Di Grassi dominates Berlin Formula E race

Lucas di Grassi dominated the German round of the Formula E Championship at Berlin Tempelhof to extend his points lead.

The Brazilian, driving for the Abt team, started second on the grid behind Jarno Trulli and had to slot into second place through the first corner. But Trulli made a mistake at the second corner, losing the rear under braking and sliding wide, allowing di Grassi to take the lead while the polesitter scrabbled to hang onto second.

Thereafter, the Brazilian was never seriously threatened, pulling out a lead of over 10 seconds in the opening eight laps and preserving that during the pit stops for car changes.

Di Grassi re-emerged with an advantage of 11 seconds and controlled the gap to the finish to take the checkered flag 7.586s clear of Dragon Racing's Jerome d'Ambrosio, although a few seconds after he crossed the line he ground to a halt with an electrical problem.

D'Ambrosio had a strong race from sixth on the grid. The Belgian ran sixth early on and quickly moved up to fourth ahead of the fading Trulli and Nicolas Prost. He then passed Heidfeld on lap 12 before a faster turnaround in the pits as the bulk of the field changed cars at half-distance allowed him to jump Buemi for second.

D'Ambrosio was able to chip away at di Grassi's lead in the second half of the race, but it was never possible he could catch the leader, who was managing the gap.

Buemi held on to third, but Heidfeld came under attack in the closing stages and was passed by both Loic Duval and Nelson Piquet Jr. with four laps to go. Piquet proved unable to find a way past Duval for fourth, but it was a good recovery from the China Racing driver, who qualified down in 13th place.

Piquet stopped a lap later than the bulk of the field and had plenty of power in the second half of the race, capitalising on having a five-second fanboost, which he used to overtake Stephane Sarrazin.

Sarrazin came home seventh despite struggling for power late on, with Sam Bird and Tonio Liuzzi completing the top 10.

Prost had a difficult race for e.DAMS, finishing 11th ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa, who started on the back row but climbed as high as seventh before having to serve a drive-through penalty.

Trulli had a terrible race from pole despite holding second for the first six laps after his early error. The Italian gradually dropped to the lower reach of the field and was classified last after heading into the pits with two laps remaining.

RESULTS - 33 LAPS:

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

Originally on Autosport.com