Formula E: Di Grassi Snatches Victory From Wehrlein In A Last-Second Pass In Mexico e-Prix

Lucas di Grassi secured an absolutely sensational win in the 2019 Formula E Mexico e-Prix as the Team Abt driver made a last-second pass over Mahindra's Pascal Wehrlein to take cross the chequered flag. It was a true heart stopping moment as the two drivers battled for the top spot with Wehrlein in the lead, who defended his position till the last corner despite his battery levels at one per cent. On the final straight, di Grassi passed Wehrlein yards before the finish line pushing the Mahindra driver in second place.

Di Grassi passes Wehrlein moments before crossing the chequered flag

Wehrlein had a promising qualifying and started the race on pole. The German led the race through the 45-lap stint as drivers Oliver Rowland of Nissan e.dams and Di Grassi followed suit in top three spots. Wehrlein was quick and kept the competition at bay with Rowland and Di Grassi battling out for the second spot. But just before the action could pick up, the race came to an abrupt halt on Lap 17 with the red flags out. Nelson Piquet Jr. and Jean Eric Vergne were involved in a massive collision with the former crashing into Vergne.

Wehrlein received a 5 second penalty, dropping him to 6th

Piquet smashed into Vergne's car going airborne in a fight for P8 and also clipped Alexander Sims car in the process. With the red flag out, Wehrlein led the drivers to the pits waiting for a safety restart. The race was started again for the remaining 28 laps with the Wehrlein, Rowland and Di Grassi in the lead. The Mahindra driver was certain of defending his position and did so through the final stage of the race. However, the driver lost energy as he moved in the final corners of the Mexico e-Prix, which allowed Di Grassi to nip towards the pitwall and take the win.

The 2019 Mexico e-Prix had one of intense finishes to a Formula E race

Wehrlein finished second but ultimately classified as sixth after being handed a penalty of five seconds for cutting a corner on Turn 4 on the final lap. This means the Antonio Felix da Costa who finished third was promoted to second, while Edoardo Mortara moved up to third. For Mahindra's second driver Jerome d'Ambrosio, the driver made a fantastic comeback after starting 19th on the grid to finish fourth in the race. He moved up by seven positions in the first lap itself and had entered the top ten by the third lap.

For Sebastien Buemi and Oliver Rowland, the drivers finished at P20 and P21 after running out of energy on the penultimate lap after running fourth and fifth for most of the race. Meanwhile, Mitch Evans of Jaguar Racing finished seventh, while Vergne finished 13th after recovering from the crash earlier in the race. F1 veteran Felipe Massa took his first Formula E points having finished eighth, while Sam Bird and Daniel Abt were the top finishers at the Mexico e-Prix taking the final points at ninth and tenth place respectively.