Renault Takes Formula E Title Again, Audi Wins Drivers’ Championship

Renault SA’s e.dams racing team defended its title to win the Formula E team championship, making it a three-peat winner in the three-year-old electric vehicle race series.

Renault bested the other nine teams with a total score of 268 points between its two drivers. ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport finished second with 248 points, followed by Mahindra Racing (215), DS (PSA) Virgin Racing (190) and China’s Techeetah (156).

Audi’s Lucas di Grassi coasted to a seventh-place finish on Sunday at the season-ending race in Montreal to secure the driver’s championship. Di Grassi won Saturday’s race in Montreal to take the lead in the season standings.

Defending champ Sebastian Buemi, driving for Renault e.dams, limped to a second-place finish for the season with disappointing runs in the back-to-back Montreal events (17th and 11th place). He had entered the weekend in the lead but endured a series of problems in the two Montreal races.

Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist finished third for the season. Rounding out the top five were DS Virgin’s Sam Bird, who also recorded the season’s fastest lap, and Jean-Eric Vergne—driving for China’s Techeetah—who won Sunday’s finale and finished second on Saturday. Buemi’s teammate Nico Prost finished sixth to help give Renault the team championship.

Formula E’s fourth season will begin on Dec. 2 in Hong Kong. Earlier this month BMW and Mercedes announced plans to join the EV series in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Faraday Future, Jaguar and NextEV already have teams.