Hong Kong ePrix – Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler driver Daniel Abt took his maiden Formula E win after Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara spun from the lead late in the race.
An issue with the start lights meant the race begun behind the safety car. Polesitter Felix Rosenqvist spun at Turn 1 and dropped to 11th, handing the lead to rookie Mortara who built up a three-second lead over Abt.
The Venturi driver maintained his advantage until, with two laps to go, he spun on the way into Turn 2, gifting Abt the win for his 25th birthday and Audi’s first win in Formula E as a works team.
Mortara held on to third, giving Venturi their second podium finish, and its first since 2016 Long Beach ePrix.
Rosenqvist recovered to finish second. Having come back through the field to 7th, he got himself back onto the podium placings during the pit stop phase. He also set the fastest lap for an extra world championship point.
Mitch Evans held fourth for Jaguar ahead of Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne, and Sam Bird who fought his way up from 14th on the grid following a 10-place grid penalty.
Oliver Turvey was seventh for NIO, ahead of Maro Engel who started 15th, Nico Prost and Alex Lynn completed the top ten.
Sebastien Buemi did not manage to score points from last on the grid, finishing 11th, which continues his longest run of non-points scores of his Formula E career.
Reigning champion Lucas di Grassi also did not score points after his car stopped on track shortly before his pit stop. He finished 15th.
Antonio Felix da Costa was running in fourth for Andretti, and looking to pass Evans for the podium, but his second car did not start and needed to be reset during the pit stop, reducing him to a 12th place finish.
Nick Heidfeld also stopped on track which dropped him out of points-scoring contention, finishing 17th.
Andre Lotterer crashed on the final corner of the race, but still passed the timing beam in 14th.
Rookie Luca Filippi was the only retirement, after a broken track rod forced the Italian to pit early.
