Forget Euro 2016, the Formula E has thrown up the most thrilling ending to a championship this summer.
We recently told you all about the new electric-powered little brother to Formula One, and we hope you took our advice when we told you to check out this weekend’s final weekend of action in London.
Coming into Sunday’s race – the last of the season – ABT’s Lucas di Grassi and Renault’s Sébastien Buemi were tied atop the leaderboard on 153 points. It was set up to be a classic, with it all coming down to a simple case of whoever finishes ahead of the other, wins the title.
Buemi started the race in pole position, looking to make up for losing last season’s title by just one point to Nelson Piquet Jr. De Grassi, meanwhile, knew he had his work cut out for him as he began the race in third.
And so when the lights went on and the race began, De Grassi immediately tried to make a move on Buemi. Unfortunately for the pair, De Grassi ended up smashing into the back of the Swiss and taking both of their cars out of the race.
Watch @sebastien_buemi and @lucasdigrassi crash in the #LondonePrix Brought to you by @hpe https://t.co/jIyJc4rYri
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 3, 2016
You can get a clearer look from onboard De Grassi’s car…
Onboard with @lucasdigrassi as he hits @lucasdigrassi on the opening lap. Brough to you by @hpe https://t.co/uoga8gHn9W
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 3, 2016
While fan footage also shows the scale of the crash…
So you might be wondering, if both leaders crash out, how do you decide who wins the championship?
Unlike its more established rivals, Formula E organisers have looked to reward drivers for more than just their final position in the race. Fans are able to vote to give the drivers an extra surge of energy, and two points are awarded to the driver who records the fastest lap of the race.
This quickly became very important to both De Grassi and Buemi, who realised that neither of them could actually place in the points in London, but they might be able to blast out a quick lap and then retire, since the rules do not require the driver with the fastest lap to actually finish the race.
#LondonePrix pic.twitter.com/yTmDofMle2
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 3, 2016
And while their cars were both damaged, all drivers use two cars in each race anyway (as the current batteries are not strong enough to power a car for a full race) so they simply popped into their new car and bided their time.
Both Buemi and De Grassi dropped back behind the main pack in order to give themselves a clear run at a fastest lap. In a bizarre turn of events, coming last actually became an advantage.
In the end, Buemi scored the quickest lap of the day and secured the title, which considering the crash appeared to be Di Grassi’s fault only seems fair.
