Lucas di Grassi wins the Mexico ePrix and is then stripped of his win

On Saturday evening, the Abt Schaeffler driver Lucas di Grassi took the lead of the Formula E championship briefly after winning the Mexico ePrix ahead of Jerome d’Ambrosio and Sebastien Buemi after the two latter drivers had an explosive fight for second.

D’Ambrosio led Nicolas Prost away at the start and while he remained in control through the first half of the race he was never more than a second clear of the Renault driver.

With di Grassi tucked underneath Prost’s rear wing and Buemi and di Grassi’s Abt Audi Sport team-mate Daniel Abt (having swapped places on lap four) close behind him, the five-car fight for the lead continued for most of the ePrix.

Di Grassi ended the procession by nailing Prost for second on the final lap before the car swaps after catching Prost out into the Turn 4 chicane. In the pitlane, Buemi jumped team-mate Prost and soon after the race turned.

After the pit stops, it was Di Grassi’s decisiveness that helped him as he exited the final corner right behind d’Ambrosio and used his Fanboost to beat the Dragon Racing driver on the run to Turn 1.

As he edged clear, Buemi recognised the need to attack and tried to replicate di Grassi’s move, only to get blocked by d’Ambrosio on the track who defended him very well indeed. After a couple of laps’ rest Buemi tried again into Turn 4 but was rebuffed, then a lap later launched another failed bid at the final chicane.

Both previous moves involved a small amount of contact but moments later the two collided in a bigger way, Buemi ramming the defending d’Ambrosio square in the rear at Turn 1 after a late move from the inside to the outside by the aggressor.

With 14 laps remaining the battle was far from over, and half a dozen laps later he launched an offensive round the outside at Turn 1, however he had run out of room and cut the chicane as a result of trying to pass him.

This then gained him the place, but the Swiss driver recognised the need to hand it back, but as he slowed down to do so, Prost attacked d’Ambrosio and Abt and Loic Duval joined in as well.

The quintet was a jumble as it rounded Turn 13 before Buemi slowed again and d’Ambrosio cut the final chicane, keeping ahead of his surprise challengers and then regaining second from Buemi on the run to Turn 1.

All this handed di Grassi a lead of 10 seconds and while Buemi remained close behind d’Ambrosio for the remaining seven laps and got a great run out of the final corner for the last time, he was forced to settle for second.

Then after the race, the news came through that di Grassi has been excluded from the Mexico City ePrix, handing Jerome d’Ambrosio a second Formula E victory.

The Abt Schaeffler FE01 di Grassi used in the first half of the race weighed in at 886.2kg, 1.8kg under the minimum weight limit. As a result of this, he now loses the championship lead he had assumed with the win, with Sebastien Buemi who was promoted to second place now 22 points clear of the Abt Audi Sport driver.

It means both of Dragon driver d’Ambrosio’s victories in the series are the result of a di Grassi exclusion, the first being the Berlin ePrix last season. He did lose two points he earned for fastest lap though because he set the time after cutting a chicane.

Nicolas Prost finished the race in third place even though D’Ambrosio’s team-mate Loic Duval should have inherited third but he had been handed a 15-second penalty for not respecting track limits. This then dropped him to fourth place.

Robin Frijins finished the race in fifth place ahead of Sam Bird in sixth place, Daniel Abt in seventh place, Nick Heidfeld in eighth place, Stephane Sarrazin in ninth place and Bruno Senna rounding off the top ten finishers.

Oliver Turvey ended the ePrix in eleventh place ahead of Mike Conway in twelfth place, Nelson Piquet Jr in thirteenth place and Simona de Silvestro in fourteenth place.

Home driver Salvador Duran finished in a disappointing fifteenth place ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne in sixteenth place and Antonio Felix Da Costa in seventeenth place.

Here is the classification of the 2016 Mexico ePrix:-

1.Jerome D'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing, 43 laps
2.Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.Dams, +0.106s
3.Nicolas Prost, Renault e.Dams, +25.537s
4.Loic Duval, Dragon Racing, +26.358s
5.Robin Frijns, Andretti, +28.477s
6.Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, +28.928s
7.Daniel Abt, ABT Shaeffler Audi Sport, +30.051s
8.Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +36.373s
9.Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, +37.291s
10.Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, +37.603s
11.Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV TCR, +38.598s
12.Mike Conway, Venturi, +38.790s
13.Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV TCR, +42.351s
14.Simona de Silvestro, Andretti, +43.971s
15.Salvador Duran, Team Aguri, +1.03.082s
16.Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Virgin Racing, +1 lap
17.Antonio Felix Da Costa, Team Aguri, +11 laps
18.Lucas di Grassi, Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport,excluded

Sebastien Buemi still leads the Formula E Drivers Championship with 98 points ahead of Lucas Di Grassi in second with 76 points, Sam Bird in third with 60 points, Jerome D'Ambrosio in fourth with 58 points, Loic Duval in fifth with 44 points, Nico Prost in sixth with 38 points, Robin Frijns in seventh with 31 points, Stephane Sarrazin in eighth with 30 points, Nick Heidfeld in ninth with 27 points and Antonio Felix Da Costa in tenth with 16 points.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa