driving into the turn ten hairpin, but di Grassi had more usable electrical energy and overtook Evans into the first corner at the start of the lap 18. Di Grassi began to pull away from Evans as Buemi overtook Bird into turn one for fourth on the 19th lap. Soon after, Vergne was about to get ahead of d'Ambrosio for seventh when he hit Rosenqvist's detached front wing because the latter was to his left but Vergne avoided picking up a front-right
puncture Puncture, punctured or puncturing may refer to: * a flat tyre in British English (US English "flat tire" or just "flat") * a penetrating wound caused by pointy objects as nails or needles * Lumbar puncture, also known as a spinal tap * Puncture ( ...
. In response, race director Scot Elkins activated the full course yellow procedure to allow marshals to remove debris from the track. During the full course yellow, the field chose to make their mandatory pit stops to change into a second vehicle at the conclusion of lap 19. Di Grassi kept the lead from Evans and Lotterer while Vergne lost 12 seconds because he had trouble starting his car when he tried to exit his garage, falling to ninth. Piquet retired with a broken
driveshaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect ...
on lap 21. Eight laps later, it was announced Evans, Lotterer, Buemi, López and Vergne were under investigation by the stewards for exceeding the speed limit during the full course yellow procedure. The first four were issued drive-through penalties on the next lap. Evans and Lotterer took their penalties at the start of lap 31 while Buemi and López served theirs at the end of that lap. Vergne received a drive-through penalty on lap 32. Prost's brakes failed into the turn ten hairpin and he ran straight into the barrier to the outside of the track on lap 33. Vergne took his penalty at the conclusion of the 34th lap. He emerged in 12th place behind Engel, whom he overtook into the turn ten hairpin. Buemi activated his FanBoost to pass Evans into turn one at the beginning of the 36th lap. On the same lap, Lotterer earned one championship point for setting the race's
fastest lap In motorsports, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race. In some racing series, like NASCAR, the fastest lap award championship points for a driver or team. In Formula One and MotoGP no point is awarded for the fastest lap. Formula O ...
of 1 minute, 14.730 seconds. Unhindered in the final 20 laps, di Grassi opened his lead to more than seven seconds and finished first after 39 laps to claim his first victory of the season and the seventh of his career. Bird followed 7.542 later in second and the drive-through penalties helped d'Ambrosio take his first podium finish since the second
2016 London ePrix The 2016 London ePrix (formally the 2016 FIA Formula E Visa London ePrix) were two Formula E motor races that took place on the 2–3 July 2016 on the Battersea Park Street Circuit in Battersea Park, London. They were the ninth and tenth rounds of ...
race. Off the podium, Lotterer finished fourth, Buemi fifth and Heidfeld sixth. Evans came seventh and Félix da Costa had a clean race in eighth. Turvey held off Vergne for ninth by six-tenths of a second. The final finishers were Engel, López, Abt, Sarrazin, Rosenqvist and Lynn. There were two lead changes among two drivers during the event. Di Grassi led once for a race-high 22 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. Di Grassi spoke of his happiness over winning and dedicated it to his unborn son Leonardo, adding that "The weekend was amazing and the event here was fantastic. You could hear the huge number of people cheering all over the track. I tried to save a bit more energy in the first half of the first stint, and then managed to overtake the next three cars." Bird said he was disappointed after qualifying third but was confident he could challenge di Grassi in the New York City ePrix double header, "We settled into a rhythm in the race and it’s become apparent that I have to lift more than the people around me. That’s just the way it is – but we’ve got ourselves in this fantastic position in the title fight, and scored second place today – with a little bit of luck I have to say." Third-placed D'Ambrosio said he adapted his strategy to conserve electrical energy, "It was emotional, but a steady race, I did the best I could to bring it home and that was important. We still have some work to do in the race, especially on my side. In qualifying I’ve done a really good job in the last three races, and we’ve done a tremendous job since Berlin, but we need to better ourselves for New York."
Allan McNish Allan McNish (born 29 December 1969) is a British former racing driver, commentator, and journalist from Scotland. He is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, most recently in 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2013, as well as a three-time wi ...
, the team principal of Audi, commented on his surprise di Grassi won despite starting fifth, "When he got up in fourth and then the speed with which he caught Sam irdthen I thought, ‘crikey, this is on’. To be leading coming in to the pit stop was mighty but at the stop there was a worry about an unsafe release but Lucas was flawless in the race. It was a very accomplished win and so deserving for him after the start to the season." Rosenqvist spoke to Vergne after the media left the paddock and accepted an apology from Vergne for his lap 17 crash. Rosenqvist said it was a misunderstanding with a serious consequence for him, "Just as I turned in he dived at the last moment and I had to do something not to hit him. But genuinely, I tried to let him through but it didn’t work out like that as I was the one who lost out and he went free, which is a bit harsh." Evans admitted to feeling conflicted after taking his maiden pole position and finishing seventh, "Our first Formula E pole position was a huge motivation boost for the troupe and showed how far we have come in the meantime, unfortunately the race did not go that way as we had hoped." Evans, Lotterer and López were later discovered to have not slowed sufficiently by the time the full course yellow was activated on lap 19 while Buemi and Vergne were penalised for accelerating just before the system was lifted on the next lap. Lotterer argued the stewards should improve the leniency in their decision making when no driver gained an advantage and felt the penalty he received prevented him from getting onto the podium, "It’s the rules, there’s no point complaining about it but it’s super frustrating. You wish that something they would let a few things slide as it didn’t change anyone’s position." Buemi said he felt his early reaction to the lifting of the full course yellow was caused by him not being able to hear the race director over his radio momentarily and it prompted him to brake sharply out of uncertainty. Vergne accused Formula E of creating a new regulation during the event to allow for increased suspense in the championship at the season-ending New York City ePrix, "It's weird, it's five of us getting penalised. We're not daft, we've been racing these cars all year with Full Course Yellows, we never got penalties. Now, suddenly, there are five drivers etting one four ahead of Bird, and me. It's a bit weird." The consequence of the race meant Vergne still led the Drivers' Championship with 163 points but his lead over Bird narrowed to 23 points because of Bird's second-place finish. With 101 points, di Grassi's victory moved him from sixth to third. Buemi's fifth-place finish moved him to fourth with 92 points and Rosenqvist fell to fifth after scoring no points. Techeetah retained first in the Teams' Championship with 219 points. Audi moved to within 33 points of Techeetah and Virgin dropped further back in third. Mahindra and Jaguar maintained fourth and fifth with two races left in the season. The 2019 race was relocated to Bern after Zürich city officials expressed concerns about the ability of its infrastructure to handle a series of large-scale events in quick succession.


Race classification

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold. Notes: * — One point for
fastest lap In motorsports, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race. In some racing series, like NASCAR, the fastest lap award championship points for a driver or team. In Formula One and MotoGP no point is awarded for the fastest lap. Formula O ...
. * — Three points for
pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...
. * —
Stéphane Sarrazin Stéphane Jean-Marc Sarrazin (born 2 November 1975) is a French racing and rally driver. He has won races across a number of single-seater, sportscar and rallying disciplines and competitions, was French Formula Renault champion in 1994, and Le ...
was penalised 22 seconds for an unsafe
pit stop Pitstop may refer to: * Pit stop, in motor racing, when the car stops in the pits for fuel and other consumables to be renewed or replenished * ''Pit Stop'' (1969 film), a movie directed by Jack Hill * ''Pit Stop'' (2013 film), a movie directe ...
release.


Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Teams' Championship standings * Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.


Notes and references


Notes


References


External links

* , - style="text-align:center" , width="35%", Previous race:
2018 Berlin ePrix The 2018 Berlin ePrix (formally the 2018 BMW i Berlin E-Prix) was a Formula E Electric motorsport, electric car race held at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit at Tempelhof Airport in the outskirts of Berlin on 19 May 2018. It was the ninth ...
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FIA Formula E Championship Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars. ...

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2018 New York City ePrix The 2018 New York City ePrix (formally the 2018 Qatar Airways New York City E-Prix) were a pair of Formula E electric car races held on July 14 and 15, 2018 at the Brooklyn Street Circuit in Red Hook, Brooklyn. They were the 11th and 12th roun ...
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Zürich ePrix The 2018 Zurich ePrix (formally the 2018 Julius Baer Zurich E-Prix) was a Formula E Electric motorsport, electric car race held before a crowd of about 150,000 spectators at the Zurich Street Circuit in Zurich, Switzerland on 10 June 2018. It w ...
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N/A , - style="text-align:center" {{Portal bar, Sports, Switzerland Zürich ePrix
Zürich ePrix The 2018 Zurich ePrix (formally the 2018 Julius Baer Zurich E-Prix) was a Formula E Electric motorsport, electric car race held before a crowd of about 150,000 spectators at the Zurich Street Circuit in Zurich, Switzerland on 10 June 2018. It w ...
2018 in Swiss sport
Zürich ePrix The 2018 Zurich ePrix (formally the 2018 Julius Baer Zurich E-Prix) was a Formula E Electric motorsport, electric car race held before a crowd of about 150,000 spectators at the Zurich Street Circuit in Zurich, Switzerland on 10 June 2018. It w ...