Lucas di Grassi Crowned New Formula E World Champion; Mahindra Finish 3rd
Highlights
- All three seasons of Formula E have had different champions
- Mahindra's Rosenqvist finished the Montreal ePrix in second place
- Mahindra secured third place in the Season 3 Team Standings
Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport driver Lucas di Grassi has been crowned as the 2016-17 FIA Formula E World Champion. di Grassi finished a solid seventh place in the Montreal ePrix, raking up the much need points to dethrone title contender Sebastian Buemi. The Renault driver faced a troublesome weekend, which allowed di Grassi to play the odds to finish the final race of the season with a six point lead. That was enough to seal his championship title as the Buemi finished second. Mahindra Racing took home the third place as Felix Rosenqvist finished second in the ePrix and third on the points table. This also marks ABT Schaeffler's first ever win in Formula E in its three seasons.
Facing a terrible weekend, Buemi started the race in 13th place, which ensured any chances of him winning the championship title out. The Renault driver needed a podium finish to secure the required points. With things already looking south, Buemi picked rear bodywork damage at Turn 1 after Stephane Sarrazin spun following contact from Daniel Abt. This led to Buemi's being flagged into the pits for repairs. The contact happened while he was in 11th place, but the unexpected repairs moved him all the way to the end. Nevertheless, the Renault e.dams driver showed some incredible pace in the remaining laps and managed to finish 11th.
Things were a lot more heated up at the front as Mahindra's Felix Rosenqvist led the way taking the Julius Baer Pole Position. While Rosenqvist led the race, he was also using more energy than the closely following Jean-Eric Vergne of Techeetah. This meant that Rosenqvist had to pit a lap earlier than Vergne with the latter using his energy more cautiously.
With Vergne eventually taking the lead, Felix was now eyeing the second position and managed to comfortably retain it throughout the remainder of the race.
Lucas di Grassi won the Formula E Season 3 championship title with a lead of 181 points, while Sebastian Buemi finished second with 157 points. Felix Rosenqvist had temporarily lost his third place after Race 1 in Montreal, but the impressive podium finish in the final race pushed him back to third with 127 points. DS Virgin Racing's Sam Bird took the fourth spot with a close 125 points.
In team standings, Renault e.Dams continued its dominance with 268 points, while Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport took the second spot with 248 points. After an extremely positive season, Mahinda Racing finished third with 215 points, ahead of DS Virgin Racing and Techeetah. Making its debut this season, Jaguar finished last in the team standings.