bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

James Porteous

Reigning Formula E champion Sebastien Buemi won the first ever Hong Kong ePrix through the streets of Central on Sunday.
In an incident-packed thriller in front of a sell-out crowd on the Harbourfront, the Frenchman took the lead midway through the race and fended off rival Lucas Di Grassi, last season’s runner-up, through the remaining 20 laps.
Veteran former Formula One driver Nick Heidfeld finished third.
“My start was good, but I didn’t really manage to pass anyone - the mistake from Nelson [Piquet] put me back in the race then what happened with Sam [Bird],” said Renault e.Dams’ Buemi.

Watch @Sebastien_buemi enjoy his champagne moment in the #HKePrix with @GHMUMM #darewincelebrate https://t.co/Bj3EcbkRUo
— FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) October 9, 2016

<![CDATA[// ><!]]>

“It was not easy … at the end I lost all my regen, the battery overheated massively and one more lap would have made it impossible.”
Piquet had been leading before Jose Maria Lopez crashed in front of him, causing the NextEV driver to have to brake suddenly and plummet down the standings.
Crash, bang, wallop: drivers fume as last-minute track changes at Hong Kong Formula ePrix cause qualifying carnage
DS Virgin Racing’s Bird took over and exerted every drop of power from his battery, rolling into the pits with almost nothing left to swap to a fully-charged car – which then failed to start, allowing Buemi to steal first.
“Yeah it’s crazy [me and Di Grassi again], their [team's] strategy helped them massively, credit to them they did well,” added Buemi.

“For us we finished last season with not such a good race, so it’s good to get off to a good start.”
The drive of the day was from Audi ABT-Schaeffler’s Di Grassi though, who started from second-last on the grid after crashing in qualifying.
Drivers give Hong Kong Formula E track the thumbs up amidst public backlash
He was then involved in another incident with Ma Qinghua at the start that ended the Chinese driver’s race on the first turn.
“It was a crazy race today, we proved we never give up, we started 19th after an accident in qualifying and an accident in the beginning of race we broke the nose and had to stop to change it,” said Di Grassi.

WATCH @NelsonPiquet @NextEVFETeam lose the lead of the ePrix trying to avoid @pechito37 @DSVirginRacing #HKePrix https://t.co/H07lHhf7N9
— FIA Formula E (@FIAformulaE) October 9, 2016

<![CDATA[// ><!]]>

“The safety car came in, I took a very aggressive strategy then I had to save a lot of energy [in the battery] – another podium, my 14th in Formula E, I’m very happy.
Formula E ambitions for Hong Kong’s Darryl O’Young after his trial run on Central Harbourfront
“People don’t realise at home, we have to extract everything out of the battery to go three laps longer than the rest of the guys, I have to save much more energy [with] every braking, have a very smooth driving style. It’s a great start to the season.”

Formula E boss Agag eyes F1-style growth in China, says US has left EV door open

Despite ‘winning’ bet, Formula E boss gives charity US$250k after Max Verstappen wins title

Formula E wants Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu to join them if he loses his Formula 1 seat

Saudi Arabia’s PIF owns €50 million stake in Hong Kong’s Extreme E, is key backer of world’s electric racing leagues

Formula E

Formula E champion Sebastien Buemi wins incident-packed maiden Hong Kong ePrix

Sebastien Buemi in action at 2016 Formula E Hong Kong ePrix in Central. Photos: KY Cheng

E.dams driver Sébastien Buemi (Left) in action at 2016 FIA Formula E HKT Hong Kong ePrix in Central. 09OCT16 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

Sport

Motorsport

The Renault e.Dams driver finishes ahead of last season’s runner-up Lucas Di Grassi, with veteran former Formula One driver Nick Heidfeld third through the streets of Central on Sunday
