Review of the Mexico City ePrix: A Damp Squib for Rosenqvist, a First Firework for Abt

Felix Rosenqvist lights a new fuse

Even before the Mexican race qualifications, Sam Bird and Alex Lynn already knew they would receive a 10-place grid penalty for a gearbox change. The unlucky Di Grassi will receive the same penalty, although it’s not clear which component of his car is at fault. Also, be aware that Alex Lynn was involved in a big accident, crashing into the wall while trying to overtake Felix Rosenqvist during the second free practice session, and José Maria Lopez did the same, albeit with seemingly less severity.

The track that the drivers will use during these qualifications is radically different from that of Santiago. Indeed, as a permanent circuit, it has a perfectly smooth but very dusty track. The first group to go out consisted of Di Grassi, d’Ambrosio, Engel, Blomqvist, and Filippi. These are the lowest ranked in the championship. And it was the Brazilian from Audi who performed the best with a tiny margin over Mario Engel’s Venturi. Then, it was the turn of the group made up of the championship leaders (Vergne, Rosenqvist, Bird, Buemi, and Piquet) to hit the track. This led to significant overall improvements with the best time for Renault e-dams and Sébastien Buemi just a hair behind Felix Rosenqvist. They were followed by Vergne, Piquet, and Bird, all three beating Lucas Di Grassi’s time.

Shortly after, group three with Da Costa, Turvey, Lopez, Lynn, and Prost took to the track. This new wave of times saw an impressive Antonio Félix Da Costa position himself third provisionally ahead of Oliver Turvey and Alex Lynn. Consequently, this pushed Vergne, Piquet, and Bird out of the top five, excluding them from the super pole. Finally, the last group with Mortara, Evans, Heidfeld, Lotterer, and Abt went on the hunt for time. This hunt proved unsuccessful with only a sixth-best time for Daniel Abt as the best result, along with a major wheel lock-up for Heidfeld and a slight contact with the wall for Mitch Evans.

We then found in super pole Sébastien Buemi, Felix Rosenqvist, Antonio Félix Da Costa, Oliver Turvey, and Alex Lynn. The race results show the Swedish driver from Mahindra, Rosenqvist, will start in pole position ahead of Da Costa for Andretti, Lynn for DS Virgin, Turvey for NIO, and finally Buemi in his Renault.

Note that Alex Lynn will start thirteenth in the race due to his 10-place penalty, while his teammate Sam Bird will start nineteenth for the same reasons. The application of penalties is even worse for Lucas Di Grassi, who is condemned to start last.

The starting grid for this third Mexico e-Prix will be as follows (penalties are not taken into account):

.@FRosenqvist and @afelixdacosta will start on the front row for the #MexicoCityEPrix pic.twitter.com/DfqCXX2xGg

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 3 mars 2018

An unexpected victory for Daniel Abt

Before the race started, the stewards decided to penalize Antonio Félix Da Costa for having a car below the minimum weight. He will therefore start fourth in the event. The drivers’ start proved to be rather smooth and calm, except for some notable contacts between Jean-Éric Vergne and Nelson Piquet for sixth place. Felix Rosenqvist was thus not threatened for a single second from his pole position. The first overtaking occurred on the third lap when Mitch Evans managed to get past André Lotterer for eighth place. Two laps later, Jean-Éric Vergne managed to overtake Antonio Félix Da Costa for fifth position. This was achieved with a bold inside maneuver before entering the Stadium, where he forced the Andretti driver quite far, as a result of which it cost him an additional place against Piquet.

.@JeanEricVergne and @NelsonPiquet squeeze past @afelixdacosta to move up to P5 and P6 #MexicoCityEPrix pic.twitter.com/5ifo1XrKy5 — ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 3 March 2018

Around the tenth lap, Felix Rosenqvist was now two seconds ahead of Oliver Turvey in his NIO. On the fourteenth lap, as the race entered a phase of waiting where everyone was trying to manage the energy they had as efficiently as possible, a dramatic turn of events occurred! Indeed, the leader Rosenqvist suffered a breakdown, which caused him to drop in the rankings. The Mahindra driver managed to get going again a few seconds later, after a complete reset of his car, but was now far from the lead.

.@FRosenqvist stopped on track, handing the lead to @OliverTurvey. Rosenqvist is back underway #MexicoCityEPrix pic.twitter.com/yCw3m5Kuyw

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 3 mars 2018

At that point in the race, it was Oliver Turvey who took the lead. Further back in the pack, Evans overtook Da Costa for sixth place and Lopez entered the Top 10 in his white Dragon. Then, Rosenqvist’s Mahindra stalled twice but the Swede managed to restart, finally switching to a new car on the twentieth lap. Just before the first pit stops, Daniel Abt positioned himself ahead of Sébastien Buemi for the last spot on the podium, aided by a late braking move from the Renault e-dams driver.

On lap 24, only Sam Bird stopped to change cars. The following lap, it was the turn of Alex Lynn, José Maria Lopez, Nick Heidfeld, Edoardo Mortara, and Jérôme d’Ambrosio to do the same. One lap later, it was time for the leaders to stop and change cars. Namely, Oliver Turvey, Daniel Abt, Sébastien Buemi, Jean-Éric Vergne, Mitch Evans, and André Lotterer. Nelson Piquet decided to stay on track for one more lap thanks to the energy saved earlier in the race. Just behind them, Antonio Félix Da Costa, Nicolas Prost, Mario Engel, Tom Blomqvist, and Luca Filippi also stopped. Upon exiting the pits, it was Daniel Abt who made the most of it by emerging ahead of former leader Turvey, thanks to a lightning-fast stop. Following them were Vergne, Buemi, Evans, Lotterer, Da Costa, Lynn, and Bird. Finally, with one more lap under their belts, Nelson Piquet and Lucas Di Grassi stopped as well. The Jaguar driver emerged in sixth position behind Mitch Evans.

LAP 25: @Daniel_Abt is the new leader after a great pit stop #ABBFormulaE #FormulaE #MexicoCityEPrix #etron #ProgressFeelsElectric #LeagueofPerformance pic.twitter.com/MAt3Ks42D0— Audi Formula E (@audiformulae) 3 mars 2018

In front, Oliver Turvey made a small mistake allowing Jean-Éric Vergne to dangerously close in. It was then Nick Heidfeld’s turn to immobilize his Mahindra at the side of the track, victim of a breakdown, to definitively conclude the fiasco of this race for the Indian team. At the same time, Sébastien Buemi overtook Jean-Éric Vergne at the end of the starting straight to seize third place, the Swiss driver having used his Fan Boost to gain the advantage over the Frenchman. A few kilometers later, Piquet took the upper hand over his teammate Evans for the fifth position.

. @Sebastien_buemi uses his #FANBOOST to overtake @JeanEricVergne for P3 #MexicoCityEPrix pic.twitter.com/Tj8lrXTUIm

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) 3 mars 2018

Daniel Abt, on his side, had four seconds of advantage over Turvey in the lead. This allowed the battle between Piquet and Vergne to resume, but the Brazilian managed to pass the Frenchman at the end of the straight (at the same place as Buemi) for fourth position. The championship leader, with less battery power, didn’t resist too much to maintain his good result of the day. Towards the back of the pack, Nicolas Prost retired after a heavy contact with an overly aggressive Bird, which broke his suspension as well as that of the DS Virgin driver. With seven laps to go, victory seemed unlikely to escape Daniel Abt and Audi. Notably, Jean-Éric Vergne’s teammate André Lotterer was penalized for an unsafe pit exit (which crushed one of his mechanics’ feet in the process) and had to make a mandatory pit stop. The final on-track actions involved Sébastien Buemi, who was pressuring Oliver Turvey while being threatened himself by Nelson Piquet.

In the final lap, it was Daniel Abt who won the first race of his Formula E career, securing Audi’s first victory of the season. Behind the German was Oliver Turvey, who successfully held off Sébastien Buemi and Nelson Piquet. Next came Jean-Éric Vergne, Mitch Evans, Antonio Félix Da Costa, and Edoardo Mortara. The last points available went to Lucas Di Grassi, who made a remarkable comeback and finally opened his points tally. Finally, Alex Lynn closed out the Top 10. This concludes the race, which should have been a calm one with an easy victory for Felix Rosenqvist, but ended with a win achieved in the pits by an opportunistic and impeccable Daniel Abt.

For the rest of the standings, here is the final hierarchy of this Mexico e-Prix:

Results #MexicoCityEPrix 🇲🇽

1. @Daniel_Abt
2. @OliverTurvey
3. @Sebastien_buemi
4. @NelsonPiquet
5. @JeanEricVergne #ABBFormulaE pic.twitter.com/8or8Ct1QoT

— Michelin Motorsport (@Michelin_Sport) 3 mars 2018

This race is a good result for Jean-Éric Vergne who takes a commanding lead in the championship thanks to Felix Rosenqvist’s misadventures.

The misfortunes of the Mahindra team benefit Techeetah, which takes a nine-point lead in the Constructors’ Championship standings.

Meet in two weeks for the Punta del Este ePrix, which replaces the initially scheduled round in Sao Paulo.