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Di Grassi takes Mexico City ePrix victory from Pascal Wehrlein

Shahmir Khan


Lucas di Grassi celebrating with fans after winning

Formula E rookie Pascal Wehrlein started from pole position and defended almost all the race, losing his lead on last lap and handing over the win to Lucas Di Grassi, making it 4 different winners now in first 4 races. 


The Mahindra driver looked set to be getting maiden victory in only his third Formula E race, but low battery power and penalty meant he would finish 5th in the race despite a magnificent performance all weekend. 


Wehrlein led all the way but lost it inches before the finish line when Audi driver Lucas Di Grassi won the race as Pascal Wehrlein ran out of battery power as the car slowed and Di Grassi made a great overtake at very last moment of the race after a nip and tuck battle with the Mahindra driver. The German driver had just 2% battery power left in the last lap. Luckily, he made it to finish line to classify 6th. 


Wehrlein also cut a chicane midway into the last lap to extend his lead and conserve his battery power but got penalised due to rules infringement. He finished 6th, 2 places behind his teammate Jerome d'Ambrosio. 


Wehrlein made a great start ahead of Di Grassi (in picture)

But Wehrlein was not the only unfortunate driver today, as both the Nissan e.dams cars retired due to the same issue that Wehrlein suffered, running out of power at the last lap despite giving their best performance of the season in Top 4. Both Buemi and Rowland were running high but had to retire due to battery power. 


Meanwhile, BMW driver and winner in Saudi Arabia finished 2nd in the race, getting promoted from 5th as both Nissans retired and Wehrlein got penslised. 


Edoardo Mortara finished an astonishing third position, giving Venturi team a long awaited podium. His teammate Felipe Massa finished 8th in the race and got his first few points but was disappointed as he thought he could've done better. The Brazilian started from second row of the grid but had problems during the race. 


Di Grassi made a move on Wehrlein inches before the finish line to take the win ss Wehrlein ran out of energy

In 4th was Jerome d'Ambrosio, who took the championship lead from Sam Bird after the British driver had mechanical problems in qualifying session, before Bird performed greatly and took 9th. D'Ambrosio started from 19th place but gave the race his all and finished on a high, giving both drivers' and teams' championships to himself and Mahindra. 


Andre Lotterer finished 5th ahead of Pascal Wehrlein. The DS Techeetah cars looked out of pace today. 


The session was red-flagged earlier in the race, after 2014-15 Formula E Champion and Jaguar driver Nelson Piquet Jr. ran into the back of Jean-Eric Vergne in DS Techeetah car, making the Brazilian go airborne and crash into the barriers with a heavily damaged car. He got out of his car and was okay but left Vergne with damaged rear, making the reigning Formula E champion finish 13th. 


Nelson Piquet Jr. had a massive crash as he ran into Techeetah of Vergne

Formula E debutant and IMSA WeatherTech Champion Felipe Nasr finished last in the race ahead of the two Nissans that classified last. 


Other than Wehrlein, Jose Maria Lopez and Stoffel Vandoorne were penalised. The "Pechito" made several mistakes during the race including speeding in pitlane and shifting from track to the pitlane to back on the track, a similar incident to that of Lewis Hamilton at 2018 German Grand Prix. 


Stoffel Vandoorne also received penalties for using extra fanboost, dropping the Belgian to back of the pack. 


Nightmare for Nissan team as both cars ran out of battery power before after 45 minutes. The cars failed to finish the last lap and classified last

The session was resumed after almost half-an-hour and the timing was reset back to 41 minutes, after the clock kept ticking under red flag period. 


Final Classifications after the Race


  1. Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport)

  2. Antonio Felix da Costa (BMW i Andretti)

  3. Edoardo Mortara (Venturi) 

  4. Jerome d'Ambrosio (Mahindra)

  5. Andre Lotterer (DS Techeetah)

  6. Pascal Wehrlein (Mahindra)

  7. Mitch Evans (Jaguar)

  8. Felipe Massa (Venturi)

  9. Sam Bird (Virgin Racing)

  10. Daniel Abt (Audi Sport)

  11. Robin Frijns (Virgin Racing)

  12. Oliver Turvey (NIO Formula E Team)

  13. Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah)

  14. Alexander Sims (BMW i Andretti)

  15. Tom Dilmann (NIO Formula E Team)

  16. Gary Paffett (HWA Racelab)

  17. Jose Maria Lopez (Dragon Racing) 

  18. Stoffel Vandoorne (HWA Racelab)

  19. Felipe Nasr (Dragon Racing) 

  20. Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.dams)

  21. Sebastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams)

  • Nelson Piquet Jr. (Jaguar) — Crashed 


Drivers' Championship Standings after the Race


  1. Jerome d'Ambrosio (53 points) 

  2. Antonio Felix da Costa (46 points)

  3. Sam Bird (45 points) 

  4. Lucas di Grassi (34 points)

  5. Pascal Wehrlein (30 points)

  6. Andre Lotterer (29 points) 

  7. Robin Frijns (28 points) 

  8. Jean-Eric Vergne (28 points) 

  9. Mitch Evans (28 points) 

  10. Edoardo Mortara (27 points) 


Teams' Championship Standings after the Race


  1. Mahindra Racing (83 points)

  2. Virgin Racing (73 points) 

  3. BMW i Andretti (64 points) 

  4. DS Techeetah (57 points)

  5. Audi Sport (56 points) 

  6. Venturi Formula E Team (31 points)

  7. Jaguar Racing (29 points) 

  8. Nissan e.dams (21 points) 

  9. NIO Formula E Team (4 points)

  10. Dragon Racing (2 points) 

  11. HWA Racelab (0 points) 


Round 5 of 2018-19 Formula E Season will be held in Hong Kong on 10th March. 

 

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