FE: Villeneuve out after qualifying crash

Former Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve will not start today's Formula E race at Punta del Este in Uruguay after crashing in qualifying.

The Venturi driver locked up at Turn 17 on his flying lap and ploughed into the barriers, which caused irreparable damage to the chassis and front-left suspension. This means the Canadian will fail to score a point in his first three Formula E races entered. His debut in Beijing was compromised after a hit from Antonio Felix da Costa and he lost out thanks to problem in the pits in Putrajaya on his first two attempts.

On Friday, the Canadian had hoped the Uruguayan event would spark a turnaround in fortunes.

"On paper it looks crap, which I'm aware of and it's frustrating, but we know how competitive we were," he said. "In China, problem one was the car not starting for practice and in the other car I had a brake fluid leak.

"In Malaysia, one car had an issue and I only did half of practice. In the race the car didn't start and I lost 25 seconds. I'm not worried, hopefully the problems will stop."

Dragon Racing duo Jerome d'Ambrosio and Loic Duval will line up on the front row for the race.

Originally on Autosport.com