Sebastien Buemi wins Formula E season-opener in Hong Kong

Published Nov. 15, 2016 1:57 p.m. ET

Samuel Reiman

Renault e.dams driver Sebastien Buemi won the inaugural Hong Kong ePrix at the Hong Kong Central Harbourfront Circuit on Sunday.

The race served as round 1 of the 2016-2017 season, with Buemi looking to defend his season two championship.

Buemi started in fifth position behind the NEXTEV NIO and DS Virgin Racing teammates, with Nelson Piquet Jr. leading the field away for the first of 45 laps.

A sharp corner led to a chain-reaction collision at the back of the pack on Lap 1, which took out the TECHEETAH car of Ma Qing Hua and damaged the ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport machines of Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt.

However, Di Grassi was able to pit for a new nosecone and got back going again, and then was able to harvest enough energy to help him leapfrog into the battle up front later on in the race.

On Lap 18, the race turned on its head when the DS Virgin Racing machine of Jose Maria Lopez crashed into the wall, bringing out the Safety Car. Race leader Piquet was coming up to lap Lopez at the time, and was forced to take evasive action to avoid him, making light contact with the tire barrier.

Piquet got going again in third, but had lost out to the DS Virgin Racing machine of Sam Bird and also to Buemi.

Buemi pit under the Safety Car period and was set to take the lead from Bird once Bird came in for his stop later in the race. However, his job was made even easier when Bird couldn’t get his car started up following his pit stop.

Once the round of stops was over, it was Buemi leading Di Grassi and Mahindra Racing’s Nick Heidfeld up front and across the line.

Mahindra Racing's Felix Rosenqvist took the fastest lap of the race.

Formula E will be back in action from the streets of Marrakesh on Nov. 12.

Unofficial race results:

1. Sebastien Buemi - Renault e.dams
2. Lucas di Grassi - ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport
3. Nick Heidfeld - Mahindra Racing
4. Nico Prost - Renault e.dams
5. Antonio Felix da Costa - Andretti Formula E
6. Robin Frijns - Andretti Formula E
7. Jerome d’Ambrosio - Faraday Future Dragon Racing
9. Oliver Turvey - NEXTEV NIO
9. Maro Engel - Venturi Formula E Team
10. Stephane Sarrazin - Venturi Formula E Team
11. Nelson Piquet Jr. - NEXTEV NIO
12. Adam Carroll - Panasonic Jaguar Racing
13. Sam Bird - DS Virgin Racing
14. Loic Duval - Faraday Future Dragon Racing
15. Felix Rosenqvist - Mahindra Racing
16. Daniel Abt - ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport
17. Jean-Eric Vergne - TECHEETAH
18. Mitch Evans - Panasonic Jaguar Racing
19. Jose Maria Lopez - DS Virgin Racing
20. Ma Qing Hua - TECHEETAH