Formula E Live Ticker
From June 19th we will be covering the race weekend in Sanya. You can find out more in advance here:
And with that, I’ll say goodbye for now! Sanya’s return could hardly have been more exciting. This race is likely to feature very highly among the favourites of the year. Unfortunately, it’s a single-header, so we’ll have to do without the second race tomorrow. The Formula E season continues in Shanghai from 4 July.
Following his penalty, Wehrlein finishes only fourteenth, just ahead of Ticktum in fifteenth place. A disaster for the former world champion. Five drivers have retired, and their names could hardly be more significant in the current World Championship battle. Rowland, Cassidy, Mortara and Nato did not finish the race. Nato and Rowland were standing together just now by the side of the track where they had both been forced to leave their cars – symbolic of their disastrous race result and, consequently, their weekend in Sanya.
Amidst all this chaos, Maximilian Günther finally secures a solid haul of points with 6th place! Behind them, Müller finishes 7th and Vergne 8th. Taylor Barnard takes 9th place and Lucas di Grassi picks up another hugely important point for Lola Yamaha Abt in 10th place!
PEPE MARTI FINISHES THIRD! The young Spaniard in the Cupra Kiro is getting better with every race. He’s having an incredible rookie season! He’s thus pushed De Vries and then Felix da Costa down to 4th and 5th place.
JAKE DENNIS WINS AND DRUGOVICH FINISHES SECOND! A ONE-TWO FOR ANDRETTI! What a brilliant performance! It’s incredible how they managed the race. It was perfect. It didn’t look like it from the outside, but it was perfect. One of the most impressive one-two finishes ever!
Rowland appears to have crashed into the wall without making contact with any other cars. The impact was heavy, but he’s fine. For Felix da Costa, this full-course yellow is once again a blessing. It means he doesn’t fall too far behind.
Pepe Marti has come charging out of nowhere again! He’s even overtaken De Vries! ROWLAND HITS THE WALL! HE’S OUT! Marti would be on the podium! Full-course yellow on the final lap.
Nyck de Vries managed to limit the damage with his final Attack Mode. He is currently fourth, but Felix da Costa will drop back further due to his penalty. At the moment, De Vries would be on the podium!
If his penalty were taken into account, Wehrlein wouldn’t even be in the points at the moment. On paper, Andretti has a one-two lead!
It’s now up to Dennis. Behind him, only Wehrlein has been in Attack Mode for longer. But Wehrlein has a 5-second penalty too! Drugovich is now third!
Jake Dennis doesn’t even need a minute! He’s back in the lead! The top five are Dennis, Felix da Costa, Rowland, Müller and Wehrlein!
A very strong Lucas di Grassi has now emerged right in the middle of the top 5. However, he is now being overtaken by Dennis in Attack Mode and also has to let Vergne past. Dennis now has three minutes to catch Rowland and Felix da Costa!
Felix da Costa has now activated Attack Mode for his final two minutes. However, the gap to Rowland in first place, who is using the extra power boost, is only twenty seconds. That’s not enough to overtake him and build up a five-second lead!
The penalty is throwing Felix da Costa’s race into disarray. His lead has already vanished. Rowland is chasing him in Attack Mode and, in theory, would already have overtaken him. Five seconds can be a huge margin if the field gets bunched up again. We’ve got 7 laps to go. Rowland is now overtaking Felix da Costa! Wehrlein also receives a 5-second penalty for making contact with Nato.
For Felix da Costa, the full-course yellow is a godsend. It allows him to maintain his five-second lead over the rest of the field. But now he’s been handed a penalty! He’d already collided with Nato and has been given a five-second penalty! GREEN FLAG!
Nato collided with Wehrlein and the contact inevitably sent the Frenchman into the wall. Cassidy has been given a 10-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. We have a full-course yellow!
Things seem to be going perfectly for Felix da Costa at the moment. He’s also doing well in terms of energy management. NATO CRASHES INTO THE WALL FROM 4TH PLACE! YELLOW FLAG! He’s still rolling, but extremely slowly.
Felix da Costa has had the extra power for considerably longer and can now take the lead! He still has three minutes left and will then be able to activate it once more for two minutes. He will try to open up a significant gap. The gap between third and fourth place is already three seconds.
Evans is still in the race but is a lap down. Meanwhile, Mortara is currently in last place. He appears to be pulling the car over. At the front, three drivers are now leading in Attack Mode! Rowland ahead of Müller and Felix da Costa.
Maloney has made significant ground even without Attack Mode! He’s already in fourth place! Now Rowland is overtaking him using Attack Mode! Wehrlein and Rowland are catching up with Drugovich and splitting the Andretti cars again. Rowland takes the lead shortly afterwards!
GREEN FLAG! The race has resumed! Wehrlein immediately attacks the Andretti cars, but is unable to get past them. Müller is back in fourth and Vergne is now fifth!
The cars are lining up, and the mechanics are still working frantically on Evans’ car. It’s going to be a race against time to get the car ready.
The FIA has ordered Evans to change his rear wing. The team is pushing him down the pit lane. Mortara, Ticktum and Marti had to drop to the very back of the grid due to repairs to the car. The standing start is about to begin.
The safety car is now leading the field and the drivers are finding their positions. Müller has already had to let Eriksson past for 4th place.
According to the rules, there should be a standing start after one lap behind the safety car. It’s very difficult to gauge who is really in contention for the race win, given just how intense the Attack Mode was. Porsche and Andretti are at least in the best position at the moment. Wehrlein hasn’t dropped back at all throughout the race either.
Whether the red flag was really necessary is debatable. All the cars were able to free themselves without assistance and the damage is minimal. The race control team may have been caught a little off guard by the brief stoppage. They are using the break to assess the damage to the barrier. The race will resume in four minutes.
Despite all the chaos, Andretti has managed to go into this break with a one-two lead. At one point, it looked as though their race was falling apart, but now they are back in pole position. Behind them are Wehrlein and Müller. Müller had saved a great deal of energy in the early stages and could still have the advantage.
Evans has sustained damage to his suspension, presumably as a result of one of his collisions – he was involved in both, after all. Although the teams are now allowed to repair the cars, the drivers must then start from the back of the grid. This already applies to Evans, Ticktum and Mortara.
It really was a miracle that things went smoothly for so long without any incidents. It was almost only a matter of time before the first retirements occurred. The pile-up behind Maloney, however, was harmless. Evans and Maloney couldn’t find any room and slid into the barrier. The cars behind them made slight contact with their rear ends and came to a standstill. Presumably, everyone will be able to carry on. Ticktum’s leap over Evans’ car looked far more dangerous. But he, too, seems to be able to carry on.
It’s crashed now! Ticktum can’t slow down in time and flies half over Evans’ rear. The front wing is gone. THERE’S ANOTHER CRASH! In Turn 9, the cars behind Maloney pile into the barrier. RED FLAG!
Mortara puts up a fierce defence against Wehrlein, but Wehrlein manages to get past. During his overtaking manoeuvre, however, Mortara and Dennis nearly collided. The Brit is on the charge in Attack Mode and is storming ahead. Right behind him is his team-mate, and now we have an Andretti one-two again!
The drivers at the very back are saving a considerable amount of energy and are no doubt hoping for a safety car. It’s almost a miracle that there hasn’t been a crash yet, given the number of battles we’re seeing here. However, Mortara’s front wing is a cause for concern. It could come loose at any moment.
Andretti’s race seems to be falling apart. Dennis is now down to sixth. Felipe Drugovich has even dropped back to 10th place. Mortara is the next driver to make up ground using Attack Mode. He’s now in the lead, but his front wing is hanging by a thread!
Attack Mode is extremely powerful here in Sanya. Cassidy has now managed to pull ahead thanks to his extra power. The New Zealander is leading the race and overtakes Ticktum! Wehrlein is in third place.
Ticktum has now activated his Attack Mode. He’s overtaken Dennis to take second place and is now chasing Wehrlein. He catches the German just a few corners later! Further back, Mortara has suffered wing damage. His team-mate De Vries is now down to 14th!
Wehrlein and Dennis are neck and neck at the front. Dennis has now taken the lead again! Behind them are Wehrlein and, surprisingly, Maloney. Wehrlein has managed to regain the lead!
Zane Maloney has just come out of nowhere! Thanks to his Attack Mode, he’s moved up to 4th place! It seems you can overtake brilliantly in Sanya!
Wehrlein is far more decisive against Drugovich than Evans was. He makes short work of him and catches the Brazilian off guard on the inside line. That’s bad news for Andretti. Up to this point, they’d been driving as close together as possible to block the entire track. They were a moment too careless there and have now lost that opportunity. Now Evans is also catching Drugovich and Wehrlein is taking on Dennis! WEHRLEIN IS IN THE LEAD!
Evans first tries to overtake Drugovich on the outside, but gets boxed in there. Wehrlein then seizes the opportunity and darts inside! He’s now third, but under heavy pressure from Evans!
Citroën also left parts on the home straight where the grid was originally positioned. These had to be cleared away shortly before the start of the race. Vergne could face a penalty! It’s going to be a tight squeeze between Drugovich and Evans. The Brazilian will have to take up a lot of space to keep Evans behind him.
Rowland and Wehrlein are the big winners at the start. Nyck de Vries, on the other hand, is the biggest loser. The Dutchman has dropped back to 9th place! The start of the race was a bit chaotic. Wehrlein had lined up in the wrong starting box and only corrected this at the last minute.
GREEN FLAG! FULL THROTTLE IN SANYA! Jake Dennis holds on to first place ahead of his team-mate! Wehrlein gains two places on the first lap and is now fifth. Rowland moves up to seventh place!
The riders are now heading to their starting positions. The race is about to begin!
In Sanya, the race does not start at the finish line, as there is not enough space on that straight. Instead, the drivers start on the bridge leading to Turn 10. The first corner is therefore a very fast right-hander, followed by three 90-degree corners. It is likely to be very difficult to overtake on this narrow street circuit.
Championship leader Mitch Evans starts from third place. Nyck de Vries and Nick Cassidy round off the top five. Wehrlein is the highest-placed championship contender in seventh place. Next come Rowland, Mortara and Felix da Costa in positions 10 to 13. A good chance for Evans to pull away.
Andretti caused a sensation in qualifying! Both Jake Dennis and Felipe Drugovich made it through to the final and battled it out for pole position. In the end, Dennis came out on top by a clear margin. The former world champion will lead the field at the start of the race.
Sanya is a classic Formula E street circuit. Its 2.520-kilometre layout features 12 corners, almost all of which are technically very demanding. The most difficult section for the drivers was the hairpin bend at Turn 9. There, we saw a whole host of drivers who braked too late and ended up in the run-off area.
Welcome back to the live ticker! The sun is beating down on the tarmac in Sanya, and we’re in for a real battle against the heat shortly. The race on the Chinese island is set to start in just under ten minutes.
