page_title: 2018 Punta del Este ePrix
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: 2018 Punta del Este ePrix / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: 2018 Punta del Este ePrix Español: ePrix de Punta del Este 2018
context_page_description: The 2018 Punta del Este ePrix was a Formula E electric car race held at the Punta del Este Street Circuit in the Uruguayan city of Punta del Este on 17 March 2018. It was the sixth round of the 2017–18 Formula E season and the third edition of the event as part of the FIA Formula E Championship. The 37-lap race was won by Techeetah driver Jean-Éric Vergne after starting from pole position. Lucas di Grassi finished second for Audi and Virgin driver Sam Bird was third.
  Vergne won the pole position after di Grassi, Alex Lynn and Oliver Turvey were penalised for exceeding track limits in qualifying and maintained his start line advantage on the first lap. The race was temporarily neutralised between the fourth and sixth laps when officials extracted the car of Nick Heidfeld who stopped with power issues. Vergne led di Grassi at the restart and the latter remained close behind the former in the next 13 laps until the field made mandatory pit stops to change into a second car. Over the remainder of the race, Di Grassi attempted to pass Vergne but the former prevented the latter from doing so and took his second victory of the season and the third of his career.
context_section_description: The Punta del Este ePrix, discontinued after the 2015–16 Formula E season because no financial agreement was reached by the Government of Uruguay to keep it going, was announced as part of the Formula E calendar in a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 7 December 2017 after São Paulo authorities requested a cancellation of their planned race due to a delay in selling land to a private owner. The Punta del Este ePrix was part of an alternative plan devised by series founder and CEO Alejandro Agag in the event a race was dropped.
  Punta del Este was the sixth of twelve single-seater electric car rounds of the 2017–18 season and the third edition of the event. The race was held on 17 March 2018 at the 20-turn 2.785 km (1.731 mi) Punta del Este Street Circuit in Uruguay's Maldonado Department. The circuit is situated on the Playa Brava Beach, meaning sand was laid on the tarmac surface and affected the levels of grip available to drivers. Also, the high ambient temperatures strained the car's batteries. Construction of the track started on 24 February, 22 days before the race; and continued for the next three weeks. 370 people were employed to work long shifts to complete the project.
  Going into the race, Techeetah driver Jean-Éric Vergne led the Drivers' Championship with 81 points, twelve ahead of Felix Rosenqvist of Mahindra in second. Virgin's Sam Bird was in third position with 61 points and e.Dams-Renault driver Sébastien Buemi was a further nine points behind in fourth. Nelson Piquet Jr. of Jaguar was fifth with 45 points. Techeetah led the Teams' Championship with 99 points and the second-placed Mahindra were nine points behind. Jaguar (94 points) and Virgin (90 points) were third and fourth and e.Dams-Renault were fifth with 59 points.
  The circuit underwent three cosmetic changes after the 2015 race. All bar one of the flexible bollards that were situated around the track in the last two Punta del Este races were removed by officials from the world governing body of motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), and the "sausage" kerbing at the entry of the four chicanes was dismantled. However, additional TecPro barriers were erected to improve safety around the track. These changes prompted officials to establish a specific area for drivers to stop in should they miss the turning point for the chicanes before rejoining the track during all sessions. The alterations received a mixed reception. Piquet spoke his belief that it would assist drivers attacking the track's high-speed sections. José María López (Dragon) agreed that the kerbing could be negotiated without any major issues and António Félix da Costa (Andretti) praised the "fast and dangerous" nature of the circuit that the changes created. However, the Audi pair of Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt called for the further adjustment of the kerbs as they feared the possibility of an accident occurring.
  Three days before the race, several drivers, Formula E Teams Association representative and Andretti team principal Roger Griffiths and FIA officials discussed in a meeting procedures of improving the safety of car switches during the mandatory pit stops. It was called after teams were issued clarifications and remainders of pit stop procedures and possibly in response to an injury sustained by a Techeetah mechanic by driver André Lotterer in the preceding Mexico City ePrix. These clarifications included keeping the steering wheel installed in the driver's first car until it stopped and the FIA wanted all teams not to fully install the safety harness until the driver entered their second vehicle. Additionally, the FIA stressed the responsibility of ensuring the safety of pit stops and seat belt fastening remained with teams and drivers. The FIA also introduced a new regulation authorising stewards to review incidents on and away from the track after races had ended.
caption: The Punta del Este Street Circuit, where the race was held.
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