Di Grassi dominates Berlin ePrix, stripped of win (Update)

UPDATE Race winner Lucas di Grassi has been excluded from the DHL Berlin ePrix after his Audi Sport ABT car was found to have been running with a modified front wing.

The race-winning car failed post-race scrutineering where it was discovered that the front wing fairings had been modified to include internal metal reinforcing rods. In addition the stewards found that six of the eight holes in the front wing had been sealed. The remaining two holes were found to have had helicoil inserts and chamfers made and that the front flap and gurney LH 220 has a filler layer added and chamfer made.

The team argued that these changes were made as a result of repairs and that they offered no competitive advantage, however, they were deemed to be in breach of Article 3.1 of 2014/2015 FIA Formula E Technical Regulations and the exclusion was made.

Audi Sport ABT has decided not to appeal the decision.

The decision means that Jerome D'Ambrosio is now the winner of the race and Nelson Piquet Jr is now in the lead of the championship, 10 points ahead of di Grassi.

FIA Formula E Championship – DHL Berlin ePrix (Rd 8) – Race results:

1. Jerome D'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing, 48:26.566
2. Sebastien Buemi, e.dams-Renault, +2.433s
3. Loic Duval, Dragon Racing, +3.508s
4. Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV TCR, +3.975s
5. Nick Heidfeld, Venturi, +13.046s
6. Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, +13.335s
7. Jean-Eric Vergne, Andretti, +13.678s
8. Sam Bird, Virgin Racing, +14.055s
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Trulli, +15.636s
10. Nicolas Prost, e.dams-Renault, +16.602s
11. Antonio Felix da Costa, Amlin Aguri, +16.797s
12. Jaime Alguersuari, Virgin Racing, +20.594s
13. Scott Speed, Andretti, +21.149s
14. Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT, +23.668s
15. Charles Pic, NEXTEV TCR, +25.491s
16. Salvador Duran, Amlin Aguri, +44.137s
17. Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, +46.257s
18. Karun Chandhok, Mahindra Racing, +52.703s
19. Jarno Trulli, Trulli, +2 laps

EXC Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT

Driver Standings

Nelson Piquet Jr – 103

Sebastien Buemi – 101

Lucas di Grassi – 93

Nicolas Prost – 78

Jerome D’Ambrosio – 77

Sam Bird – 68

Antonio Felix da Costa – 45

Jean-Eric Vergne – 40

Jaime Alguersuari – 30

Bruno Senna – 28

Team Standings

e.dams-Renault – 179

Dragon Racing – 116

Audi Sport ABT – 115

NEXTEV TCR – 107

Virgin Racing – 98

Andretti – 88

Amlin Aguri – 48

Mahindra Racing – 46

Venturi – 34

Trulli – 17

05/23/2015

Dragon Racing's Jerome D'Ambrosio was second more than seven seconds behind di Grassi with Sebastien Buemi third. Loic Duval and Nelson Piquet, Jr. rounded out the top-five.

The win extended di Grassi's lead in the championship to 18 points over Buemi and Piquet, who are in a tie for second-place.

Next up for the world's first all-electric racing series will be the Moscow ePrix on June 6th.

Results

Pos.	Driver	Team	Gap
1	Lucas di Grassi	Abt	48m18.980s
2	Jerome D'Ambrosio	Dragon	7.586s
3	Sebastien Buemi	e.dams	10.019s
4	Loic Duval	Dragon	11.094s
5	Nelson Piquet Jr.	China	11.561s
6	Nick Heidfeld	Venturi	20.632s
7	Stephane Sarrazin	Venturi	20.921s
8	Jean-Eric Vergne	Andretti	21.264s
9	Sam Bird	Virgin	21.641s
10	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Trulli	23.222s
11	Nicolas Prost	e.dams	24.188s
12	Antonio Felix da Costa	Aguri	24.383s
13	Jaime Alguersuari	Virgin	28.180s
14	Scott Speed	Andretti	28.735s
15	Daniel Abt	Abt	31.274s
16	Karun Chandhok	Mahindra	32.289s
17	Charles Pic	China	33.077s
18	Salvador Duran	Aguri	51.743s
19	Bruno Senna	Mahindra	53.843s
20	Jarno Trulli	Trulli	2 Laps

05/23/15

Championship Standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Lucas di Grassi	118
2	Nelson Piquet Jr.	101
3	Sebastien Buemi	98
4	Nicolas Prost	77
5	Jerome D'Ambrosio	70
6	Sam Bird	66
7	Antonio Felix da Costa	45
8	Jean-Eric Vergne	38
9	Jaime Alguersuari	30
10	Bruno Senna	28
11	Daniel Abt	22
12	Loic Duval	20
13	Scott Speed	18
14	Franck Montagny	18
15	Karun Chandhok	18
16	Charles Pic	16
17	Oriol Servia	16
18	Stephane Sarrazin	16
19	Jarno Trulli	15
20	Nick Heidfeld	14
21	Takuma Sato	2
22	Vitantonio Liuzzi	1
23	Salvador Duran	1