2016 Paris ePrix
The 2016 Paris ePrix (formally the 2016 Visa Paris ePrix) was a Formula E electric car race held on 23 April 2016 at the Circuit des Invalides in the Les Invalides building complex. A total of 20,000 people attended the race. It was the seventh round of the 2015–16 Formula E Championship and the first Paris ePrix. The 45-lap race was won by Audi Sport ABT driver Lucas di Grassi starting from second position. Jean-Éric Vergne finished second for Virgin and e.Dams-Renault's Sébastien Buemi took third. It was di Grassi's second consecutive victory after the Long Beach ePrix, his third of the season and the fourth of his career.
2016 Paris ePrix | |||||
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Race 7 of 10 of the 2015–16 Formula E Championship
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Layout of the Paris Street Circuit | |||||
Race details | |||||
Date | 23 April 2016 | ||||
Official name | 2016 Visa Paris ePrix | ||||
Location | Circuit des Invalides, Les Invalides, Paris, France | ||||
Course | Street circuit | ||||
Course length | 1.93 km (1.2 miles) | ||||
Distance | 45 laps, 86.85 km (54 miles) | ||||
Weather | Cold and cloudy | ||||
Pole position | |||||
Driver | Virgin | ||||
Time | 1.01.616 | ||||
Fastest lap | |||||
Driver | Nick Heidfeld | Mahindra | |||
Time | 1.02.323 on lap 39 | ||||
Podium | |||||
First | Audi Sport ABT | ||||
Second | Virgin | ||||
Third | e.dams-Renault | ||||
Lap leaders |
Sam Bird won the pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying but was passed by di Grassi at the start due to a mapping problem that gave him excess wheelspin. Bird could not retake the lead from di Grassi who drew clear from him and got into a battle with his teammate Vergne as Buemi was moving through the field and drew closer to the pair. After the pit stops for the mandatory switch into a second car, di Grassi kept the lead and continued pulling away from the pack and looked set to win comfortably until the race ended under the safety car for a crash involving Ma Qinghua on lap 40.
The consequences of the final positions increased di Grassi's Drivers' Championship lead over Buemi to 11 points while Bird retained third position despite an late race error. Jérôme d'Ambrosio maintained fourth but his lead over the fifth-placed Stéphane Sarrazin was reduced to six points. In the Teams' Championship, e.Dams-Renault grew their lead over Audi Sport ABT by one point and Virgin drew closer to Dragon in third with three rounds left in the season.