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Formula E: Da Costa wins in Buenos Aires

NEWS STORY
10/01/2015

Felix da Costa clinched victory in Buenos Aires ePrix ahead of e.dams-Renault's Nicolas Prost and China Racing's Nelson Piquet Jr.

The Amlin Aguri driver kept clear of trouble and slowly made his way into the lead as his rivals fell by the wayside. Both polesitter Sebastien Buemi and championship leader Lucas di Grassi retired with suspension failures at the fast Turn 8 and 9 chicane.

Venturi's Nick Heidfeld looked favourite to win in the closing stages but a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane scuppered his chances.

Da Costa, who missed the opening round in Beijing, progressed up the field from eighth on the grid to collect the full 25 points.

Prost managed to steer clear of the battle between Daniel Abt and Jaime Alguersuari in the closing stages, an over-optimistic move by the Audi Sport ABT driver sent the Spaniard into a spin. Abt was out on the spot but Alguersuari managed to limp his car home in fourth.

Piquet picked up his second consecutive podium despite being held behind the red light and losing a lap in the pitlane during the safety car period.

The Safety Car was deployed after Mahindra Racing's Karun Chandhok also fell victim to broken rear suspension at the Turn 8 and 9 chicane. Piquet wasn't the only driver to be effected by the confusion as a number of drivers had to pass the safety car to unlap themselves.

Virgin Racing's Sam Bird was part of the lead group but he picked up a drive-through penalty for ignoring the pit exit lights.

Bruno Senna, who was one of the FanBoost winners, finished fifth ahead of a feisty Jean-Eric Vergne who damaged his nosecone in the fight for the final podium spot.

Da Costa's team-mate Salvador Duran clinched four points in eighth ahead of Heidfeld in ninth. Dragon Racing's Oriol Servia rounded out the top-10 positions while Formula E debutant Marco Andretti came home in 13th place.

Before the race all the drivers, teams and the Formula E Championship together with the City of Buenos Aires, Argentinean authorities and the FIA President Jean Todt gathered on the grid for a minute silence to pay respect to the victims of the terrorist attack in Paris earlier this week.

The race attracted a crowd of around 20,000 who also witnessed the first round of the Formula E School Series, which was won by Lucas Gambante representing the Antonio Bermejo School.

Buenos Aires ePrix (Rd 4) - Results

1: Antonio Felix da Costa, Amlin Aguri 48:52.100
2: Nicolas Prost, e.dams-Renault, + 5.354s
3: Nelson Piquet Jr, China Racing + 8.552s
4: Jaime Alguersuari, Virgin Racing + 11.148s
5: Bruno Senna, Mahindra Racing, + 11.535s
6: Jean-Eric Vergne, Andretti, + 13.319s
7: Sam Bird, Virgin Racing, + 13.617s
8: Nick Heidfeld, Venturi, + 15.464s
9: Oriol Servia, Dragon Racing, + 19.334s
10: Stephane Sarrazin, Venturi, + 28.973s
11: Ho-Pin Tung, China Racing, + 37.858s
12: Marco Andretti, Andretti, + 1 lap
13: Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT, + 2 laps
14: Jerome d'Ambrosio, Dragon Racing, + 2 laps

Did not finish

Jarno Trulli, Trulli
Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT
Sebastien Buemi, e.dams-Renault
Michela Cerruti, Trulli
Karun Chandhok, Mahindra Racing

Excluded

Salvador Duran, Amlin Aguri

Driver Standings

Lucas di Grassi - 58
Sam Bird - 48
Sebastien Buemi - 43
Nicolas Prost - 42
Nelson Piquet Jr - 37
Antonio Felix da Costa - 29
Jaime Alguersuari - 26
Jerome D'Ambrosio - 22
Franck Montagny - 18
Karun Chandhok - 18

Team Standings

e.dams-Renault - 85
Virgin Racing - 74
Audi Sport ABT - 62
Andretti - 41
China Racing - 37
Dragon Racing - 37
Mahindra Racing - 36
Amlin Aguri - 35
Trulli - 12
Venturi - 5

Note:

Following a post-race investigation the stewards excluded Amlin Aguri driver Salvador Duran from the final classification for exceeding the maximum power usage.

China Racing's Nelson Piquet, who finished third, has been handed a 5-place grid penalty at the next race for speeding under yellow flags. Jarno Trulli will also have a 10-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox.

Check out our race gallery, here.

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