Mexico ePrix (update): di Grassi disqualified, d’Ambrosio takes the victory!
Brilliant winner on the track, Lucas di Grassi was disqualified by the panel of commissioners due to a non-compliant car weight. Loic Duval, on the other hand, was penalized with a time penalty. These sanctions have direct consequences on the various standings.
Lucas di Grassi was excluded from the results of the Mexico ePrix, handing his victory to Jérôme d’Ambrosio.
Victorious last night at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the post-race inspection of his car proved fatal. After weighing, the stewards found his Abt Schaeffler to weigh 886.2 kg, which is 1.8 kg below the minimum required weight of 888 kg. Acknowledging their mistake, the team decided not to appeal the sanction. Hans-Jurgen Abt, Team Principal of the eponymous team, also wished to offer his sincerest apologies to his fallen hero.
Team Principal Hans-Jürgen Abt says: “Lucas did a fantastic race today and deserves the win. All we can do right now is to deeply apologize”
— ABT Formula E Team (@abt_formula_e) 13 mars 2016
Jérôme d’Ambrosio therefore reaps the laurels of success. This situation had already occurred during season 1. In Berlin, Lucas di Grassi had already claimed victory on the track before conceding it afterward to the Dragon Racing team driver. d’Ambrosio thus obtains the second victory of his Formula E career, without, however, stepping onto the top podium spot!
The celebration was not complete for Dragon, however, as Loic Duval was also penalized after repeatedly cutting the first chicane and ignoring the stewards’ reprimands during the race. Nevertheless, the Frenchman was “only” given a 15-second penalty, added to his final ranking. He thus exchanges his third place with Nico Prost, who also recovers the two points for the fastest lap initially awarded to Jérôme d’Ambrosio (whose time was canceled for also cutting the first chicane).
Further ahead, the exclusion of di Grassi promoted Robin Frijns to fifth position. The Dutchman from the Andretti team is ahead of Sam Bird, Daniel Abt, Nick Heidfeld, Stéphane Sarrazin, while Bruno Senna takes the point for tenth place.
This decision by the race stewards carries significant consequences for the Drivers’ Championship standings.
di Grassi is now 22 points behind Sébastien Buemi.
| Driver | Team | Points | |
| 1 | S. Buemi | Renault e.Dams | 98 |
| 2 | L. di Grassi | ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport | 76 |
| 3 | S. Bird | DS Virgin Racing | 60 |
| 4 | J. d’Ambrosio | Dragon Racing | 58 |
| 5 | L. Duval | Dragon Racing | 44 |
| 6 | N. Prost | Renault e.Dams | 38 |
| 7 | R. Frijns | Andretti | 31 |
| 8 | S. Sarrazin | Venturi | 30 |
| 9 | N. Heidfeld | Mahindra Racing | 27 |
| 10 | A. da Costa | Team Aguri | 16 |
| 11 | D. Abt | ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport | 16 |
| 12 | B. Senna | Mahindra Racing | 12 |
| 13 | O. Turvey | NEXTEV TCR | 10 |
| 14 | J-E. Vergne | DS Virgin Racing | 6 |
| 15 | N. Piquet Jr | NEXTEV TCR | 4 |
| 16 | N. Berthon | Team Aguri | 4 |
| 17 | S. De Silvestro | Andretti | 0 |
| 18 | J. Villeneuve | Venturi | 0 |
| 19 | M. Conway | Venturi | 0 |
| 20 | O. Rowland | Venturi | 0 |
| 21 | S. Duran | Team Aguri | 0 |
Same observation for the Constructors’ Championship: Renault e.Dams pulls ahead of its main pursuers: Dragon Racing and ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport!
| Team | Points | |
| 1 | Renault e.Dams | 136 |
| 2 | Dragon Racing | 102 |
| 3 | ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport | 92 |
| 4 | DS Virgin Racing | 66 |
| 5 | Mahindra Racing | 39 |
| 6 | Andretti | 31 |
| 7 | Venturi | 30 |
| 8 | Team Aguri | 20 |
| 9 | NEXTEV TCR | 14 |
Formula E now invites you to join on Saturday, April 2nd for the Long Beach ePrix, the sixth round of the 2015-2016 season!
