Formula E Marrakesh E-Prix: Felix Rosenqvist stuns Sebastien Buemi with late move to take championship lead
Mahindra Racing driver takes advantage of Buemi's Fanboost failure to win his second consecutive race and overtake Sam Bird at the top of the standings
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Your support makes all the difference.Mahindra Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist won his second race in a row after a flawless performance at the Formula E Championship Marrakesh E-Prix, knocking Britain’s Sam Bird off the top of the drivers’ championship.
Sebastien Buemi, starting from pole position, was looking to make it two wins in two years at the Circuit Moulay El Hassan but with just four laps to go last year’s Rookie of the Year produced a textbook overtaking manoeuvre to steal the chequered flag.
The Renault.e.dams driver blamed the failure of his Fanboost energy system for the loss of position which caused the Swiss to settle for second place ahead of Bird, who was left with a frustrated third place.
Rosenqvist now leads the drivers’ championship for the first time in his career and admitted sitting atop the perch was a nice change for the 26-year-old.
“My career has generally been the first few races of the season are terrible and then it gets better as I’m playing catch-up so getting these points and wins early on is really nice,” he said. “It feels pretty good to be top of the championship, it means I don’t have to risk as much in upcoming races so I am delighted.
“The car is great, the team is working really hard so they make my job easier. Maybe this is a bit of payback for 2016 where I qualified in pole and then couldn’t get the win so yeah, it feels good.”
There was some added stardust with A-list actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Orlando Bloom watching on as Bloom celebrated his 41st birthday.
Bloom even got behind the wheel of a Formula E race car and was also surprised with a huge Formula E cake at his birthday celebrations. The Pirates of the Caribbean star was effusive in his praise for the championship.
He said: “I have wanted to come and watch a race live for some time. Formula E is at the heart of advancing electric technology and shaping the cars of the future.
“I've always loved cars – I've always loved fast cars – and now this has a guilt-free capacity because you can enjoy all of that, while knowing that you're doing something that's going to have a good impact on the environment.”
Buemi started the day perfectly with a great qualifying lap of 1:20.355 which saw him take pole followed closely by Bird in second and Rosenqvist in third.
Reigning champion Lucas di Grassi had yet another weekend to forget after he suffered another technical failure and his race was over just nine laps in. The Brazilian remains rooted to the bottom of the leaderboard without a single point to his name.
Bird’s teammate at DS Virgin Racing, Alex Lynn, came off the track early into the race and dropped from seventh place to the back of the grid.
Lynn will be hoping for better at the next Formula E-Prix, which takes place in Santiago, Chile on Saturday 3 February.
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