Chaotic Hong Kong E-prix concludes with Mortara victory after Bird penalty

The fifth round of the Formula E season took place in Hong Kong on Sunday, 10 March, and the incident-packed race ended in dramatic fashion. Sam Bird, who controversially took the lead on the penultimate lap and crossed the finish line in first place, was issued a five-second penalty for making contact with Andre Lotterer. This droped him to sixth place and promoted Edoardo Mortara to first place.

With the skies dark across the whole weekend, it looked like Formula E was going to have its first-ever wet race. The earlier qualifying session saw many cars struggle for traction on the track, with multiple cars coming perilously close to the walls. Eventually, Stoffel Vandoorne claimed pole position, the first pole for the HWA team, ahead of Nissan's Oliver Rowland.

However, the rain cleared throughout the afternoon, and by the time the cars were lined up for the race, the track had already begun to dry up.

Rowland got away to a great start when the lights turned green, leaping into first place as the cars entered Turn 1. The first incident of the race, with Jerome D'Ambrosio and Pascal Wehrlein colliding into the back of Felipe Nasr's smoking car, brought out the safety car and eventually a red flag, bringing the race to a halt.

After the restart, Rowland suddenly slowed after pressing the full-course yellow button on his steering wheel after being lightly nudged by Bird, which saw him drop down the pack. This moved Bird and Lotterer into first and second place respectively, setting the scene for an intense race between the two.

Lotterer eventually pounced when Bird went too deep in a corner. With Bird pushing hard, Lotterer had to defend smartly due to the fact that he had less battery charge remaining compared to the rest of the racers.

However, Bird's 4% energy charge advantage evaporated when the safety car was brought out once again with about 15 minutes to go. On the penultimate lap, Bird made contact with the back of Lotterer's car at Turn 2, causing a right rear tyre puncture, which dropped Lotterer to the back of the pack.

This allowed Bird to claim the chequered flag, but the stewards immediately began investigating the incident. After more than four hours since the end of the race, the stewards issued Bird a five-second penalty, stripping him of his victory and promoting second-place Edoardo Mortara to first.