Pascal Wehrlein took over the lead of the points standings after scoring his second consecutive victory in Formula E’s Race at Home Esports event at the Hong Kong E-Prix circuit.
The Mahindra driver capitalised on a mistake by polesitter Edoardo Mortara who clipped the chicane on lap five and dropped down the order with damage to his ROKiT Venturi Racing car.
This gifted Wehrlein the lead after the former Sauber F1 driver had cleared Nyck De Vries and James Calado in the early laps to initially place second. Despite some steering damage he controlled the gap to the second-placed Mercedes-Benz EQ entry of Stoffel Vandoorne.
The start featured multiple accidents which involved the majority of the field and opened up opportunities for a fortunate few such as Calado to make up a huge amount of places.
Good clean start yeah guys?
*Everybody nods*
15 seconds later, CHAOS 🙈 #RaceAtHome
Donate to @UNICEF – https://t.co/9KqVKEr3qA pic.twitter.com/qvvGP74onf
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) May 16, 2020
The Jaguar driver was able to hold on to the final rung of the podium holding off De Vries, the recovering Mortara, DS Techeetah driver Antonio Felix da Costa and Envision Virgin’s Robin Frijns.
Oliver Turvey diced with Sebastien Buemi for eighth place and just held the position to the chequered flag, while Buemi’s Nissan edams teammate Oliver Rowland took the final point.
Erstwhile championship leader Maximilian Guenther had a fraught race which included a drive-through penalty for a jump start and an accident at the chicane which led to his retirement.
This ensured that he lost the points lead to Wehrlein who now heads his countryman by five points at the half way stage of the competition.
Oh no! Race leader @edomortara hits the wall in Hong Kong #RaceAtHome
Donate to @UNICEF – https://t.co/9KqVKEr3qA pic.twitter.com/vNT05n1mOT
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) May 16, 2020
Lucas Mueller claimed his first Race at Home Challenge Race victory for Mahindra after snatching the lead from pole-sitter and race-long leader Joshua Rogers.
A move down the inside at the Tamar Park hairpin by Mueller at the start of the penultimate lap paid off despite some contact between the pair.
The win ensured that Mueller reduced the points gap on championship leader Kevin Siggy to 18 points. Siggy sealed third place for the BMW i Andretti Motorsport team ahead of GEOX Dragon racer Peyo Peev.
Peev’s teammate Joel Eriksson, who holds a test and development deal with the American team rolled his car after contact at the first corner.
