Race details | |||
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Race 1 of 12 of the 2016–17 Formula E season | |||
Date | 9 October 2016 | ||
Official name | 2016 FIA Formula E HKT Hong Kong ePrix | ||
Location | Hong Kong Central Harbourfront Circuit, Hong Kong | ||
Course | Street circuit | ||
Course length | 1.860 km (1.155 mi) | ||
Distance | 45 laps, 83.700 km (51.795 mi) | ||
Weather | Warm | ||
Attendance | 30,000 | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | NextEV NIO | ||
Time | 1:03.099 | ||
Fastest lap | |||
Driver | Felix Rosenqvist | Mahindra | |
Time | 1:02.947 on lap 36 | ||
Podium | |||
First | e.Dams Renault | ||
Second | Audi Sport ABT | ||
Third | Mahindra | ||
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The 2016 Hong Kong ePrix (formally the 2016 FIA Formula E HKT Hong Kong ePrix) was a Formula E motor race held on 9 October 2016, before a crowd of 30,000 people at the Hong Kong Central Harbourfront Circuit in Hong Kong. It was the first race of the 2016–17 Formula E season and the inaugural running of the event as part of the championship. The 45-lap race was won by Renault e.Dams driver Sébastien Buemi who started from seventh place. Lucas di Grassi finished second for ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport and Mahindra Racing driver Nick Heidfeld came in third.
Nelson Piquet Jr. won the pole position and maintained his startline advantage on the first lap. He pulled away from the rest of the field and held first place until he was unable to react to José María López's crashed car on the 17th lap allowing Sam Bird to move into the lead. Some drivers elected to make pit stops to switch to a second car with Bird choosing to remain on the circuit until his own stop eight laps later. He had trouble with his second car and Buemi inherited the first position. di Grassi was no more than two seconds behind Buemi but was unable to get close enough to challenge him because he had to conserve electrical energy usage and Buemi remained the leader for the rest of the race to win. There were three lead changes among four different drivers during the course of the race.
It was Buemi's first victory of the season and the seventh of his Formula E career. The result meant Buemi led the Drivers' Championship with 25 points, seven ahead of di Grassi and ten in front of Heidfeld. Buemi's teammate Nicolas Prost was fourth on 12 points with António Félix da Costa rounding out the top five with ten points. Renault e.Dams held a 19-point advantage over joint second place teams ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport and MS Amlin Andretti. Mahindra Racing were nine points ahead of the fifth-placed NextEV with eleven races left in the season.