Di Grassi wins e-Prix, passes Buemi for lead in Formula E driver standings

Abt Audi driver Lucas Di Grassi cruised to victory from pole position and passed Sbastien Buemi for the Formula E drivers standings lead on Saturday at the inaugural Hydro-Qubec Montreal ePrix electric car race.

Di Grassi went into the next-to-last race of the season trailing Buemi by 10 points. After taking 25 points for the win and another three for pole position, the Brazilian came away with a six-point lead. Renault's Buemi picked up 12 for finishing fourth.

The championship will be settled in the season finale on Sunday on the same 2.75-kilometre street track in the east end of downtown. Last year, Buemi edged Di Grassi for the title in the final race.

Buemi was second-fastest at 1:23.065 in qualifying, but was penalized 10 places on the starting grid because he needed some parts replaced after he drove into a barrier during practice Saturday morning. His team worked frantically to get the car repaired just in time.

Di Grassi easily held the lead off the start, while Buemi was bumped as cars crowded around the first turn and dropped near the back of the pack. The Swiss veteran picked off cars ahead of him one by one and was fifth when the yellow flag came out after Jose Maria Lopez crashed into a wall.

That wiped out Di Grassi's lead, but he used Fan Boost an extra dose of power earned from fan voting to pull away again on the restart. Buemi used the situation to move into fourth.