Di Grassi wins in Puebla after Wehrlein disqualification

Lucas di Grassi clinched his first win of the season in the first round of the Puebla E-Prix. This is his first win in the series since Season 5. 

The Brazilian finished the race in P2, behind today’s poleman Pascal Wehrlein. However, seconds after the chequered flag was waved, the German driver got disqualified, and di Grassi was promoted to the top step of the podium. 

This way, Audi conquered a 1-2 finish as teammate Rene Rast finished in second position. Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara came third. 

Wehrlein was disqualified because Porsche did not declare the tyres. This meant that teammate Andre Lotterer was disqualified as well. 

The German had dominated most of the race, having a clean start and keeping his P1 spot despite some minor position switches to get his Attack Modes. 

Oliver Rowland, who had dominated in the free practice sessions and qualified in second place, could not properly start and lost several positions. This meant that the BMW duo of Maximilian Guenther and Jake Dennis jumped to P2 and P3, respectively, quickly going on the hunt for the top of the standings. 

Guenther and Dennis remained on the charge to overtake Wehrlein for most of the race, until he was passed by the Audi duo in the last laps of the race. The German lost several positions, finishing in P12, while the Brit was able to remain in the Top 10, finishing fifth. 

The first incident of the race happened shortly after the start, as Virgin’s Nick Cassidy crashed, damaging the front of his car and having to retire from the race.

In the same part of the track, several laps later, Sam Bird also crashed his Jaguar car after making contact with Mahindra’s Alex Lynn and quit the race as well. 

Three more retirements took place in Puebla, as both Nissan drivers, who had a nightmare of a race, could not finish, and Vergne had issues on his car after activating his Attack Mode which impeded him to continue his race. 

Alexander Sims sneaked into the Top 5, finishing fourth, while the Top 10 was completed by Antonio Felix da Costa, Stoffel Vandoorne, Mitch Evans, Nyck de Vries, and Alex Lynn.