Vergne resists Di Grassi pressure for Punta del Este win 

Jean-Eric Vergne held off Lucas di Grassi to claim a tense victory at the Punta del Este E-Prix and extend his lead in the 2017/2018 Formula E Championship. 

Vergne held off sustained pressure and multiple attacks from the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler driver in what was a masterful demonstration in defensive driving to seal his and Techeetah’s second win of the campaign, extending his lead in the drivers’ standings to 30 points over Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist in the process. 

DS Virgin’s Sam Bird recovered well from ninth on the grid to seal the final spot on the podium. The Briton threatened to make it a three-way battle for the lead in the closing stages, but a mistake meant he finished 2.6s down at the chequered flag. 

Vergne, who inherited pole position after Di Grassi saw his Superpole effort deleted due to a track limits infringement, made a brilliant start but could not shrug off a determined di Grassi. 

After switching cars, the Frenchman regained his lead once the out-of-sync Nico Prost had pitted, but he was forced to pull off some robust defending to keep di Grassi behind when the reigning champion sized up a move at the Turn 16/17 chicane on Lap 21. 

Di Grassi locked up and narrowly avoided contact with the barriers, dropping 1.2s adrift. He was soon back on Vergne’s gearbox, launching another challenge at the final corner with just three laps remaining. The pair made slight contact and remained separated by less than half a second in the final laps, but Vergne held on to claim a crucial victory. 

Mitch Evans turned in a remarkable recovery drive from 16th on the grid to claim fourth place, having been disqualified from Superpole after a weight issue was detected on his Jaguar car. Evans fended off a Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist, who had to settle with fifth following his own charge through the field, despite starting the race from 12th. 

Alex Lynn made a promising start from third in the second DS Virgin car, but lost out to teammate Bird in the pit stop window and faded as the race went on, crossing the line sixth ahead of NIO’s Oliver Turvey. 

Jose Maria Lopez came out on top at Dragon to lead home teammate Jerome d’Ambrosio in eighth with the duo making the most of an alternative strategy to claim a double points finish for the team, while Venturi’s Maro Engel narrowly beat Antonio Felix da Costa to seal the final point in 10th. 

Andre Lotterer struggled with energy consumption as he finished a low-key 12th for Techeetah, ahead of Luca Fillipi and Mexico City winner Daniel Abt, who was forced to make an unscheduled second pit stop when his seatbelt became loose. 

Prost could only manage 15th on what was a day to forget for the Renault e.dams squad, with season two champion Sebastien Buemi ending the race in the pits after suffering damage from a hit with the barriers during the early stages. 

Andretti’s Tom Blomqvist and Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara were the other classified finishers, with Nelson Piquet Jr parking his Jaguar in the garage after 25 laps. Nick Heidfield ended a torrid day with retirement on the opening lap after encountering a car problem.