Match Details

Match Report

The 2017 Montreal ePrix (formally the 2017 FIA Formula E Hydro-Québec Montréal ePrix) were a pair of Formula E races held on 29 and 30 July 2017 at the Montreal Street Circuit in Montreal, Quebec before an two-day crowd of 45,000 people. There were the eleventh and twelfth races of the 2016–17 Formula E season and the inaugural running of the event. The first race, contested over 35 laps on 29 July, was won by Audi Sport ABT driver Lucas di Grassi after starting from pole position. Jean-Éric Vergne finished second for the Techeetah team and his teammate Stéphane Sarrazin came in third. The longer 37-lap race held the following day was won by Vergne from a third place start. Felix Rosenqvist took second for the Mahindra team and Virgin driver José María López secured a third-place finish.

Di Grassi won the pole position for the first race by recording the fastest lap in qualifying and held off an challenge from Sarrazin to maintain the lead at the start of the event. He pulled away from the field and attention focused on his championship rival Sébastien Buemi, demoted from second to twelfth on the starting grid for changing his battery, after sustaining steering arm damage on the first lap but was able to move up the field during the course of the race. The race was neutralised with a full course yellow flag when Loïc Duval and Nick Heidfeld collided on the 14th lap. Most drivers made pit stops to switch into a second car and di Grassi remained the leader following the end of the pit stops. Sarrazin ceded second to teammate Vergne who then started to draw closer to di Grassi but his chase was neutralised when López crashed on lap 24, necessitating the safety car's deployment. Di Grassi kept the lead at the restart five laps later and held off Vergne for the remainder of the race to secure his second victory of the season and the sixth of his career. No lead changes occurred as di Grassi was the only driver to lead laps in the first race.

Rosenqvist was the fastest driver for qualifying for the second race and maintained his startline advantage on the first lap. After Sarrazin spun at the first turn from contact with Daniel Abt and Nelson Piquet Jr., Buemi was hit from behind by António Félix da Costa , damaging his right-rear wheel guard which flailed in the wind before detaching itself. Buemi was required to make a pit stop which dropped him down the order. With more electrical energy to use, Vergne began attacking Rosenqvist for the lead after ten laps and took over the lead for one lap when the change into second cars began on the 18th lap. After the pit stops had been completed, Rosenqvist reclaimed the lead with a five-second advantage over Vergne who began regaining the lost time having made his stop one lap later than Rosenqvist. Vergne had more usage electrical energy and took advantage of Rosenqvist running slower to overtake him on the 29th lap. Vergne kept the lead for the rest of the ePrix to clinch his maiden Formula E victory. There were four lead changes among three different drivers during the course of the second race.

Di Grassi overturned Buemi's advantage in the Drivers' Championship and became the third champion in Formula E history with a 24-point advantage over his rival. Rosenqvist's performances enabled him to secure third, five points ahead of Sam Bird. Vergne's strong performance in both races allowed him to consolidate fifth position. Despite poor form in the second race, e.Dams-Renault secured their third consecutive Teams' Championship with a 20-point lead over their rivals Audi Sport ABT. Mahindra finished the season in third place with Virgin a further 25 points behind in fourth. Techeetah's strong performance in both races allowed the team to consolidate fifth place.

Practice and qualifying
As was the case for the previous day, two practice sessions—both on Sunday morning—were held before the late afternoon race. The first session ran for 45 minutes and the second lasted 30 minutes. Both practice sessions took place in dry and sunny weather conditions. In the third practice session, di Grassi used the maximum amount of power available to him and recorded the fastest time of one minute and 21.442 seconds late in the session, almost four-tenths of a second faster than Prost in second and his teammate Buemi followed in third. Félix da Costa was fourth-fastest, ahead of Rosenqvist and López. Bird, Evans, d'Ambrosio and Vergne followed in the top ten. Duval was investigated after colliding with Piquet's car heading into the first corner when he was overtaking the driver on the inside line. Rosenqvist set the fastest lap time of the fourth practice session at one minute and 21.183 seconds; Buemi was second and López third. Bird was fourth-quickest; Duval placed fifth and Abt sixth. Turvey was seventh-fastest, Vergne eighth, di Grassi ninth and Prost completed the top ten ahead of qualifying. Abt made minor contact with Prost in the first turn, damaging the latter's front wing, and puncturing Abt's right-rear tyre. The first yellow flag was prompted when Duval locked his tyres and slid into the chicane's run-off area, and a second was necessitated after Piquet locked his tyres, spun into the barrier at turn eleven, causing damage to his front wing. Evans narrowly avoided impacting the turn two barrier after locking his tyres driving into the corner. After second practice ended, Rosenqvist's qualifying car suffered a battery problem, forcing him to use his second vehicle while his team rebuilt his first car's powertrain by disassembling its rear-end.


Felix Rosenqvist (pictured in 2016) had the third pole position of his season.
Qualifying took place from early Sunday afternoon with four groups of five cars with the fastest five overall participants progressing into super pole. It was held in dry and warm weather conditions. In the first group of five cars, López set the fastest lap with Duval close behind in second. On his maximum power lap, Buemi locked his tyres going into the first turn, but despite going quicker in the second sector, could only muster a provisional third-place result. Engel and Carroll were the first group's slowest drivers. Rosenqvist set the pace in the second group and was followed by Vergne. Dillmann and d'Ambrosio took the next two placings with Evans the slowest competitor in the second group after heavily locking his tyres entering the first corner and had to regain control of his car. Piquet set the third group's quickest time, with Sarrazin placed second; the latter locked his brakes driving into turn one on his maximum power lap. Félix da Costa ran deep heading into the first turn and dealt with excessive oversteer throughout his lap, restricting him to third. Frijns, suffering similar problems to his teammate, followed in fourth, and Turvey was the third group's slowest competitor.

Bird set the fastest overall lap time in the fourth group at one minute and 22.012 seconds, four-tenths of a second faster than the second-placed Heidfeld. Di Grassi set the third quickest lap with Abt and Prost the fourth group's two slowest participants. At the end of group qualifying, the lap times set by Bird, Rosenqvist, Vergne, Heidfeld and di Grassi allowed them to advance into super pole. Rosenqvist clinched his third pole position of the season with a time of one minute and 22.344 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row Bird who was two-tenths of a second slower than Rosenqvist and appeared to go fastest by improving on his in the first sector but drifted in turn seven and voiced his disappointment over the radio. Vergne gained most of his time in the first sector and was clean for the rest of his lap to secure third. Despite complaining about his state of his brakes, Heidfeld took fourth. Di Grassi locked his rear brakes entering the first turn and oversteered through the corner. He was unable to regain any time and could only muster fifth. After qualifying, Prost was demoted twenty places on the starting grid because he changed his battery and inverter following a car bay fire after the first race. However, Prost did not take the full penalty which meant he started from the pit lane and ten seconds were added to his race time.

Race
The second race started at 16:00 local time. Weather conditions at the start of the event were dry and warm with an air temperature ranging from 27.05 to 27.75 °C (80.69 to 81.95 °F) and a track temperature between 30.55 and 31.10 °C (86.99 and 87.98 °F). When the race started, Rosenqvist steered to the left side of the track to maintain his pole position ahead of the battling Bird and Vergne going into the first corner. Di Grassi pressured Heidfeld but had a sudden loss in speed and fell behind Dillmann. Sarrazin made contact with Abt and Piquet in the first turn, and spun, causing a small traffic jam in which all cars were able to get past. As the field concertinaed through the first corner, Félix da Costa went into the right-rear corner of Buemi's car, causing his right rear wheel guard to detach and flail in the wind. Despite the loose bodywork piece coming off, Buemi was shown a black flag with an orange disc, requiring him to enter the pit lane to mend car damage. López made the best getaway in the field, moving from 11th to seventh by the end of the first lap, while Sarrazin's incident dropped him ten places over the same distance. At the end of the first lap, Rosenqvist led Vergne, Bird, Heidfeld, Dillmann, di Grassi, López, Abt, d'Ambrosio, Duval, Buemi, Félix da Costa, Piquet, Turvey, Engel, Evans, Frijns, Carroll, Sarrazin and Prost.

Buemi gained two positions before entering the pit lane, with the driver voicing his anger over the radio. Because the loose bodywork part had fallen off, Buemi was stationary in his pit stall for only a few seconds and rejoined the track in 19th, ahead of teammate Prost. D'Ambrosio battled Abt and passed him to move into eighth place but the German driver regained the position after driving through the next few turns on the circuit. Heidfeld overtook Bird to take over third position and Dillmann started to battle the British driver. At the front of the field, Rosenqvist and Vergne pulled clear from Bird and Heidfeld. With both e.Dams drivers running at the rear of the pack, the team faced a predicament of pushing to secure the Teams' Championship or consolidate Buemi's hold on the driver's title. After ten laps of the race had been completed, Vergne mounted an attack on Rosenqvist for the lead as the French driver having more electrical energy to use than the Mahindra car ahead of him but could not find any space to move in front. Heidfeld and Bird backed themselves into Dillmann's path, prompting him to apply his brakes early and allowed López to challenge for third position. Heidfeld then slowed, enabling Bird and his teammate López to overtake him.


Jean-Éric Vergne (pictured in 2016) took his first motor racing victory since competing in the 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 Series.
The mandatory change for drivers to switch into their second cars began on lap 18 when Engel and Piquet became the first two drivers to enter the pit lane. Rosenqvist followed on the next lap with Vergne, López and both Audi Sport ABT cars of di Grassi and Abt opting to remain on track for an additional lap to allow all four drivers to run in clean air. Di Grassi's strategy of staying out for one extra lap did not work as his pit stop lasted two seconds slower than the agreed minimum pit stop time, and emerged in tenth place, behind teammate Abt. Piquet duelled with di Grassi and the latter retained tenth position. Abt then ceded ninth position to teammate di Grassi. Prost led the field for one lap before making his pit stop. After the pit stops, Rosenqvist reclaimed the lead with a five-second advantage over Vergne. The time gaps in the field had extended significantly and most drivers attempted to close up to their rivals again. Both Audi Sport ABT drivers had been unable to make huge progress through the field which made improved the chances of e.Dams-Renault retaining the Teams' Championship. However di Grassi and teammate Abt overtook d'Ambrosio and drew closer to the battling Venturi cars of Engel and Dillmann. Di Grassi moved ahead of Dillmann on lap 27 and Buemi used FanBoost to take 15th place from Frijns.

Di Grassi forced Engel into committing an error and passed him to take over sixth place. Vergne had now drawn close to race leader Rosenqvist and took advantage of Rosenqvist lifting and coasting. This hindrance allowed Vergne to overtake Rosenqvist easily for first place heading towards turn three on the 29th lap. Vergne's higher top speed enabled him to pull away quickly from Rosenqvist. Prost entered the pit lane because his car had a problem, but record the race's fastest lap beforehand, completing a circuit in one minute and 23.444 seconds on the previous lap, earning him one championship point. Bird lost third place to teammate López after a closely contested battle which saw both drivers make contact. Both Audi Sport ABT drivers continued and drew closer to Heidfeld. With two laps remaining in the event, Frijns attempted to pass Duval but both drivers made contact and Duval ended his race in the barrier. Yellow flags were waved in the area but the safety car was not deployed. López caught Rosenqvist in the race's final laps but could not pass him.

Vergne held onto the lead for the remainder of the race to take his maiden Formula E victory after eight podium finishes in the preceding three seasons. Rosenqvist took second, eight-tenths of a second behind adrift with López in third, Bird fourth and Heidfeld fifth. Abt moved into sixth on the final lap, while teammate di Grassi finished seventh to secure his first Drivers' Championship. Sarrazin came back through the field and took eighth. D'Ambrosio and Dillmann rounded out the top-ten points-scoring positions. Buemi, Evans, Frijns, Carroll and Félix da Costa filled the next five places with Piquet, Turvey, Engel and Duval the last of the classified finishers. It was Vergne's first victory in any motor racing series since the 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 Series round at Circuit Paul Ricard. Di Grassi's title success meant he became the third champion in the history of Formula E and was the second Brazilian to win the title after Piquet in the 2014–15 season. There were four lead changes in the race; three drivers reached the front of the field. Rosenqvist's total of 25 laps led was the most of any competitor. Vergne led twice for a total of 11 laps.

Post-race
The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and in a later press conference. Vergne was happy with his maiden victory, saying it felt "extremely satisfying" as he endured a difficult season and it would improve his team's confidence in the future, "There were mistakes as a team but nevertheless, to get second places, double podiums and then a win today is an amazing feeling." He stated the win would put Techeetah's personnel in a positive state of mind and that they would return for the following the season as a stronger force in the series. Rosenqvist revealed that Bird was his main rival over the race weekend and that his focus was to secure third place in the Drivers' Championship. Nevertheless, he was delighted to finish in the top three driver's standings in his maiden Formula E season, "I think it speaks volumes about the kind of effort we have made as a team. Big, warm thanks to Mahindra Racing for putting their trust in me and for giving me the tools to achieve this.” Third-place finisher López spoke of his pleasure finishing in the position following his first race retirement, "I could tell straightaway what a difference the team had made to the car since my last race and it was frustrating our qualifying group meant we were unable to show this. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the race and of course the whole season, as well as working with the DS Virgin Racing team.”

Newly crowned champion di Grassi said of his title success, "This journey, this day started three years ago when we started season one, and then we got a lot of good results. I arrived in London fighting for the championship, even though I got disqualified from winning a race. Season two, the same situation, even got disqualified from winning a race. Finally I came here as an underdog, 10 points behind and had the nerves to keep calm, I did the job yesterday and today managed to win it also. I’m so happy for my team, so happy for the ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport guys, they really deserve it." He later claimed to have not given up hope in winning the championship despite a competitive field and retiring from the Paris ePrix, but also admitted that focusing on Formula E after Audi's withdrawal from the World Endurance Championship at the end of 2016 aided his title effort. While Buemi admitted his disappointment in losing the championship, he congratulated di Grassi on securing the accolade, and stated him missing the New York City races was not an excuse in his loss. Regarding his pit stop early in the race, Buemi chose not to judge if the stewards made the correct decision and admitted not knowing about the regulation that required him to enter the pit lane because of car damage.

The result of the second ePrix meant di Grassi finished as the Drivers' Champion with 181 points. Buemi, in second place, was 24 points in arrears with Rosenqvist the best of the rookie drivers in third on 127 points. Bird took fourth, and Vergne's victory enabled him to secure fifth place. e.Dams-Renault became the Teams' Champions for the third consecutive year on 268 points; Audi Sport ABT finished 20 points behind in second, and Mahindra were a further 33 points adrift in third position. Virgin consolidated fourth on 190 points and Techeetah rounded out the top five with 156 points. 45,000 people attended the two-day event. Despite insisting for that the race could not be held in another area of the city, Corderre later conceded that next year's running of the event may have to be relocated due to nearby construction.