Sebastien Buemi takes victory at an action-packed Hong Kong ePrix

Renault e.Dams driver and reigning Formula E champion Sebastien Buemi kicked off his Formula E title defence with victory in a frenetic 2016/17 season opener in Hong Kong.

Buemi started in fifth place on the grid but aided by a great pit stop strategy he rose to the head of the field ahead of Lucas di Grassi and Nick Heidfeld which is a repeat of the podium from last season’s first race.

At the start of the ePrix, Nelson Piquet Jr turned his surprise pole position into an early advantage and built a four-second lead over NextEV team-mate Oliver Turvey. However it took half a dozen laps for Turvey’s defences to be broken as DS Virgin Racing driver Sam Bird moved into second having passed his team-mate Jose Maria Lopez on the opening lap.

Bird made inroads into Piquet’s lead over the next 10 laps or so as Buemi moved his way up into third. But on Lap 17, the ePrix changed when Lopez who had fallen down the order after clashing with Bird on lap one; crashed into the barriers exiting the Turn 3/4 chicane.

Piquet was just behind Lopez on the road and nosed his car into the barriers in avoidance. He was able to rejoin but fell to third as Lopez’s submerged car prompted a safety car.

On Lap 21 of, Oliver Turvey, Sebastien Buemi, Nick Heidfeld, Loic Duval, Nicolas Prost and Jerome d’Ambrosio then stopped to change cars and gave themselves several laps more to complete in their second cars than those who stayed out.

But with the safety car coming in the following lap, they would go on to gain track position and a huge time advantage when the rest stopped. As a result of this, Buemi rejoined behind Lucas di Grassi (who was on an aggressive energy-saving strategy having pitted a few laps earlier) and quickly passed him on the track,

Let's not forget that Di Grassi had already been in the pits prior to that, after breaking his front wing rear-ending Ma Qing Hua on the opening lap following a Turn-2 traffic jam, but the safety car launched him back into contention.

But Piquet pitted as soon as the safety car came in but Antonio Felix da Costa and race leader Bird stayed out a little longer to Laps 24 and 25 respectively. But Bird’s race was ruined when his second car failed to launch, while da Costa fell to eighth and Piquet to ninth.

At the front of the field, Buemi managed to eke his remaining energy out to end despite the additional problem of an overheating battery and who won the first round of the 2016/17 FIA Formula E Championship ahead of Lucas di Grassi in a stunning second place 2.477 seconds behind Buemi and Nick Heidfeld finishing in third place 5.522 seconds behind Buemi.

Nicolas Prost finished in fourth place ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa in fifth place and Robert Frijns in a brilliant sixth place (The Dutchman crashed heavily in qualifying and his second car was only just rebuilt in time for the second half of the race).

Frijns finished ahead of Jerome D'Ambrosio in seventh place, Oliver Turvey in eighth place, Maro Engel in ninth place and Stephane Sarrazin who rounded off the top ten finishers of the race.

Nelson Piquet Jr finished just outside the top ten in eleventh place ahead of Adam Carroll in twelfth place, Sam Bird in thirteenth place and Loic Duval in fourteenth place and Felix Rosenqvist in sixteenth place. Daniel Abt, Jean-Eric Vergne, Mitch Evans, Jose Maria Lopez and Ma Qing Hua did not finish the ePrix.

Here is the classification of the 2016 Hong Kong ePrix as follows:-

1. Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.Dams, 53m.13.298s
2. Lucas di Grassi, Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport, +2.477s
3. Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +5.522s
4. Nicolas Prost, Renault e.Dams, +7.360s
5. Antonio Felix Da Costa, Andretti, +17.987s
6. Robin Frijns, Andretti, +21.161s
7. Jerome D'Ambrosio, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, +28.443s
8. Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV NIO, +30.355s
9. Maro Engel, Venturi, +30.898s
10. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, +31.734s
11. Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV NIO, +35.256s
12. Adam Carroll, Jaguar Racing, +43.389s
13. Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, +48.058s
14. Loic Duval, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, 2 laps
15. Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, 2 laps
16. Daniel Abt, ABT Shaeffler Audi Sport, Not Classified
17. Jean-Eric Vergne, Techeetah, Not Classified
18. Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, Not Classified
19. Jose Maria Lopez, DS Virgin Racing, Not Classified
20. Ma Qing Hua, Techeetah, Not Classified

Sebastien Buemi leads the Formula E Drivers Championship with 25 points ahead of Lucas di Grassi in second with 18 points, Nick Heidfeld in third with 15 points, Nicolas Prost in fourth with 12 points, Antonio Felix Da Costa in fifth with 10 points, Robert Frijns in sixth with 8 points, Jerome D'Ambrosio in seventh with 6 points, Oliver Turvey in eighth with 4 points, Nelson Piquet Jr is ninth with 3 points, Maro Engel in tenth with 2 points.

Stephane Sarrazin in tenth with 1 point and Felix Rosenqvist is eleventh with 1 point.
Renault e.dams leads the Formula E Constructors Championship with 37 points, Abt Schaffler Audi Sport are second with 18 points, Andretti are third with 18 points, Mahindra Racing are fourth with 16 points, NEXTEV NIO are fifth with 7 points, Faraday Future Dragon Racing are sixth with 6 and Venturi are seventh with 3 points.

Driving for Pleasure will be producing reports on every session of every ePrix the 2016/2017 FIA Formula E Championship as well as covering the latest news as it breaks in the paddock.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa