The 2018 New York City ePrix (formally the 2018 Qatar Airways New York City E-Prix) were a pair of Formula E electric car races held on July 14 and 15, 2018 at the Brooklyn Street Circuit in Red Hook, Brooklyn. They were the 11th and 12th rounds of the 2017–18 Formula E Championship, and it was the second annual edition of the event. The first race, contested over 43 laps on July 14, was won by Lucas di Grassi of the Audi team after starting 11th. His teammate Daniel Abt finished second, and e.Dams-Renault driver Sébastien Buemi was third. The second race on July 15 also lasted 43 laps, and was won by Techeetah's Jean-Éric Vergne from third. Di Grassi and his teammate were second and third, respectively.
Buemi took the tenth pole position of his career by posting the fastest lap in qualifying and held the lead until Abt passed him on the fifth lap. Di Grassi overtook Buemi for second 15 laps later. Abt maintained the lead through the mandatory pit stops to change into a second car. On lap 24, di Grassi passed Abt for first after his teammate made a driver error. A safety car on lap 35 closed the field up to allow marshals to clear debris after Alex Lynn of Virgin crashed The race restarted with two minutes to go, and di Grassi retained the lead to secure his second consecutive victory, and the eighth of his career.
For the second day running, but on a wet track, Buemi won the pole position with the fastest qualifying lap, the eleventh of his career, but he immediately lost the lead to Vergne at the start. The race was neutralised on lap eight because the Dragon car of José María López needed to be moved after his suspension failed, and for a three car accident on the straight linking turns ten and eleven. Racing resumed four laps later with Vergne leading through the next 12 laps, and the switch into a second vehicle at the halfway point. In the final six laps, Vergne held off di Grassi to take his fourth victory of the season, and the fifth of his career.
The race results won Vergne his first Drivers' Championship after finishing fifth in the first race. Di Grassi's results saw him pass Sam Bird, Vergne's rival entering the event, for second. Buemi maintained fourth, and Abt finished the season in fifth. In the Teams' Championship, Audi outscored Techeetah in both races to win the title by two points. Virgin took third with 160 points. The battle for fourth position was won by Mahindra by five points over e.Dams-Renault in fifth.
Background The 2018 New York City ePrix double header was confirmed as part of Formula E's 2017–18 series schedule by the FIA World Motor Sport Council in September 2017. They were the 11th and 12th scheduled single-seater electric car races of the 2017–18 Championship, and it was the second annual edition of the event. The races were held at the 14-turn Brooklyn Street Circuit in Red Hook, Brooklyn on July 14 and 15. It was the final two races for the Spark-Renault SRT 01E car, which was replaced by the SRT05e from the 2018–19 Championship onward. Renault made its final appearance as a Formula E team and powertrain manufacturer, and were replaced by corporate partner Nissan. Organisers of the ePrix expected 40,000 people to converge to the circuit over the weekend. Formula E arranged a partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation to provide organizations in the Red Hook community with a 1,000 race day tickets to give away to local residents for free.
Before the race, Jean-Éric Vergne of Techeetah led the Drivers' Championship with 163 points. Virgin's Sam Bird was second with 140 points, and Audi driver Lucas di Grassi was third with 101 points. With 92 points, Sébastien Buemi of e.Dams-Renault was fourth and Mahindra driver Felix Rosenqvist was six points behind in fifth. In the Teams' Championship, Techeetah led with 219 points, 33 ahead of Audi. Virgin were third with 157 points with Mahindra (116 points) and Jaguar (105) fourth and fifth. 58 points were available for the final two races of the season, which meant Vergne could win the Drivers' Championship in the first race if he won and Bird did not earn one point for the fastest lap and three for taking the pole position.
Bird began the season by leading the championship after the 2017 Hong Kong ePrix, and losing it to Vergne after the Santiago ePrix but remained in contention by consistently finishing in the top five over the next seven races. At the preceding Zürich ePrix, Vergne's lead in the Drivers' Championship was lowered from 40 to 23 points after Bird finished second and Vergne tenth. Bird, the winner of both New York City races in 2017, was the underdog for the Drivers' Championship and believed Vergne was under pressure, saying in his situation, he would be anxious of close racing due to car-to-car contact or a driver error causing him to crash, "The thought of him having a bad Saturday must almost keep him awake at night because if that happens and I have a good Saturday he has to deliver the following day." Vergne said Techeetah would not alter its approach and had maximum preparation, "No matter how this weekend goes, we have shown that a customer team can take on the manufacturers and be successful."
The Brooklyn Street Circuit was modified for this round. The track was extended farther north and west to Summit Street and Hamilton Avenue. As opposed to the original right-hand hairpin at the end of the main straight on Bowne Street, a four-turn complex was added featuring a left-hander and three right-hand corners leading to the second straight that formed the previous track configuration. The changes increased the overall length of the circuit by , and were made to accommodate the more powerful second generation and more downforce efficient Formula E car. Di Grassi opined the elongated track could increase overtaking on the back straight, and create more excitement during the races. Bird however stated the alterations would hinder his team as its car was less energy efficient than others, and the flowing corners would not help him.
There was one change of driver for the weekend. Venturi driver Edoardo Mortara had a Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters commitment for Mercedes-Benz at the Circuit Zandvoort due to his championship position of second in that series. He was replaced by the team's test and reserve driver Tom Dillmann. This was the second time in the season Dillmann replaced Mortara with the first at the Berlin ePrix two months prior and had driven for Venturi seven times in the 2016–17 Championship. Venturi's request to switch competitors was granted by the stewards through bypassing a series regulation stating any changes of driver in the final three races of the season was forbidden except in unforeseen circumstances such as the suspension of an e-licence.
Race one Practice and qualifying
Two practice sessions—both on Saturday morning—were held before the late afternoon race. The first session was scheduled to run for 45 minutes and the second lasted half an hour. An untimed half hour shakedown session was held late Friday afternoon to allow teams to check the reliability of their cars and electronic systems. Although no major accidents were reported during the session, Buemi crashed into the wall, but he escaped with minor damage to his car.
In the first practice session, held in warm and dusty conditions, di Grassi was fastest with a 1-minute and 13.566 seconds lap he set with of power late on. Buemi was 0.350 seconds slower in second. Jaguar's Mitch Evans, Vergne, Daniel Abt of Audi, Bird, Dragon driver José María López, NIO's Oliver Turvey, Alex Lynn for Virgin and Techeetah's André Lotterer occupied positions three through ten. Nick Heidfeld for Mahindra made the track impassible after hitting the turn 11 chicane exit kerb. He went straight into the wall beside the circuit with Abt close by. The session was red flagged for three minutes while the field dispersed. Seven minutes later, López sheared his right-rear suspension over the turn 12 kerb. A second stoppage was needed when López lost the ability to drive, after stopping at pit lane entrance. The session was extended by ten minutes to allow drivers to better familiarise themselves with the track. A yellow flag was waved for Nelson Piquet Jr.'s Jaguar which stopped at the turn twelve exit, and Maro Engel lightly damaged his Venturi car in a collision with the turn two tire barrier.
In the second half hour practice session, most teams used the opportunity to simulate their qualifying laps at of power, as several drivers had to scythe their way past traffic on the narrow circuit, and dust off the racing line reduced visibility. Rosenqvist recorded a benchmark time that Buemi bettered, and Stéphane Sarrazin bent the right-rear suspension on his Andretti at the wall in the turn seven left-hander. Di Grassi began his maximum power lap when he grazed the barrier at the turn two 90-degree right-hander with the right-rear of his car, and he entered the pit lane for repairs. Dragon's Jérôme d'Ambrosio led until Evans went fastest with a time of 1 minute and 13.207 seconds with two minutes remaining. D'Ambrosio, Bird, López, Buemi, Nico Prost of e.Dams-Renault, António Félix da Costa of Andretti, Turvey, and the Audis of Abt and di Grassi completed the top ten ahead of qualifying. After second practice, Turvey was transported to the trackside medical center, and then to a hospital in Brooklyn, because he fractured the fifth metacarpal bone on his left hand; he lost control of his car while on a maximum power lap, and collided with the outside barrier at the turn 14 left-hander, causing him to miss qualifying.
Saturday's afternoon qualifying session ran for an hour and was divided into four groups of five cars. Each group was determined by a lottery system and was permitted six minutes of on-track activity. All drivers were limited to two timed laps with one at maximum power. The fastest five overall competitors in the four groups participated in a "super pole" session with one driver on the track at any time going out in reverse order from fifth to first. Each of the five drivers was limited to one timed lap and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest times (super pole from first to fifth, and group qualifying from sixth to twentieth). The driver and team who recorded the fastest time were awarded three points towards their respective championships. In the first group, Vergne narrowly avoided a collision with Buemi, but he was the early pace setter with a provisional fastest lap of any driver in all four groups at 1 minute and 13.890 seconds. Buemi and di Grassi were provisionally second and third. Bird and Rosenqvist were group one's slowest two drivers. Lotterer was provisionally group two's fastest competitor. Abt and the Jaguar duo of Evans and Piquet were second to fourth. The absent Turvey was unclassified because of his withdrawal. At the conclusion of the second group, it was announced that the Techeetahs of Vergne and Lotterer were under investigation for a possible overuse of power. In group three, d'Ambrosio was fastest and he demoted Buemi from super pole contention. Positions two through five were made up by Engel, Heidfeld, Félix da Costa and Lynn.