Di Grassi stripped of Mexico Formula E win
Lucas Di Grassi has been excluded from the final race results of the Mexico ePrix after failing a post-race scrutineering weight check.
Photo by: Jose Mario Dias
The decision means that Jerome d’Ambrosio has been declared the winner of the inaugural Mexico City race.
The Abt Schaeffler FE01 that Di Grassi used in the first stint failed the minimum weight of 888 kilograms as dictated by article 5.1 of the FIA Formula E technical regulations. The car was weighed at 886.2kgs and as a result disqualified from the results.
The team has yet to make public if it will appeal the decision.
It is the second time in the space of a year that Di Grassi has lost a maximum points score after he was also denied a win at the Berlin ePrix last May. On that occasion the team was penalised for modifying a portion of the front wing and wheel fairings on its car.
Coincidentally d’Ambrosio’s Dragon Racing car was promoted to first place on that occasion also.
The Belgian was given his own post-race penalty as he lost the fastest lap and thus lost out on an ultimate perfect score in Mexico. Nicolas Prost took the extra points for the fastest lap after d’Ambrosio’s penalty.
Ballast may be used in Formula E, however it must be located on the keel, secured directly with a minimum of four M8 threads under the survival cell and in such a way that tools are required for its removal.
Di Grassi’s disqualification means Sebastien Buemi now leads the standings by 29 points.
Duval penalised; Prost elevated to third place
Loic Duval, meanwhile, lost his fourth place finish in Mexico after he was deemed to have missed the third chicane several times and also not respected a warning flag.
The Dragon Racing driver had finished the race in fourth position after Nicolas Prost was served with a drive-through penalty and Daniel Abt crashed on the penultimate lap.
However, the Frenchman is now demoted to fourth place (after Di Grassi’s exclusion), while Prost moves up to the bottom rung of the podium.
Before the stewards decision, Duval spoke to Motorsport.com and explained: “I had a small issue with I think the steering column. The car was massively heavy so I was struggling, especially on right-hand corners and I had to be cautious and careful.
"That was the reason I cut the last chicane as I couldn’t turn absolutely.”
Revised race results:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Dragon Racing | Venturi VM200-FE-01 | 48:28.409 |
2 | Sebastien Buemi | DAMS | Renault Z.E.15 | +0.106 |
3 | Nicolas Prost | DAMS | Renault Z.E.15 | +25.537 |
4 | Loic Duval | Dragon Racing | Venturi VM200-FE-01 | +26.358 |
5 | Robin Frijns | Andretti Autosport | Spark SRT_01E | +28.477 |
6 | Sam Bird | Virgin Racing | Virgin DSV-01 | +28.928 |
7 | Daniel Abt | Audi Sport Team Abt | ABT Schaeffler FE01 | +30.051 |
8 | Nick Heidfeld | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra M2ELECTRO | +36.373 |
9 | Stephane Sarrazin | Venturi | Venturi VM200-FE-01 | +37.291 |
10 | Bruno Senna | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra M2ELECTRO | +37.603 |
11 | Oliver Turvey | China Racing | NEXTEV TCR FormulaE 001 | +38.598 |
12 | Mike Conway | Venturi | Venturi VM200-FE-01 | +38.790 |
13 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | China Racing | NEXTEV TCR FormulaE 001 | +42.351 |
14 | Simona de Silvestro | Andretti Autosport | Spark SRT_01E | +43.971 |
15 | Salvador Duran | Team Aguri | Spark SRT_01E | +1:03.082 |
16 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Virgin Racing | Virgin DSV-01 | +1 lap |
DQ | Lucas di Grassi | Audi Sport Team Abt | ABT Schaeffler FE01 | |
R | Antonio Felix da Costa | Team Aguri | Spark SRT_01E |
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