2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix

2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix
Race 1 of 13 of the 2018–19 Formula E Championship Next race →
Race details[1][2]
Date	15 December 2018 (2018-12-15)
Official name	2018 SAUDIA Ad Diriyah E-Prix
Location	Riyadh Street Circuit, Ad Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Course	Street circuit
Course length	2.495 km (1.550 mi)[3]
Distance	33 laps, 82.335 km (51.161 mi)
Weather	Cloudy
Pole position
Driver	António Félix da Costa	Andretti-BMW
Time	1:17.728
Fastest lap
Driver	André Lotterer	Techeetah-DS
Time	1:12.591 on lap 32
Podium
First	António Félix da Costa	Andretti-BMW
Second	Jean-Éric Vergne	Techeetah-DS
Third	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Mahindra
Lap leaders

The 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix (formally the 2018 SAUDIA Ad Diriyah E-Prix) was a Formula E electric car race held at the Riyadh Street Circuit in the town of Diriyah, which is located north-west of the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, on 15 December 2018 before a crowd of about 23,000 spectators. It was the first round of the 2018–19 Formula E Championship, the inaugural Ad Diriyah ePrix and the first Middle Eastern Formula E race.António Félix da Costa of the Andretti team won the 33-lap race from pole position. Techeetah driver Jean-Éric Vergne finished second and Jérôme d'Ambrosio took third for Mahindra.

The one day event was affected by heavy rain which flooded the track; as a result, the two scheduled practice sessions were cancelled and combined into a single 35 minute session. Qualifying was restructured into a half an hour two-group session that saw Félix da Costa claim the first pole position of his career. He held the lead for the opening 13 laps until Vergne passed him on the 14th lap. As Vergne appeared set to take his first victory of the season, he incurred a drive-through penalty for exceeding the maximum amount of power permitted under electrical energy harvesting. He took the penalty in the pit lane and fell to fifth. Vergne recovered through the field but he could not make a successful pass on the final lap on Félix da Costa who took the second win of his career and BMW's first as a Formula E manufacturer.

Because this was the first race of the season, Félix da Costa left Ad Diriyah as the Drivers' Championship leader with 28 points (25 for the win and three for the pole position). Vergne was ten points behind in second and d'Ambrosio was a further three points adrift in third. Mitch Evans was fourth with 12 points and André Lotterer rounded out the top five with 11 points after earning an extra point for setting the fastest lap. In the Teams' Championship, Techeetah led with 29 points, ahead of Andretti with one point less. Mahindra, e.Dams-Nissan and Jaguar were all one point behind each other in positions three to five with twelve races left in the season.