The next Formula E race is this Sunday, along the Hong Kong waterline at the Hong Kong Central Harbourfront Circuit. This is the first of two race weekends in China this year, the next being scheduled two weekends from now on March 23rd in Sanya, the southernmost point in the country. Before we talk about last race’s results, here’s the full race on Formula E’s YouTube page. Have a watch if you’d like. You can also visit the bottom of this post for a shorter video of race highlights. We’ll discuss the race recap after a little news from the past week. Formula E News In other news since the last race, Formula E just announced that next year they will hold an indoor-outdoor race at the season finale in London. Previously, the London ePrix has been held in Battersea park. But next year, the race will happen in and around the ExCeL exhibition center. Formula E is billing this as the first ever “indoor-outdoor motor race.” Formula E is uniquely capable of doing this type of race, because the lack of exhaust makes ventilation less of an issue for spectators watching cars race indoors. We also had a few announcements from the upcoming Mercedes-Benz and Porsche teams, both entering the series next year. The competition is getting quite full with manufacturers at this point, as they join Audi, BMW, DS (Peugeot/Citroen), Venturi, Jaguar, Nissan, Mahindra and NIO who all have teams this year. Mercedes-Benz teased their car’s concept livery by rolling out a demo car at the Geneva Motor Show: And just yesterday Porsche conducted its first test of its car at its development track in Weissach, Germany. Mexico City Race Recap Another week, another crazy race. This time, a slightly boring middle of the race was sandwiched between an exciting start and an exciting end. Qualifying produced one particularly notable result: fan favorite Felipe Massa placed third. Massa is a longtime Formula 1 driver who is a “rookie” in Formula E this year – though this is a strange word to apply to someone with 272 Formula 1 race weekends under his belt, the 6th longest F1 career in history. He’s been having some trouble getting going since landing in Formula E, with some poor results so far, so it was good to see him on form for once. Pole position went to another rookie, and another ex-F1 driver, Pascal Wehrlein. The race started off predictably enough with Wehrlein, who managed a podium in his first Formula E race finish at the previous race in Chile, driving off from pole and gaining a lead of several seconds. This didn’t last long however, because behind him there was a large crash where Piquet hit the back of Vergne and Sims. The track was littered with debris and race control put out the red flag. After an extended delay with all cars heading to the pits, the race started back up with 40 minutes left on the clock. While the safety car led the cars around the track for a few laps, an interesting strategy point emerged. It seemed as if just about every team wanted to restart the race with attack mode enabled. Restarts are the easiest place to gain or lose places, so having that extra 25kW is critical. Just before the safety car came in, most drivers activated attack mode, but a few mistimed it and activated it a lap early. This wasn’t so bad for the restart, but a couple minutes later their attack mode ran out while the cars behind them still had it activated, which left the vulnerable while the cars were still all within attacking distance of each other. After this, the race settled in for a while. Wehrlein led the race handily from pole, with Rowland and Di Grassi behind him for most of the race. Until the end, that is. As the race got closer to the end, we saw the gradual activation of attack mode starting with cars closer to the rear of the pack, then the car in front of them would activate it, and so on. Buemi nearly lost 4th place while driving off-line to activate his attack mode, and a few laps later Rowland did lose a place while activating attack mode. This put him into a battle with his Nissan teammate Buemi behind him, which ended up with them touching in a corner. In front of them some drama was playing out as Wehrlein, who had led the race so easily from the front, was getting low on energy. For the last several laps of the race he had to lift-and-coast in order to save energy in the braking zones, shedding time to Di Grassi behind him. He defended hard until Di Grassi took the inside line to pass Wehrlein going into one of the chicanes, they touched and Wehrlein cut the chicane, saving himself both time and energy. A lap later the race would end in dramatic fashion, with Wehrlein running out of energy just as he came out of the last turn, having to coast over the finish line while Di Grassi barely snuck past him on the inside, crossing the line first only having led the race for probably less than a second of the 45 minute duration of the race. But it was the second which counted. In the end, Wehrlein was penalized for cutting the chicane anyway, finishing 6th. Many other cars finished with just 1% energy left, and the Nissan boys both had to stop on track after underestimating their energy requirements. They started the last lap in 3rd and 4th and ended the race in 20th and 21st. Of note, former F1 driver Felipe Nasr did poorly in his first Formula E debut, finishing 19th. Vandoorne was unable to capitalize on his fan popularity, finishing 18th and still on 0 points for the season despite winning FanBoost in every race yet. Massa picked up his first points of the season, but only 4 points, finishing 8th after his 3rd place start.<doc-sep>Sam Bird (centre) with Edoardo Mortara (left) and Lucas Di Grassi (right) on the podium. Mortara is the new race winner after stewards investigated an incident between Bird and Andre Lotterer. Photo: Sam Tsang<doc-sep>Hong Kong ePrix: Bird win investigated after furious battle Following a furious battle for first, British driver Sam Bird clinched a controversial win in Hong Kong as Formula E celebrated its landmark 50th race. In second came Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara with Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler’s Lucas di Grassi in third, while a furious Andre Lotterer was left stranded on track after losing the win in the dying moments of the race. Here’s how the race unfolded… Nissan e.dams’ Oliver Rowland took the lead off the line as the pack made it around Turn 1 and through the chicane, leaving Poleman Stoffel Vandoorne (HWA Racelab) in second until Envision Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird, who’d fought through the pack, took his position. Just minutes in, the race came under a full course yellow as Geox Dragon’s Filipe Nasr’s damaged car carried on into the wall on Turn 2, with both Mahindra Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio and Pascal Wehrlein then colliding with the stricken car, ending all three drivers races within the first five minutes. Under the Safety Car, the pack regrouped until the race was temporarily stopped under a red flag while the cars were salvaged. After the incident was cleared, 13minutes were added to the clock to make up for the lost time under the red flag. Out of Turn 1, Rowland fell to 10th when his car slowed, handing Bird the lead with an aggressive Andre Lotterer behind. Seconds later, Lotterer exploited Bird’s wide line around Turn 2, slipping into the lead. Further down the pack, Vandoorne in third was holding back Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara in fourth, eager to relive the podium finish he had in Hong Kong last season. At the front, Bird was biding his time behind Lotterer, keeping close on his tail while the German held the lead. Heading into Turn 2, the British driver made a move, passing Lotterer before the German reclaimed his lead through the chicane. Neck and neck, the two battled hard for the top step of the podium. With less than 18 minutes left, Vandoorne stopped on track suffering a technical failure while Nissan e.dams’ Sebastien Buemi picked up damage to his front, left wheel through the chicane, ending his race early. With the Safety Car deployed, Vandoorne was recovered. The race restarted with 11 minutes left to go, with Lotterer still in the lead, Bird close behind in second and Mortara in third. The Swiss-Italian driver has good memories here in Hong Kong after leading much of the race and securing a podium on his Formula E debut last season. Further down the pack, Rowland stopped on track after snapping his rear axel following contact with the wall. With the Safety Car deployed, Rowland’s wreck was cleared and the race restarted with less than two minutes to go. Chipping away at the German race leader, Brit driver Bird made contact with the back of Lotterer’s car, puncturing the tyre, leaving him helpless as the car limped home, unable to finish with smoke pouring out the back. While Bird sailed over the finish line to take the win. Behind Bird came Mortara in second and di Grassi in third. With the race finished, Bird came under investigation following the incident with Lotterer, with the result yet to be decided.<doc-sep>Edoardo Mortara has been promoted from second to first as a result of the penalty and takes his and Venturi’s first FE victory. Bird had spent the majority of the race hounding long-time leader Lotterer and the Envision Virgin Racing driver held a sizeable energy advantage as the finish approached. On the penultimate lap at the Turn 2 90-degree right hander, Bird hit Lotterer’s right rear tyre, which caused a puncture a few corners later that dropped the DS Techeetah driver from the lead down into 14th and last of the classified drivers. Bird was quickly put under investigation, and the provisional penalty drops him to six in the results. Audi’s Lucas di Grassi is now classified in second place and Bird's teammate Robin Frijns is completes the podium. Speaking before the news of Bird’s penalty was announced, Lotterer called his rival’s move “pretty disgusting”. “I was leading the race and got hit pretty strongly in the rear by Sam, who completely ran into me and destroyed my suspension and tyre, which immediately I felt but tried to survive,” Lotterer told Motorsport.com. “[But] I couldn’t survive. He used me basically as a braking tool and I don’t think it’s a fair move. “It’s a pretty disgusting move because we know as drivers that these cars are strong and you can take that risk. Is it fair? I don’t think so.” When asked for his thoughts on losing the race win, Bird told Motorsport.com that he was “gutted”. “I suppose you cannot expect to have contact with the lead car, the lead car then have an issue, you go and win the race, and not have some form of penalty,” he continued. “Obviously I was hoping for a different penalty – like a grid penalty for the next race. “Andre has called it a disgusting move – there was no malice to it. It’s a big shame, I do genuinely hand-on-heart feel for the guy. “He absolutely deserved to win the race, probably, I feel like I was a lot quicker than him, I had a lot more energy, but he was leading the race and that’s just how it is.” Update: Following a stewards hearing involving representatives of the DS Techeetah and Virgin squads that followed the former protesting the provisional results that included Bird’s five-second penalty, no further action was taken and the final results have been confirmed. Bird remains sixth and as a result now leads Mahindra Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio by one point in the drivers’ standings, with di Grassi and Mortara a further point back. Techeetah was unsuccessful in its protest. Revised results:<doc-sep>
Lotterer had led the fifth race of the 2018/19 FE season since the eighth tour of what would go on to be a 36-lap race, when Bird lost the lead by sliding deep at the 90-degree right of Turn 2. The duo the engaged in a tight battle for the lead for the rest of the race, which went through three safety car periods and a red flag. At the final restart, Bird continued to pressure Lotterer and on what would be the penultimate lap they made contact going into Turn 2, with Bird nudging the DS Techeetah driver’s right rear tyre. It looked as if Lotterer would hang on but as they approached the start of the final lap his right rear tyre punctured and he fell to the back of the order, gifting Bird the lead. The event took place in greasy conditions after rain showers had hit Hong Kong throughout Sunday, although none fell during FE’s 50th race. At the start, Oliver Rowland had rocketed off the line from second on the grid to take the lead from polesitter Stoffel Vandoorne on the run to the Turn 1 hairpin, while Bird shot around the outside of the approach to the right hander to move from seventh on the grid to fourth. Bird then pressed Lotterer, who he had clipped as he slid into Turn 1, as the pack went into the Turns 3/4 chicane to move into third place. He then caught Vandoorne at the start of the second lap and got alongside coming out of Turn 1, sealing second as they raced up the long straight and into Turn 2. But the race was then halted when Felipe Nasr went into the barriers at the outside of Turn 2, and the Dragon driver’s stricken car was hit by Pascal Wehrlein and his Mahindra Racing teammate Jerome D’Ambrosio. The incident put all three drivers out on the spot, and a full course yellow was initially called before it was upgraded to a full safety car and then a red flag, with Rowland leading the pack back to the pitlane. When the race resumed, with the rest clock reset to just under 36-minutes remaining, most of the field took their first attack mode usage. Rowland led for a lap before losing the lead to Bird when he appeared to lose drive coming out of the first corner. That promoted Bird into the lead that he would hold for just a lap before he went deep at Turn 2 and set up his long chase of Lotterer, with the duo mirroring attack mode strategies by taking it for the second time when the race resumed following the second safety car. That stoppage had been caused by HWA’s Vandoorne stopping with a suspected driveshaft problem at the exit of Turn 7. A third safety car was called when Rowland stopped the same spot on lap 30. The Nissan e.dams driver had damage to the right-front and left rear of his car. Mortara held off a late surge from di Grassi, who had the advantage of attack mode at that point to take his second podium in a row. Robin Frijns finished fifth ahead of Daniel Abt, Felipe Massa, Mitch Evans and Gary Paffett, with Oliver Turvey and Antonio Felix da Costa rounding out the top 10. Jean-Eric Vergne finished 13th after an eventful race that involved a near crash at Turn 1 early-on, and a clash with Tom Dillmann (who was 12th for NIO), for which the reigning champion was given a five-second penalty. The other non-finishers were Sebastien Buemi and Alexander Sims, who retired in the pits after clipping the wall at Turn 5 late-on, and Nelson Piquet Jr. Piquet stopped at the end of the first lap due to suspected damage to his front suspension. Provisional race results: