Polesitter Antonio Felix da Costa held off defending series champion Jean-Eric Vergne to kick off the 2018-19 Formula E Championship season with a win Saturday in the Ad Diriyah E-Prix in Saudi Arabia.
Vergne had a chance for the win, but his chances were significantly hurt by a drive-through penalty mid-way through the race for technical infringement.
Jerome D’Ambrosio finished third to round out the podium.
AD DIRIYAH, SAUDI ARABIA - DECEMBER 15: Antonio Felix da Costa (PRT), BMW I Andretti Motorsports, BMW iFE.18, Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA), DS TECHEETAH, DS E-Tense FE19 and Jerome d’Ambrosio (BEL), Mahindra Racing, M5 Electro on the podium during the Formula E Championship Ad Diriyah E-Prix on December 15, 2018 in Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Sam Bloxham/Handout/Getty Images)
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The race marked the debut of Formula E’s new Gen-2 car.
Da Costa, who drives for BMW/Andretti Motorsport, led most of the way through the first 18 laps of the 33-lap event before Vergne took the lead and began to pull away.
Shortly afterward, however, Vergne was penalized for exceeding the maximum amount of power permitted during his first attack mode activation.
Vergne dropped back in the pack, while Da Costa regained the lead on Lap 24, as a result, and held on the rest of the way.
Da Costa won by 0.4 seconds and earned his first Formula E win since the 2014/2015 season.
D’Ambrosio finished third, followed by Mitch Evans in fourth and Andre Lotterer in fifth.
AD DIRIYAH, SAUDI ARABIA - DECEMBER 15: Antonio Felix da Costa (PRT), BMW I Andretti Motorsports, BMW iFE.18, drives under the podium after winning the race during the Formula E Championship Ad Diriyah E-Prix on December 15, 2018 in Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Joe Portlock/Handout/Getty Images)
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Other notable finishers included Nelson Piquet Jr. (10th) and former Formula One driver Felipe Massa finished 14th in his first-ever Formula E race.
Felix Rosenqvist, who will drive in IndyCar this coming season for Chip Ganassi Racing, was last in the 20-driver field, failing to finish after having mechanical problems early in the race.
Here are the results from today’s race:
| More | Pos | Driver | Team | Started | Best | Time | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | #28 António Félix DA COSTA | BMW I ANDRETTI MOTORSPORT | 1 | 1:13:265 | 0:46:29:377 | 28 | |
2 | #25 Jean-Éric VERGNE | DS TECHEETAH FORMULA E TEAM | 5 | 1:12:750 | + 462 | 18 | |
3 | #64 Jérôme D’AMBROSIO | MAHINDRA RACING | 6 | 1:13:830 | + 4:033 | 15 | |
4 | #20 Mitch EVANS | PANASONIC JAGUAR RACING | 8 | 1:13:427 | + 5:383 | 12 | |
5 | #36 André LOTTERER | DS TECHEETAH FORMULA E TEAM | 7 | 1:12:591 | + 5:579 | 11 | |
6 | #23 Sébastien BUEMI | NISSAN E.DAMS | 3 | 1:13:397 | + 6:625 | 8 | |
7 | #22 Oliver ROWLAND | NISSAN E.DAMS | 14 | 1:14:026 | + 9:105 | 6 | |
8 | #66 Daniel ABT | AUDI SPORT ABT SCHAEFFLER | 11 | 1:14:301 | + 9:819 | 4 | |
9 | #11 Lucas DI GRASSI | AUDI SPORT ABT SCHAEFFLER | 18 | 1:13:914 | + 10:936 | 2 | |
10 | #3 Nelson PIQUET JR. | PANASONIC JAGUAR RACING | 15 | 1:14:803 | + 11:564 | 1 | |
11 | #2 Sam BIRD | ENVISION VIRGIN RACING | 19 | 1:14:307 | + 11:747 | 0 | |
12 | #4 Robin FRIJNS | ENVISION VIRGIN RACING | 20 | 1:13:735 | + 12:189 | 0 | |
13 | #16 Oliver TURVEY | NIO FORMULA E TEAM | 21 | 1:14:343 | + 13:104 | 0 | |
14 | #19 Felipe MASSA | VENTURI FORMULA E TEAM | 12 | 1:13:950 | + 13:610 | 0 | |
15 | #8 Tom DILLMANN | NIO FORMULA E TEAM | 22 | 1:13:205 | + 14:273 | 0 | |
16 | #6 Maximilian GÜNTHER | GEOX DRAGON | 16 | 1:14:018 | + 16:161 | 0 | |
17 | #5 Stoffel VANDOORNE | HWA RACELAB | 4 | 1:14:850 | + 20:013 | 0 | |
18 | #27 Alexander SIMS | BMW I ANDRETTI MOTORSPORT | 10 | 1:13:604 | + 47:712 | 0 | |
19 | #48 Edoardo MORTARA | VENTURI FORMULA E TEAM | 13 | 1:14:547 | 1 lap | 0 | |
0 | #7 José María LÓPEZ | GEOX DRAGON | 2 | 1:14:306 | – | 0 | |
0 | #17 Gary PAFFETT | HWA RACELAB | 9 | 1:16:654 | – | 0 | |
0 | #94 Felix ROSENQVIST | MAHINDRA RACING | 17 | 1:16:113 | – | 0 |
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