Harman Patil (Editor)

2014 Beijing ePrix

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Date
  
13 September 2014

Course length
  
3.44 km (2.14 mi)

Course
  
Street circuit

2014 Beijing ePrix

Official name
  
2014 FIA Formula E Evergrande Spring Beijing ePrix

Location
  
Beijing Olympic Green Circuit, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China

Distance
  
25 laps, 86.0 km (53.5 mi)

The 2014 Beijing ePrix, formally the 2014 FIA Formula E Evergrande Spring Beijing ePrix, was a Formula E motor race that was held on 13 September 2014 at the Beijing Olympic Green Circuit in Beijing, China. It was the first Championship race of the single-seater, electrically powered racing car series' inaugural season. The race was won by Lucas di Grassi for the Audi Sport ABT team, ahead of Franck Montagny and Sam Bird.

Contents

Race

Nicolas Prost claimed pole position for the race for the e.dams-Renault team and, with the exception of one lap during the pit stops, led the race up until the final corner. That was the moment when Nick Heidfeld had closed the gap to Prost and made an overtaking manoeuvre. Prost attempted to block the move, but hit Heidfeld, sending the German driver into a spin. Heidfeld's car then hit the kerb sideways, and flipped into the barrier. The collision forced both drivers to retire from the race, and Lucas Di Grassi went through to claim victory. Montagny finished second, while Daniel Abt was third on track, but was penalised 57 seconds for exceeding "the maximum permitted electrical power during the race," relegating him to tenth position, which promoted Bird to the final place on the podium. Jaime Alguersuari and Katherine Legge also received 57-second penalties for the same transgression.

Despite his retirement, Prost collected three championship points for his pole position, and Takuma Sato, who was also unable to complete the race, gained two points for recording the fastest lap of the race. During the race, three drivers were able to gain benefit from a "fan boost" which gave them an extra 30 kilowatts of power for two five-second stints. The drivers voted to receive this were Bruno Senna, Legge, and Di Grassi. However, none of the drivers actually used the boost of energy during the race, leading the organization to mandate the use for coming races.

Qualifying

Notes:

  • ^1 – Franck Montagny dropped three places on the grid for entering the fast lane during qualifying before the green light.
  • ^2 – Michela Cerruti, Ho-Pin Tung, Sébastien Buemi, Stéphane Sarrazin and Jarno Trulli all received a 10-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change. Tung eventually started from the pitlane.

    • Race

    Notes:

  • ^1 – Daniel Abt, Jaime Alguersuari and Katherine Legge received a 57-second penalty for exceeding the allowed battery usage limit of 208kW.
  • ^2 – Three points for pole position.
  • ^3 – Two points for fastest lap.

    • Standings after the race

  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

    • References

    2014 Beijing ePrix Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA