2018 Punta del Este E-Prix

2018 Punta del Este E-Prix
The returning Playa Brava Beach circuit.
Race Information
Date	17 March 2018
E-Prix No.	39
Official Name	2018 CBMM Niobium Punta del Este E-Prix
Location	Playa Brava Beach Circuit, Punta del Este, Uruguay
Format	{{{format}}}
Lap length	2.785 km (1.731 mi)
Distance	37 laps / 103.045 km (64.029 mi)
Support Race	{{{support}}}
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Jean-Éric Vergne
Team	Techeetah
Time	1:16.806
Fastest Lap
Driver	José María López
Team	Dragon Racing
Fastest Lap	1:16.811 on lap 31
ePrix Result
First	Second	Third
Jean-Éric Vergne	Lucas di Grassi	Sam Bird
Winner Team	Techeetah
Time	50:43.809
ePrix Guide
Previous		Next
2018 Mexico City E-Prix		2018 Rome E-Prix
Post-Race Test	{{{test}}}

The 2018 Punta del Este E-Prix, otherwise known as the 2018 CBMM Niobium Punta del Este E-Prix, was the sixth round of the 2017/18 ABB FIA Formula E Championship, staged on the Playa Brava Beach Circuit in Punta del Este, Uruguay, on 17 March 2018. The E-Prix will mark the return of Punta del Este as a host to Formula E, restored to the calendar after the cancellation of the São Paulo E-Prix.

Qualifying had resulted in a lot of confusion in terms of the results, with no fewer than six drivers receiving penalties. As such it was Jean-Éric Vergne, who ruined his lap in Super Pole, who ended up with pole position, the other four men in the shootout getting their times deleted. Three of that quartet would complete the top four, while Mitch Evans was dumped to the back of the field.

Regardless of the fact that he had rather inherited pole, there was no stopping Vergne at the start of the race, the Frenchman immediately shooting into the lead. That left Lucas di Grassi to fend off Alex Lynn through the tight opening corners for second, with the rest of the field getting away without issue.

Vergne led the entire first lap without issue, with di Grassi, Lynn, Daniel Abt, Oliver Turvey and André Lotterer, with Sam Bird completing the lead group. At the back, meanwhile, Nelson Piquet Jr. had been dumped down the order after a mistake in the final chicane, while Nick Heidfeld came across the line with no power.

The German's race was over a few moments later, coming to a stop at the second chicane with an electrical issue. The BMW Qualcomm i8 safety car was called so that the German's Mahindra could be dragged from the circuit, although the race was back underway within two laps.

Vergne and di Grassi would pull away from the chasing pack for the rest of the stint, leaving Turvey and Abt to fight for third. The German would ultimately move onto the final podium step, while Turvey would be relegated down the order shortly before the stops. As he plummeted Sébastien Buemi made a rare mistake, hitting the wall at turn thirteen and breaking he rear left suspension.

The pitstops passed without major issue, leaving Vergne and di Grassi to duel for the lead, while Abt disappeared into the pits a second time to have his belts tightened. Bird, meanwhile, picked his way up into third, trying to catch the leading duo, while Evans also completed a stunning charge through the field just behind.

The fight between di Grassi and Vergne would dominate the second part of the race, the Brazilian trying everything he could to get past. That fact allowed Bird to catch them a few laps from the end, but a mistake at the start of the final tour meant the Brit fell back. That gave di Grassi a handful of chances to pounce on the Techeetah and claim a first victory of the season.

Yet, Vergne would deny the Brazilian a final shot, meaning it was the Frenchman who claimed victory for the second time in three races from the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler. Bird cruised home third ahead of Evans and Rosenqvist, while José María López claimed a maiden fastest lap in eighth.

Background

The Uruguayan city of Punta del Este had previously hosted two E-Prix in the first two seasons of the Formula E Championship, before disappearing from the 2016/17 schedule due to concerns regarding finance and organisation. The city also missed out on a place in the 2017/18 FE tour, until the scheduled race in São Paulo fell through due to their own organisational issues. The FIA and Formula E Holdings immediately received a proposal from the city officials in Punta del Este to see FE return to the city, with a deal signed in early December 2017.

In terms of the circuit there would be no major changes to the Playa Brava Beach circuit ahead of FE's return, scheduled for 17 March 2018. What had changed in the two seasons since Punta had hosted FE was the date, with the event three months later than before, dragging the race closer to the end of the region's tourist season. Whether this would affect what had been a well attended event remained to be seen.

Punta Providence

Into the Championship and a maiden victory for Daniel Abt in Mexico City had propelled the German into the top six, although he was still someway shy of Championship leader Jean-Éric Vergne. The Frenchman left the Mexican capital with 81 points to his name and, after Felix Rosenqvist's miserable afternoon, had effectively seen his Championship lead grow to twelve points. Sam Bird, meanwhile, slipped twenty points behind and was well in the sights of Sébastien Buemi, while Nelson Piquet Jr. maintained his place in the top five.

Elsewhere Techeetah had retained their lead in the Team's Championship in Mexico, just a point shy of the 100 point mark with more than half the season still to go. Mahindra Racing's issues on Saturday meant that fell nine points back, while a double score for Jaguar Racing carried them past DS Virgin Racing an into third. Renault e.Dams had made ground in fifth, just ahead of arch-rivals Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, after their first victory of the season.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2018 Punta del Este E-Prix is displayed below:

2018 Punta del Este E-Prix Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Car
1	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	Audi	e-tron FE04
2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	DS	Virgin DSV-03
3	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Panasonic Jaguar Racing	Jaguar	I-Type II
4	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi Formula E Team	Venturi	VM200-FE-03
5	Maro Engel	Venturi Formula E Team	Venturi	VM200-FE-03
6	José María López	Dragon Racing	Penske	EV-2
7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	Penske	EV-2
8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	Renault	Z.E. 17
9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	Renault	Z.E. 17
16	Oliver Turvey	NIO Formula E Team	NextEV	NIO 003
18	André Lotterer	Techeetah	Renault	Z.E. 17
19	Felix Rosenqvist	Mahindra Racing	Mahindra	M4 Electro
20	Mitch Evans	Panasonic Jaguar Racing	Jaguar	I-Type II
23	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	Mahindra	M4 Electro
25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah	Renault	Z.E. 17
27	Tom Blomqvist	MS&AD Andretti Formula E	Andretti	ATEC-04
28	António Félix da Costa	MS&AD Andretti Formula E	Andretti	ATEC-04
36	Alex Lynn	DS Virgin Racing	DS	Virgin DSV-03
66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	Audi	e-tron FE04
68	Luca Filippi	NIO Formula E Team	NextEV	NIO 003
Source:

Qualifying

The standard qualifying format would be followed in Punta del Este, with the drivers sorted in four groups of five based on their position in the Championship. Each group would then get six minutes on circuit to set a quick time, before the fastest five drivers overall proceeded to the Super Pole shootout. Those five would then go out, one at a time, to set a quick lap, with the rest of the grid, barring penalties, sorted based on their group times.

Group 1

The bottom five in the Championship were to get the ball rolling in qualifying, headlined by Lucas di Grassi who finally seemed to be getting some reliability from his Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler. Indeed, the Brazilian was the only member of the quintet with any hopes of making Super Pole, although Maro Engel and Jérôme d'Ambrosio were contenders for the top ten. Completing the group would be the two rookies Tom Blomqvist and Luca Filippi, both of whom were simply hoping to match their more experienced teammates.

d'Ambrosio was the first man out on circuit, which was surprisingly clean despite its proximity to the Playa Brave Beach. The Belgian would put together a clean enough lap, but it was instantly beaten by di Grassi as the Brazilian went fastest in all three sectors. Blomqvist then set the fastest first sector but made a major mistake in the second sector, with Engel slotting into second, and Filippi claiming fourth.

Group 2

The second group of the day would feature those drivers positioned eleventh through to fifteenth in the Championship hit the circuit, with André Lotterer the favourite to challenge at the head of the field. He was joined by Alex Lynn and António Félix da Costa as the stronger contenders in the quintet, with both having featured in Super Pole last time out in Mexico City. Completing the quintet would be the out-of-form Nicolas Prost, and the second Dragon of José María López.

López would open the proceedings in the second group, with the Argentine racer getting too throttle happy in the middle sector to leave him immediately out of the hunt for Super Pole. Lotterer was next with a strong middle and final sector to move into second, moments before da Costa claimed sixth. Lynn then displaced Lotterer for second, while Prost clipped the inside wall on the entry to the third chicane and duly destroyed his Renault e.Dams.

Group 3

Daniel Abt was the headline act of the third group of the day, with the German hoping to claim another victory now that the Audi Sport ABT was running reliably. He would be joined on track by another strong qualifier in the form of Mitch Evans, while Oliver Turvey was in good form heading into the session. Completing the group would be Edoardo Mortara, who was slowly slipping down the pecking order, and Nick Heidfeld whose season was on an equally down trending footing.

Abt opened the account for the third group of the session, with the German setting the fastest first sector, only to set a poor middle sector to slip down to third at the end of his lap. Turvey was next on track, hunting the German down with his own fastest first sector, although the Brit came across Mortara in the final chicane and so ended up taking third from Abt. Evans was next and duly slotted into second, while Heidfeld smacked into the wall at the final chicane having missed the apex.

Heidfeld's accident ruined Mortara's run, with the Swiss racer just coming past the scene of Heidfeld's accident as a red flag was thrown. Mortara therefore got a chance to set a time all on his own once the circuit was cleared, but an unspectacular effort saw him well off the ultimate pace.

Group 4

The final quintet would feature the top drivers in the Championship, with all three pole sitters in 2017/18 set to feature. Leading the way, in terms of both the Championship and pole starts, would be Jean-Éric Vergne, with Felix Rosenqvist the closest to him in both counts. Joining them would be Sébastien Buemi, the only other man to claim a pole start, Sam Bird, on a streak of Super Pole appearances, and Nelson Piquet Jr. who was enjoying his strongest ever start to an FE season with Jaguar.

Bird would lead out the Championship contending group, with the Brit coming out very early to reduce any chance of sand or dust sweeping across the circuit. The ploy did not work however, with the Brit falling shy of Super Pole by a couple of tenths. Rosenqvist, meanwhile, survived a small clip with the wall exiting turn nine but dropped in behind the Brit, the Swede's middle sector incredibly poor.

Elsewhere Buemi would fall shy of Super Pole after an excellent first sector, the Swiss racer ultimately ending the session in eighth after a few mistakes in the middle part of the lap. Vergne, meanwhile, put together a stunning lap in the sister car to go fastest, finally displacing di Grassi, while Piquet looked strong until he buried his Jaguar into the wall at the second chicane. Indeed, the Brazilian racer had taken too much kerb through both parts of the left-right flick, and duly piled into the barriers on the exit. Fortunately he climbed out of the cockpit uninjured, and, having been last on track, did not ruin anyone else's lap.

Super Pole

Amid the chaos of the final two groups Super Pole would start with Turvey opening the shootout for NIO, a shock given the car's recent pace. Regardless, Turvey put in a lap at maximum attack to record a 1:14.978, although some ambitious kerb bouncing, particularly at the third chicane, seeing him hit a couple of bollards. Lynn went next and duly bested his effort with a 1:14.189, despite breaking his front wing on the bollard at the third chicane.

Evans was next on circuit as Lynn and Turvey were placed under investigation for cutting the third chicane, with the Kiwi surviving a slap against the wall exiting turn nine to record a 1:14.640. Group one star di Grassi was next on track and, in spite of kissing the barriers exiting turn two, and broadsiding the bollard at the third chicane, claimed a 1:13.948 to go fastest. Vergne then concluded the session with a mistake ridden lap, with the Frenchman ending the session almost three seconds slower than di Grassi.

Post Qualifying

After qualifying it was decided that di Grassi, Lynn and Turvey had all cut the turn fourteen/fifteen chicane, the evidence being that they had all hit the bollard on the inside of the second part. All three duly had their Super Pole times deleted, putting Evans on pole with Vergne in second. Yet, was also found that Evans had qualified with an underweight car, with the FIA deciding to exclude the Kiwi from the results entirely, handing pole position to Vergne in spite of his miserable Super Pole lap.

The final qualifying results for the 2018 Punta del Este E-Prix are outlined below:

2018 Punta del Este E-Prix Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Grid	Group
1st	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah	1:16.806	—	1	G4
NC*	1	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	—		2	G1
NC*	36	Alex Lynn	DS Virgin Racing	—		3	G2
NC*	16	Oliver Turvey	NIO Formula E Team	—		4	G3
NC†	20	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	—		16	G3
Super Pole
1st	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah	1:13.672	—	SP	G4
2nd	1	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	1:14.032	+0.360s	SP	G1
3rd	20	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	1:14.093	+0.421s	SP	G3
4th	36	Alex Lynn	DS Virgin Racing	1:14.135	+0.463s	SP	G2
5th	16	Oliver Turvey	NIO Formula E Team	1:14.181	+0.509s	SP	G3
6th	66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	1:14.224	+0.552s	5	G3
7th	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	1:14.320	+0.648s	6	G4
8th	18	André Lotterer	Techeetah	1:14.442	+0.770s	7	G2
9th	5	Maro Engel	Venturi Formula E Team	1:14.523	+0.851s	8	G1
10th	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	1:14.552	+0.880s	9	G4
11th‡	6	José María López	Dragon Racing	1:14.605	+0.933s	18	G2
12th	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	1:14.673	+1.001s	10	G1
13th	28	António Félix da Costa	Andretti Formula E	1:14.973	+1.301s	11	G2
14th	19	Felix Rosenqvist	Mahindra Racing	1:15.104	+1.432s	12	G4
15th§	68	Luca Filippi	NIO Formula E Team	1:15.444	+1.772s	15	G1
16th	4	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi Formula E Team	1:15.493	+1.821s	13	G3
17thƒ	27	Tom Blomqvist	Andretti Formula E	1:16.424	+2.752s	20	G1
110% Time: 1:21.039
NC	23	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	1:31.701	+18.029s	17	G3
NC	3	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Jaguar Racing	1:42.656	+28.984s	14	G4
NC	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	1:53.358	+39.686s	19	G2
Source:

• * di Grassi, Lynn and Turvey all had their Super Pole times deleted as they had cut the turn 14/15 chicane.
• ^† Evans had both his Super Pole and Group qualifying times deleted after his car was found to be underweight.
• ^‡ López had his group times deleted after cutting the turn 14/15 chicane.
• ^§ Filippi was handed a three place grid penalty for ignoring a red flag during practice.
• ^ƒ Blomqvist was given a grid penalty for a gearbox change.

Race

It was a warm 30°C in Punta del Este by the time the field assembled on the grid, with most drivers only finding out where they would start as they had their first cars pushed onto the track. Most drivers were expecting to fight with cooling during the race, while sand and dust had been blown onto the circuit after qualifying, an expected consequence of racing alongside a beach. That meant that the race was likely to be a tactical battle rather than one based on on-track action, but with quick drivers out of position there was no guarantee of a quiet afternoon.

Report

Pole sitter Jean-Éric Vergne was the man to beat off the line, the Techeetah shooting into an early lead as the lights went out. He left Lucas di Grassi to fend off Alex Lynn through the narrow opening sector, which the Brazilian just managed to do before the first chicane. The rest of the field thundered into the chicane without issue, although Edoardo Mortara was forced to drop to the back of the field after running wide.

The rest of the opening tour was undramatic, although Nelson Piquet Jr. found himself tumbling down the order after being elbowed wide at the final chicane. As he slipped behind Luca Filippi, Felix Rosenqvist and Mitch Evans, Vergne came charging across the start/finish line to complete the opening tour, a few metres ahead of di Grassi. Lynn, Oliver Turvey, Daniel Abt, André Lotterer and Sam Bird were next, with Sébastien Buemi trying to complete the leading group.

Onto the second lap and Bird was the man on the offensive, although his attack on Lotterer into the turn eight/nine hairpin was strongly resisted. As they shot away from the corner Nick Heidfeld rolled to a stop at the second chicane, the Mahindra suddenly losing power at the back of the field. The German desperately tried to persuade his car to restart, with race control giving him a small amount of time to try and get moving himself.

As Heidfeld tried, ultimately in vain, to get his car moving, the sister effort of Rosenqvist was in the ascendancy, claiming twelfth from Filippi on lap three. Bird, meanwhile, was about to receive a stunning blow from Buemi, who slithered past the Brit on the brakes in the turn eight/nine hairpin, just managing to get the car stopped before the Brit could try a cut back. Moments later and the officials decided to deploy the BMW Qualcomm i8 safety car, with Heidfeld dejectedly climbing out of his cockpit.

In the midst of the call for the safety car it appeared that Buemi had charged past Lotterer, while Maro Engel likewise shot past Bird. The now irate Brit jumped on the radio to tell his team, although Engel, realising his mistake, quickly gave eighth place back to Bird as the field lined up behind the safety car. Buemi, meanwhile, held onto his questionably acquired sixth place, with both Bird and Lotterer on the radio to tell their teams.

Whether Buemi had overtaken unfairly or not would, ultimately, go unresolved, with the race restarted at the start of lap six. Vergne once again got away perfectly from the front leaving di Grassi to fend off Lynn, with the rest of the field charging through in their wake. Indeed, a rather tame restart would see only one major change to the order, as Piquet Jr. dropped to the back of the field with the first symptoms of a driveshaft issue.

The following lap would see Bird finally manage to make a move on Lotterer, an excellent exit from the first chicane allowing the Brit to get up the inside of the German into the turn eight/nine hairpin. Indeed, so effective was Bird's move that Lotterer was vulnerable to attack from Engel and António Félix da Costa, who both managed to dive past the Techeetah later in the lap. A lap later and the German was knocked out of the points as Rosenqvist came barging past into the final hairpin.

A brief pause came over the field after that, although Bird was rapidly closing as the Swiss racer was stuck behind Lynn, Turvey and Abt. By lap eleven the #2 DS Virgin was on his tail, a seemingly optimistic dive on the brakes into the second chicane enough to get Bird ahead. However, moments earlier, Buemi had made a rare mistake through turn thirteen, having run wide onto the dust that duly sucked the car off into the barriers. Although Buemi escaped with only a minor slap, a lap later his race was all but over.

Indeed, that contact with the wall, combined with subsequent hitting of the kerbs at the start of the following lap, broke the Renault e.Dams' suspension, leaving Buemi to crab back to the pits. He duly swapped to his spare car with almost twenty five laps remaining, meaning he was effectively out of the race. As he disappeared, Rosenqvist completed an excellent double move on da Costa and Jérôme d'Ambrosio, which combined with Buemi's demise to put the Swede into eighth.

Almost unseen, Abt had finally made a move stick on Turvey for fourth, while Vergne and di Grassi had pulled well clear of third placed Lynn. Again, the race began to settle for a short while, before Rosenqvist kick started another flurry of activity by taking Engel. A lap later and Mortara stopped in the pits, having burned through his energy reserves at an alarming rate, while Piquet Jr. had come in a few laps earlier after his driveshaft completely failed.

A lap later and Lotterer made his scheduled stop, before Bird made his way past Turvey, who was having to seriously save energy if he was to make it to the pit window. Indeed, the majority of the field were expected to stop at the end of lap nineteen, a fact that prompted Abt to elbow his way past Lynn as they started that very lap. Out front, meanwhile, di Grassi was trying in vain to do the same to Vergne, with the pair duly leading in the field at the end of that very lap.

Indeed, everyone bar d'Ambrosio, José María López and Nicolas Prost would stop that lap, with the latter of those three even managing to complete an additional lap before rejoining at the back of the field. In terms of the order, the big winners had been Bird, who overtook teammate Lynn, Rosenqvist and Mitch Evans, who had closed the gap to the leaders despite starting at the back of the field. di Grassi, meanwhile, was back on his assault for the lead of the race, but his best effort ended with a slide wide at the final chicane.

Two laps later and Bird was harassing Abt, although whether the Brit would have managed to elbow his way past became irrelevant, for the German dived into the pits at the end of the lap. Unfortunately for him, his right set of belts had not been done up properly, and had duly come undone during his fight with Bird. He would ultimately rejoin the pack down in sixteenth, just as Rosenqvist and Evans elbowed their way past Turvey.

It was Evans who was the real star of the show after the stops, the Kiwi also barging past Rosenqvist before the end of lap 28. He duly went charging off after Lynn, dragging Rosenqvist with him, while Bird, ahead of Lynn, was slowly catching the leaders. This was largely due to the fact that di Grassi had caught back up to Vergne after being run wide, and had begun to send a series of half-hearted moves at the Frenchman.

With five laps to go, and countless failed attempts, di Grassi had to glance in his mirrors, for Bird had just drawn within striking distance. Behind the Brit sat Lynn a few seconds back, but the second DS Virgin was about to be relegated to fifth after a stunning move by Evans. The Kiwi setup the Brit through the second chicane, and duly snuck his Jaguar up the inside of Lynn through the fearsome turn thirteen. Both held on on the very edge of control, with Evans braking latest into the subsequent chicane to claim fourth, while Lynn was left to fend off Rosenqvist.

Back with the leaders and di Grassi was now trying everything he could to pass the leading Techeetah, getting the nose of his Audi alongside the Frenchman several times. However, his best lunge, which saw the Brazilian just beaten off the exit of the final corner, allowed Bird to get right onto the back of them, and with three laps to go it seemed as if momentum would carry the Virgin into the lead. But, as the trio started the final lap the Brit made a mistake at the first hairpin, costing him a vital couple of seconds.

It was therefore down to Vergne and di Grassi in a duel for the lead on the final lap, throwing several dives at the back of the Techeetah. Yet, all proved to be in vain, meaning Vergne claimed victory for the second time in three races, while di Grassi, later fined €10,000 for using non-fireproof underwear, finished second. Bird cruised home in third ahead of Evans, Rosenqvist claimed fifth from Lynn on the penultimate tour, with Turvey, López, who claimed fastest lap, d'Ambrosio and Engel completing the points scorers.

Result

The final classification of the 2018 Punta del Este E-Prix is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold:

2018 Punta del Este E-Prix Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah	37	50:43.809	1:17.282	28
2nd	1	Lucas di Grassi	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	37	+0.447s	1:17.314	18
3rd	2	Sam Bird	DS Virgin Racing	37	+2.611s	1:17.220	15
4th	20	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	37	+4.075s	1:17.041	12
5th	19	Felix Rosenqvist	Mahindra Racing	37	+4.224s	1:17.107	10
6th	36	Alex Lynn	DS Virgin Racing	37	+7.672s	1:17.296	8
7th	16	Oliver Turvey	NIO Formula E Team	37	+11.818s	1:17.747	6
8th	6	José María López	Dragon Racing	37	+12.612s	1:16.811	5
9th	7	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Dragon Racing	37	+22.242s	1:17.030	2
10th	5	Maro Engel	Venturi Formula E Team	37	+26.293s	1:17.494	1
11th	28	António Félix da Costa	Andretti Formula E	37	+27.335s	1:17.573
12th	18	André Lotterer	Techeetah	37	+38.731s	1:17.679
13th	68	Luca Filippi	NIO Formula E Team	37	+39.926s	1:17.427
14th	66	Daniel Abt	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	37	+43.139s	1:17.381
15th	8	Nicolas Prost	Renault e.Dams	37	+47.194s	1:17.241
16th	27	Tom Blomqvist	Andretti Formula E	37	+59.299s	1:17.519
17th	4	Edoardo Mortara	Venturi Formula E Team	36	+1 Lap	1:18.420
Ret	9	Sébastien Buemi	Renault e.Dams	29	Damage	1:17.843
Ret	3	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Jaguar Racing	25	Driveshaft	1:18.218
Ret	23	Nick Heidfeld	Mahindra Racing	1	Electrical	1:33.413
Source:

• Indicates a driver was awarded FanBoost during the race.

Milestones

• Third E-Prix to be staged in Punta del Este and Uruguay.
• Twentieth E-Prix for Oliver Turvey.
• Third career victory for Jean-Éric Vergne.
• Techeetah claimed their third victory as an entrant.
• Maiden fastest lap set by José María López.
• Renault e.Dams failed to score at an E-Prix for the first time in FE history.

Standings

Pole and victory combined for Jean-Éric Vergne meant that he had a commanding lead in the Championship leaving South America, the Frenchman some 30 points clear of second placed Felix Rosenqvist. The Swede would still be content with his recovery drive from a poor qualifying result, meaning he just stayed ahead of Sam Bird in third. Elsewhere Mitch Evans moved into sixth, while Lucas di Grassi shot up into the top ten for the first time all season.

Techeetah continued to lead the way in the Teams' Championship, their advantage over Mahindra Racing creeping up to 27 points. The Indian squad would have to rediscover their early season form if they wanted any hope of catching the customer Renault team, having been reeled in by the two British teams just behind. This time it was DS Virgin Racing who left an E-Prix in third, moving ahead of Jaguar Racing, while the factory Renault e.Dams team remained in fifth, now just a point ahead of arch-rivals Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler.

 

2017/18 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Jean-Éric Vergne 109 ◄0 2nd Felix Rosenqvist 79 ◄0 3rd Sam Bird 76 ◄0 4th Sébastien Buemi 52 ◄0 5th Nelson Piquet Jr. 45 ◄0 6th Mitch Evans 41 ▲1 7th Daniel Abt 37 ▼1 8th Oliver Turvey 32 ▲1 9th Edoardo Mortara 28 ▼1 10th Lucas di Grassi 21 ▲9 11th Nick Heidfeld 21 ▼1 12th André Lotterer 18 ▼1 13th Alex Lynn 17 ◄0 14th António Félix da Costa 16 ▼2 15th José María López 13 ▼1 16th Maro Engel 7 ◄0 17th Nicolas Prost 7 ▼2 18th Jérôme d'Ambrosio 6 ▼1 19th Tom Blomqvist 4 ▼1 20th Luca Filippi 1 ◄0

2017/18 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Techeetah 127 ◄0 2nd Mahindra Racing 100 ◄0 3rd DS Virgin Racing 93 ▲1 4th Jaguar Racing 86 ▼1 5th Renault e.Dams 59 ◄0 6th Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler 58 ◄0 7th Venturi Formula E Team 35 ◄0 8th NIO Formula E Team 33 ◄0 9th Andretti Formula E 20 ◄0 10th Dragon Racing 19 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.

References

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