2017 Hong Kong E-Prix I

2017 Hong Kong E-Prix I
The unchanged Hong Kong ePrix circuit.
Race Information
Date	2nd December 2017
E-Prix No.	{{{number}}}
Official Name	2017 HKT Hong Kong E-Prix
Location	Hong Kong Harbourfront Circuit, Hong Kong
Format	{{{format}}}
Lap length	1.860km (1.156mi)
Distance	43 laps / 79.980km (49.697mi)
Support Race	{{{support}}}
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Jean-Éric Vergne
Team	Techeetah
Time	1:03.568
Fastest Lap
Driver	Daniel Abt
Team	{{{{{flteamnat}}}}} Unknown
Fastest Lap	1:04.320 on lap 27
ePrix Result
First	Second	Third
Sam Bird	Jean-Éric Vergne	Nick Heidfeld
Winner Team	DS Virgin Racing
Time	1:17:10.486
ePrix Guide
Previous		Next
2017 Montreal ePrix II		2017 Hong Kong E-Prix II
Post-Race Test	{{{test}}}

The 2017 HKT FIA Formula E Hong Kong E-Prix, otherwise known as the 2017 Hong Kong E-Prix I, is set to be the first round of the 2017/18 FIA Formula E Championship, staged on the Harbourfront Circuit in Hong Kong on the 2nd December 2017. Lucas di Grassi would start the season as the defending Champion, although the exact order of the pack remained unclear after the 2017 Valencia Test.

It was Jean-Éric Vergne who claimed pole in qualifying, spinning across the line after a mistake in the final corner. That mistake meant the Frenchman was only 0.027s ahead of second placed Sam Bird, who himself managed to edge out Nick Heidfeld by 0.002s.

A chaotic start to the E-Prix would see Vergne lead the field away from pole, only for a red flag to be thrown a few moments later as debutante André Lotterer blocked the circuit while crashing at turn three. Half and hour later and the field were gathered for the second attempt at starting, with Vergne once again streaking away to an early lead.

Vergne would drag Bird clear of the field as the laps ticked towards the stops, the Brit biding his time behind the Techeetah until a clear chance came. Ultimately, on lap 20, Bird sent his Virgin skating past the Frenchman into turn six, prompting Vergne to pit at the end of the lap.

Bird would stop a lap later, although a mistake on the brakes saw him slither into the side of the garage, knocking the gazeebo a few feet. As a result, the Brit technically changed cars outside of the permitted area, and was duly slapped with a drive-through penalty. Regardless, Bird would emerge with a five second cushion over Vergne after the stops, and so used his extra laps worth of energy to try and build a gap.

Three laps later, and Bird had served his penalty, emerging just ahead of Vergne who had been cruising since he heard that Bird had been penalised. Bird fended off the Frenchman's brief challenge before blasting away to the flag, leaving Vergne to fight with a resurgent Heidfeld.

Elsewhere, title rivals Sébastien Buemi and di Grassi came to blows early on to leave each other with damage, di Grassi forced to stop early, while Buemi carried on only to temporarily stop out on circuit. Others in trouble were Felix Rosenqvist, under investigation and ultimately penalised for breaking the maximum power limit, while Jérôme d'Ambrosio was out of action after picking up damage.

Ultimately, Bird would win the race from Vergne and Heidfeld, the latter not too impressed with the Frenchman's defensive technique. Fourth went to Nelson Piquet Jr. on his debut for Jaguar Racing, inherited after Maro Engel was slapped with a time penalty for going over the maximum energy limit. Daniel Abt completed the top five and scored an additional point for fastest lap.

Background

It was to be a pre-season of speculation and rumour ahead of the fourth Formula E season, with four German manufacturers beginning their preparations to join the series from 2018/19 onwards. Of these, Audi made the headlines early on, taking control of the ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport effort, rebranding the team as Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler while reviving their "e-tron" brand with the Audi e-tron FE04. They kept continuity, however, with Schaeffler remaining as a technical partner, ABT Sportsline as the team operators, and Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt as drivers.

Porsche, meanwhile, had allowed two of their LMP1 drivers join the series, their official position remaining coy as to whom they would partner with in 2019/20. Driver-wise, Neel Jani signed up with Dragon Racing, partnering Jérôme d'Ambrosio for the season in place of Loïc Duval in their quartet of Penske built machines. André Lotterer, meanwhile, signed up to partner Jean-Éric Vergne at Techeetah, who would use the latest powertrain built by Renault.

Elsewhere, BMW began their preparations to increase their involvement with Andretti Formula E, granting several BMW drivers a drive at the 2017 Valencia Test. António Félix da Costa would still lead the line for the team, although it was between Tom Blomqvist and Alexander Sims for the second seat, with both reasonably equally matched in the Test. The the full 2017/18 entry list, released a month before the season opening race, revealed that it was Blomqvist who would partner da Costa for the entire season. However, Blomqvist would not make his debut in Hong Kong, for it was revealed that ex-F1 racer Kamui Kobayashi would use the pair of #27 cars after a late deal with Andretti and their Japanese title sponsors MS&AD.

Mercedes took a similar approach to BMW, allowing several drivers to take part in the Valencia Test. However, only Edoardo Mortara would get a shot in the FE car, testing with the Venturi Formula E Team in Valencia, alongside another Mercedes DTM star in Maro Engel, young Morocco talent Michael Benyahia and endurance racer James Rossiter. Mortara would ultimately earn the seat alongside Engel, replacing Tom Dillmann in the team.

Another Mercedes driver would get a run-out in Valencia, with Daniel Juncadella getting a day with Mahindra Racing. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, Mahindra had already decided to renew their 2016/17 driver line-up of Felix Rosenqvist and Nick Heidfeld, whom had been testing the new Mahindra M4 Electro since the turn of the year. That was it for the involvement of Mercedes, who went back to reviewing their efforts ahead of their 2019/20 arrival.

The last of the Renault products for Formula E: The Renault Z.E. 17.

Defending Teams' Champions Renault e.Dams would field an unchanged line-up of Sébastien Buemi and Nicolas Prost, and ran without any issues at the Valencia Test. However, shortly after the test it was revealed that Renault would be leaving the series, with Japanese manufacturer Nissan taking over their effort from the start of the 2018/19 season. The decision came as part of an agreement within the Renault-Nissan automotive alliance, with Renault focusing on their Formula One project instead, while Nissan partnered themselves with e.Dams.

The other major car manufacturer in Formula E, Jaguar, had pulled something of a coup during the off-season, bringing in 2014/15 Champion Nelson Piquet Jr. to partner Mitch Evans for the year. Their new car, the I-Type 2 was another to run faultlessly during the Valencia Test, although Piquet was outpaced by new teammate Evans throughout. Piquet's former team, the NIO Formula E Team, decided to promote Oliver Turvey to lead driver, draft in Italian racer Luca Filippi for the second pair of seats, and go on to dominate the Valencia test in terms of one-lap pace.

Completing the field were the DS Virgin Racing team, whom had decided to replace Citroën backed José María López with young Brit Alex Lynn, amid rumours that DS were to depart in the near future. Regardless, the two would start the season as partners, with Sam Bird leading the line as he had done since season one, optimistic of challenging for the title.

The FanBoost vote for the first round of the 2017/18 Championship opened on the 27th November, and would remain so until the opening stages of the ePrix.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2017 Hong Kong E-Prix I is displayed below:

2017 Hong Kong E-Prix I Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Car
1	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	Audi	e-tron FE04
2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	DS	Virgin DSV-03
3	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Panasonic Jaguar Racing	Jaguar	I-Type 2
4	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi Formula E Team	Venturi	VM200-FE-03
5	Maro Engel	Venturi Formula E Team	Venturi	VM200-FE-03
6	Neel Jani	Dragon Racing	Penske	EV-2
7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	Penske	EV-2
8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	Renault	Z.E. 17
9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	Renault	Z.E. 17
16	Oliver Turvey	NIO Formula E Team	NextEV	NIO 003
18	André Lotterer	Techeetah	Renault	Z.E. 17
19	Felix Rosenqvist	Mahindra Racing	Mahindra	M4 Electro
20	Mitch Evans	Panasonic Jaguar Racing	Jaguar	I-Type 2
23	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	Mahindra	M4 Electro
25	Jean-Eric Vergne	Techeetah	Renault	Z.E. 17
27	Kamui Kobayashi	MS&AD Andretti Formula E	Andretti	ATEC-04
28	António Félix da Costa	MS&AD Andretti Formula E	Andretti	ATEC-04
36	Alex Lynn	DS Virgin Racing	DS	Virgin DSV-03
66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	Audi	e-tron FE04
68	Luca Filippi	NIO Formula E Team	NextEV	NIO 003
Source:

Practice

Practice Results

The full results from both practice sessions is outlined below:

• FP1 Results
• FP2 Results

2017 Hong Kong E-Prix I FP1 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ideal
1st	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	1:03.310	—	1:03.310
2nd	20	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	1:03.776	+0.466s	1:03.751
3rd	66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	1:03.856	+0.546s	1:03.856
4th	1	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	1:03.969	+0.659s	1:03.969
5th	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	1:04.097	+0.787s	1:04.084
6th	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	1:04.129	+0.819s	1:03.980
7th	3	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Jaguar Racing	1:04.269	+0.959s	1:04.071
8th	4	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi	1:04.279	+0.969s	1:04.272
9th	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah	1:04.299	+0.989s	1:04.299
10th	16	Oliver Turvey	NIO Formula E Team	1:04.380	+1.070s	1:04.156
11th	36	Alex Lynn	DS Virgin Racing	1:04.491	+1.181s	1:04.199
12th	19	Felix Rosenqvist	Mahindra Racing	1:04.524	+1.214s	1:04.261
13th	23	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	1:04.596	+1.286s	1:04.356
14th	28	António Félix da Costa	Andretti Formula E	1:04.686	+1.376s	1:04.662
15th	5	Maro Engel	Venturi	1:04.728	+1.418s	1:04.679
16th	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	1:04.766	+1.456s	1:04.466
17th	18	André Lotterer	Techeetah	1:05.455	+2.145s	1:05.027
18th	68	Luca Filippi	NIO Formula E Team	1:05.490	+2.180s	1:05.108
19th	27	Kamui Kobayashi	Andretti Formula E	1:05.820	+2.410s	1:05.543
20th	6	Neel Jani	Dragon Racing	1:07.441	+4.131s	1:06.901
Source:

2017 Hong Kong E-Prix I FP2 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ideal
1st	20	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	1:02.875	—	1:02.875
2nd	66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	1:03.113	+0.238s	1:03.113
3rd	1	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	1:03.166	+0.291s	1:02.929
4th	16	Oliver Turvey	NIO Formula E Team	1:03.295	+0.420s	1:03.295
5th	23	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	1:03.321	+0.446s	1:03.321
6th	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	1:03.441	+0.566s	1:03.319
7th	3	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Jaguar Racing	1:03.562	+0.687s	1:03.232
8th	19	Felix Rosenqvist	Mahindra Racing	1:03.571	+0.696s	1:03.017
9th	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	1:03.616	+0.741s	1:03.589
10th	28	António Félix da Costa	Andretti Formula E	1:03.636	+0.761s	1:03.636
11th	36	Alex Lynn	DS Virgin Racing	1:03.717	+0.842s	1:03.649
12th	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah	1:03.729	+0.854s	1:03.561
13th	4	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi	1:03.909	+1.034s	1:03.909
14th	27	Kamui Kobayashi	Andretti Formula E	1:04.293	+1.418s	1:04.293
15th	68	Luca Filippi	NIO Formula E Team	1:04.349	+1.474s	1:04.265
16th	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	1:04.503	+1.628s	1:04.306
17th	5	Maro Engel	Venturi	1:04.563	+1.688s	1:03.917
18th	18	André Lotterer	Techeetah	1:05.020	+2.145s	1:05.003
19th	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	1:05.057	+2.182s	1:04.604
20th	6	Neel Jani	Dragon Racing	1:05.342	+2.467s	1:04.797
Source:

Qualifying

The qualifying format would remain unchanged for the fourth edition of the Formula E Championship, bar one minor detail. Unchanged was the overall format, with four groups of five drivers each getting a six minute period to set a single full 200kw/h lap, before the top five overall went through to the Super Pole shootout. The shootout would then see each of the top five drivers, starting with the man in fifth, go out to set a single flying lap in order to determine who would start from pole.

The only change to this format came in the structure of the groups, with the field now split according to their position in the Championship, rather than randomly assigned via a lottery. The exception to this would be the opening round, the Hong Kong ePrix I, which used the original system to determine who would compete in which group.

Group 1

Two debutantes would make their qualifying debut in the first group of the session, as Edoardo Mortara and André Lotterer were drawn into group one. Mortara's Venturi teammate Maro Engel would also head out early, as would season two Champion Sébastien Buemi, and DS Virgin's Alex Lynn. Of those involved, it was Buemi who was expected to star, with Lynn likely to challenge for Super Pole at the very least.

Group 2

A further pair of debutantes would feature in the second group of the day, with Kamui Kobayashi and Luca Filippi making their mutual FE bows. Andretti would also have to prepare Kobayashi's teammate António Félix da Costa for an early run, with Sam Bird (Virgin) and Mitch Evans of Jaguar also in action. Bird was the man expected to come out on top of the group, while Evans and da Costa would hope to challenge for the top ten.

Group 3

Neel Jani would be the last of the debuting drivers to get his first taste of qualifying, his Dragon drawn to compete in the penultimate group of the day. Ex-Champion Nelson Piquet Jr. would also make his quali-bow for Jaguar, while the two Mahindras of Felix Rosenqvist and Nick Heidfeld were also in action. Completing the quintet would be Jean-Eric Vergne of Techeetah, who would expect to challenge for Super Pole alongside the two Mahindras based on previous form.

Group 4

The final quintet before Super Pole would see the reigning Champion Lucas di Grassi hit the circuit, joined by Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler stablemate Daniel Abt. Their major challenge was expected to come in the form of Nicolas Prost in the #8 Renault e.Dams, while Oliver Turvey would hope that his pace in testing would be reflected in the real world. Jérôme d'Ambrosio would complete the group for Dragon.

Post Qualifying

The final qualifying result for the 2017 Hong Kong E-Prix I are outlined below:

2017 Hong Kong E-Prix I Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Grid
1st	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	Techeetah	1:03.568	—	1
2nd	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	1:03.595	+0.027s	2
3rd	23	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	1:03.597	+0.029s	3
4th	66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	1:03.724	+0.156s	4
5th	19	Felix Rosenqvist	Mahindra Racing	1:04.718	+1.150s	5
Super Pole
1st	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	1:03.276	—	SP
2nd	23	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	1:03.350	+0.074s	SP
3rd	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	Techeetah	1:03.403	+0.127s	SP
4th	19	Felix Rosenqvist	Mahindra Racing	1:03.466	+0.190s	SP
5th	66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	1:03.561	+0.285s	SP
6th	1	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	1:03.773	+0.497s	6
7th	16	Oliver Turvey	NIO Formula E Team	1:03.881	+0.605s	7
8th	28	António Félix da Costa	Andretti Formula E	1:03.914	+0.638s	8
9th	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	1:03.966	+0.690s	9
10th	3	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Jaguar Racing	1:03.993	+0.717s	10
11th	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	1:04.405	+1.129s	11
12th	18	André Lotterer	Techeetah	1:04.423	+1.147s	12
13th	27	Kamui Kobayashi	Andretti Formula E	1:04.806	+1.530s	13
14th	5	Maro Engel	Venturi	1:04.907	+1.631s	14
15th	68	Luca Filippi	NIO Formula E Team	1:05.450	+2.174s	15
16th	36	Alex Lynn	DS Virgin Racing	1:05.544	+2.268s	16
17th	6	Neel Jani	Dragon Racing	1:05.615	+2.339s	17
18th	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	1:07.745	+4.469s	18
19th	4	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi	1:12.730	+9.454s	19
20th	20	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	1:19.616	+16.340s	20
Source:

Race

It was a clear and dry afternoon in Hong Kong ahead of the opening E-Prix of the season, with no weather concerns ahead of the start. Likewise, there were no concerns with any of the twenty starters ahead of the race, with the cars smartly pulling forward off the "dummy" grid for the start without issue.

Report

It would be an even start to the race for the front row starters, pole sitter Jean-Éric Vergne edging out Nick Heidfeld on the brakes into turn one. The rest of the field came charging in behind them, all diving towards the inside of the circuit to try and have the inside line for the opening corner. The exception to this would be Oliver Turvey, who danced his NIO on the brakes around the outside of the pack, leaping from seventh to third.

However, the race would only continue for another two corners, with Vergne's teammate the victim of a midfield squeeze into the first chicane. Forced onto the outside of the chicane, André Lotterer ran out of steering lock after trying to run side-by-side with Nelson Piquet Jr., meaning the Techeetah wedged itself into the barriers. Piquet's teammate Mitch Evans was right behind Lotterer and left with no room, before a further three cars got caught in the jam, completely blocking the circuit.

A red flag was thrown to clear the circuit, although there would only be a thirty minute delay. The field restarted behind the safety car in the order that they had finished the first lap, meaning Vergne led from Sam Bird, Turvey, Heidfeld, whom had been squeezed out by Vergne on the exit of the first corner, and Daniel Abt. Lucas di Grassi would form up behind the safety car in sixth, while Lotterer would start from dead last, his Techeetah only requiring minor repairs.

It proved to be a fairly tame restart behind the safety car, with Vergne and Bird immediately sprinting clear of the rest as the field dived towards turn one. Indeed, it was only on the start of lap five that the racing truly got underway, with Sébastien Buemi trying to elbow his way past arch-rival di Grassi into turn one. Unfortunately for the Swiss racer the Brazilian instead decided to put the squeeze on the Renault into the first turn, forcing Buemi up onto the kerbs.

After a couple of nudges between the pair it was di Grassi who exited the corner still in sixth, with the rest of the top ten diving in behind them. Moments later and Felix Rosenqvist was turned around on the apex by Luca Filippi after the Italian misjudged his braking point and duly clattered into the Mahindra. Rosenqvist was forced to wait for a gap to spin back around and rejoin, leaving him well outside the points, while Filippi continued without issue.

The dramas behind allowed the top five to sprint away from the rest, with Bird harassing Vergne for the lead as the pair edged clear of third placed Turvey. Turvey himself was sitting a second clear of Heidfeld, whose Mahindra was receiving a lot of attention from Abt. Behind, di Grassi was not being investigated for a late move on Buemi, despite the Swiss racers' complaints, while Jérôme d'Ambrosio stopped out on circuit with a fault.

The fight for the lead continued on unabated, while Heidfeld and Abt began to close in on Turvey, whom was beginning to struggle with energy consumption. At the start of the lap nine Heidfeld had got within striking distance, although his attempt into turn two back fired when the Brit ran him wide. That allowed Abt to sneak through and claim fourth, but Turvey was able to resist his early attempts.

Turvey's lack of pace was increasingly telling as the race wore on, allowing di Grassi and Buemi to draw onto the back of them. Behind, Edoardo Mortara made a brave move for thirteenth on fellow debutante Kamui Kobayashi, a move that also opened the door for the recovering Rosenqvist on the exit of turn one. Kobayashi would lose another spot later in the lap to Nicolas Prost, a victim of Lotterer's queue, while Rosenqvist got completely locked up while diving past Mortara, but emerged with thirteenth without contact.

On lap sixteen defending Champion di Grassi surprised the field by diving into the pits, just ahead of Filippi who was serving his drive-through penalty. The Brazilian lost a lap as the problem was diagnosed, a suspension failure forcing him to swap to his second car some six laps early. As he rejoined, Turvey dropped out from third, a sudden loss of power seeing him crawl back to the pits.

Back with the leaders, and Vergne and Bird were on their own out front, despite the fact that the Brit was throwing everything at the Frenchman. On lap twenty Bird finally caught Vergne out, selling the Techeetah a dummy as the duo dived onto the brakes at turn six. Vergne dived into the pits at the end of the lap to swap to his second car, while Bird opted to complete an additional lap.

Vergne's stop was the first of the pit window, although most of the field would complete and additional lap along with Bird. However, when the Brit came into the pits he would be caught out by the dusty surface, with the Virgin sent slithering into the side of his pitbox. His sliding Virgin also knocked a mechanic of his feet, who was fortunately uninjured, while Bird was immediately investigated for changing outside of the permitted area.

Yet, somewhat miraculously, the Brit would emerge in the lead of the race, with Vergne getting caught behind a fight between Kobayashi and Mitch Evans, who stopped even later. Even worse news for Vergne was the fact that his delay allowed Heidfeld to draw right onto his tail, although the Frenchman was soon bouyed by news that Bird was slapped with a drive-through penalty for his stop infringement. As the leading fight was resolving itself, Buemi dropped out of contention, briefly stopping out on circuit when his second car shut itself down.

Bird served his on lap thirty, three laps after it was issued, yet still emerged with the lead, a benefit of the fact that the pitlane cut part of the final sector. As he rejoined Hedifeld tried another move on Vergne which he had to abort, although the Frenchman almost gifted him the position while weighing up an optimistic dive on Bird into the turn three/four chicane. Diving on the brakes caused the rear-axle on the Techeetah to lock up, although the Frenchman just kept the car out of the barriers to hold on for second.

Moments later and Heidfeld's teammate Rosenqvist tried a dive into the same corner, having somehow leapt from eleventh to fifth in the stops. His dive was an attempt to take fourth from Maro Engel, although all he managed to do was clip the back of the Venturi. Engel, however, was able to get the Venturi back under control and hold the position, with Rosenqvist left to plot his next attempt.

Back with Heidfeld, and the German was glued to the back of Vergne, trying everything he could to pass given his extra-lap of energy. His best shot came six laps from the flag, with Heidfeld opting to try the outside line into turn two, a move that had as yet been unsuccessful. The ploy almost worked, however, as Vergne was caught looking in his mirrors and so ran wide, although his sliding Techeetah blocked just enough of the track to prevent Heidfeld from cutting back inside. It was therefore status-quo for second, as Bird continued to streak away out-front.

Into the final laps and Engel had a queue forming behind him, having been placed under investigation for his peak-energy usage. However, it was Rosenqvist who would get caught out with his energy use, leaving the door open while lifting and coasting to let Nelson Piquet Jr. come steaming past into turn one. That move also opened the door for Abt, while behind Mortara, with some ten percent more energy than anyone else, charging past Alex Lynn for ninth.

Rosenqvist's woes continued into the final lap, as António Félix da Costa body-checked the Mahindra into turn one. Mortara was next to try a move, but the Swede aggressively squeezed the debuting Italian towards the wall, denying him a chance of a move into turn two. That proved to be the last of the on track action, as Bird drew closer and closer to the flag.

Bird duly crossed the line to claim the first win of the season, with Vergne remaining unchallenged from Heidfeld to the line. Engel was slapped with a penalty to be dumped out of fourth, meaning Piquet Jr. claimed the position, with Abt and da Costa completing the top six. Rosenqvist claimed seventh but was hit with a post-race penalty for his peak-energy use, meaning Mortara, Lynn, Prost and Filippi claimed the remaining points paying positions.

Result

The final classification of the 2017 Hong Kong E-Prix I is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold.

2017 Hong Kong E-Prix I Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st*	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	43	1:17:10.486	1:04.639	25
2nd	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah	43	+11.575s	1:04.751	21
3rd	23	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	43	+12.465s	1:04.840	15
4th	3	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Jaguar Racing	43	+15.324s	1:04.989	12
5th	66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	43	+17.205s	1:04.320	11
6th	28	António Félix da Costa	Andretti Formula E	43	+18.083s	1:04.761	8
7th	4	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi	43	+19.797s	1:04.671	6
8th	36	Alex Lynn	DS Virgin Racing	43	+20.904s	1:04.838	4
9th	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	43	+24.785s	1:04.610	2
10th	68	Luca Filippi	NIO Formula E Team	43	+25.500s	1:04.609	1
11th	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	43	+26.202s	1:04.756
12th	20	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	43	+34.871s	1:04.788
13th†	5	Maro Engel	Venturi	43	+35.752s	1:05.078
14th†	19	Felix Rosenqvist	Mahindra Racing	43	+41.174s	1:04.302
15th	27	Kamui Kobayashi	Andretti Formula E	43	+48.422s	1:04.762
16th	16	Oliver Turvey	NIO Formula E Team	42	+1 Lap	1:05.427
17th	1	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	42	+1 Lap	1:05.056
18th	6	Neel Jani	Dragon Racing	42	+1 Lap	1:06.398
Ret	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	34	Damage	1:04.297
DSQ‡	18	André Lotterer	Techeetah	43	Disqualified	1:04.967
Source:

• Indicates a driver was awarded FanBoost during the race.
• * Bird handed a ten place grid penalty for the next race after changing cars outside of the permitted area.
• ^† Rosenqvist and Engel hit with 22 second time penalties for exceeding the maximum power output.
• ^‡ Lotterer was disqualified from the race for leaving his car in an "unsafe" condition in Parc Ferme.

Milestones

• Debut race for Neel Jani, Luca Filippi, André Lotterer, Kamui Kobayashi and Edoardo Mortara.

Standings

Victory, in spite of his pitstop mishap, ensured that Sam Bird led the Championship after the first round, four points ahead of pole sitter Jean-Éric Vergne after their battle mid-race. Nick Heidfeld went into the second race of the weekend in third, with Nelson Piquet Jr. was fourth ahead of fastest lap setter Daniel Abt. António Félix da Costa, Edoardo Mortara, Alex Lynn, Nicolas Prost and Luca Filippi completed the earliest point scorers list.

Bird's victory combined with Lynn's promotion to eighth gave DS Virgin Racing an early lead in the Teams' Championship, the Anglo-French squad heading into the second round with 29 points. Techeetah sat second thanks to Vergne, while Mahindra Racing were relegated to third after Felix Rosenqvist was bumped out of the points. The rest of the order was then placed on single car point scorers at the season opener, leaving Dragon Racing as the only team without a point.

 

2017/18 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Sam Bird 25 ◄0 2nd Jean-Éric Vergne 21 ◄0 3rd Nick Heidfeld 15 ◄0 4th Nelson Piquet Jr. 12 ◄0 5th Daniel Abt 11 ◄0 6th António Félix da Costa 8 ◄0 7th Edoardo Mortara 6 ◄0 8th Alex Lynn 4 ◄0 9th Nicolas Prost 2 ◄0 10th Luca Filippi 1 ◄0

2017/18 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st DS Virgin Racing 29 ◄0 2nd Techeetah 21 ◄0 3rd Mahindra Racing 15 ◄0 4th Jaguar Racing 12 ◄0 5th Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 11 ◄0 6th Andretti Formula E 8 ◄0 7th Venturi 6 ◄0 8th Renault e.Dams 2 ◄0 9th NIO Formula E Team 1 ◄0 10th Dragon Racing 0 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers are shown.

References

Videos and Images:

• RENAULT e.dams, 'You were waiting for it, here is the #ZE17 our new flagship for season 4.', twitter.com, (Twitter Inc.: Renault e.dams, 26/09/2017), https://twitter.com/RENAULTedams/status/912724767853117440, (Accessed 09/11/2017)

References: