MONTREAL, Canada - Lucas di Grassi moved into the lead of the Formula E drivers’ championship for the first time this season by going wire-to-wire in Montreal on Saturday as the pressure tolled on rival Sebastien Buemi.
Di Grassi delivered a near-perfect weekend, taking pole and leading every lap en route to victory to pull six points clear of Buemi in the standings.
Buemi was forced to start 12th on the grid after a battery change triggered a penalty, and fell back to 17th off the start.
The Swiss driver rose back up the order through the race, although not without getting caught up in incidents with Robin Frijns, Daniel Abt and Stephane Sarrazin, the latter fending him off to complete the podium.
Di Grassi faced late pressure from Jean-Eric Vergne after a safety car period bunched the pack, but was able to hold on and pick up his second victory of the season, hailing it as the best race of his Formula E career.
Di Grassi moved on to 175 points for the season with victory, leaving Buemi six points back on 169 with 29 up for grabs in Sunday’s championship finale.
Abt finished close behind Buemi in fifth ahead of Sam Bird, who battled his way from 18th on the grid to take sixth place for DS Virgin Racing.
Nicolas Prost wound up seventh for Renault e.dams ahead of Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, while Frijns survived his fracas with Buemi to take ninth. Felix Rosenqvist picked up the final point on offer in P10, having dropped back when running fourth due to damage on his car.