Hello MiniE Fans,

Round five of the 2019 ABB FIA Formula E Championship takes place in the beautifully vibrant city of Hong Kong. That vibrancy has been lacking this weekend though with heavy rain falling intermittently, making the track a huge challenge for the drivers.

In qualifying, Stoffel Vandoorne took a surprise pole position, bagging his first points of the season in the process. British driver Gary Paffett made it a Mercedes 1-2 .. it’s just like F1!! As for the title contenders; Lucas di Grassi will start 6th ahead of Sam Bird in 7th. Meanwhile at the back, Antonio Felix da Costa lines up in 20th ahead of the two Mahindra drivers of Pascal Wehrlein and Jerome d’Ambrosio who suffered a dismal performance.

As the race got underway, Oliver Rowland had an aggressive start to take the lead. The big mover was Sam Bird who superbly jumped from 7th place up to 3rd at the end of the opening lap.

The main story of the race was the constant change of positions up front. Vandoorne led away from the grid, but got overtaken. Rowland led, but suffered a loss of power. Bird led, but made an error. Andre Lotterer led, but suffered a sudden puncture. Eventually, it was Sam Bird who would cross the line as the race winner.

However, while Sam Bird and Andre Lotterer were battling; Sam ran into the back of Andre – and it is quite likely this incident is what caused Lotterer’s aforementioned puncture. The stewards are investigating, so watch this space.

It was a race of attrition out there today with only 14 finishers from the 22 car grid. The most dramatic moment was on the second lap where Felipe Nasr locked up into the barriers and the two Mahindra’s would be collateral damage with first Pascal Wehrlein, and then Jerome d’Ambrosio, ploughing into the incident. Innocent victims.

What was your take on the Bird/Lotterer incident? Do you think Sam Bird deserves a penalty? Let us know in the comments below.

We’ll be back in two weeks with the inaugural Sanya ePrix, and don’t forget that MiniDrivers will be covering the Australian GP next weekend also. Please join us for that!