page_title: 2018 Paris ePrix
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: 2018 Paris ePrix / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: The north facade of the Hôtel des Invalides, seen at twilight Français&#160;: La façade septentrionale de l'hôtel des Invalides au crépuscule, à Paris.
context_page_description: The 2018 Paris ePrix was a Formula E electric car race held before a crowd of 48,000 spectators at the Circuit des Invalides in the Les Invalides building complex on 28 April 2018. It was the eighth race of the 2017–18 Formula E season and the third edition of the event. The 49-lap race was won by Techeetah driver Jean-Éric Vergne from pole position. Audi's Lucas di Grassi finished second and Virgin driver Sam Bird was third.
  Vergne won the pole position by recording the fastest lap in qualifying and maintained the lead for the next 23 laps as Bird had more electrical energy available. This allowed Bird to shorten Vergne's lead and unsuccessfully tried to overtake him. Through the pit stop phase to get into a second car, di Grassi took the lead for two laps after conserving electrical energy. Edoardo Mortara led the following lap before Vergne retook the position after the pit stops. Vergne was unchallenged for the final third of the race and took his third victory of the season after his teammate André Lotterer battled Bird and di Grassi.
context_section_description: The 2018 Paris ePrix was confirmed as part of Formula E's 2017–18 schedule in September 2017 by the FIA World Motor Sport Council. It was the eighth of twelve scheduled single-seater electric car races of the 2017–18 season, and the third edition of the event. The ePrix was held at the 14-turn 1.930 km (1.199 mi) clockwise Circuit des Invalides in the Les Invalides building complex of the city's 7th arrondissement on 28 April 2018. It was switched from May to April because organisers wanted less traffic in the area owing to the 2017 race being held outside the French school holidays. Construction of the circuit took around six days with workers using 5,000 t (5,000,000 kg) of material shipped to the Port Gros-Caillou. Additionally, 1.5 km (0.93 mi) of road was resurfaced to make it smoother. Organisers of the race expected around 50,000 people in attendance.
  Going into the race, Techeetah driver Jean-Éric Vergne led the Drivers' Championship with 119 points. Sam Bird of Virgin followed in second place with 101 points and Mahindra's Felix Rosenqvist was third with 82 points. Sébastien Buemi of the e.Dams-Renault team was fourth with 60 points and Audi driver Daniel Abt was fifth with 50 points scored. Techeetah led the Teams' Championship with 152 points; Virgin were second with 118 points and Mahindra were 15 points behind in third. Audi in fourth and Jaguar in fifth were separated by one point.
  Bird had won the preceding Rome ePrix two weeks prior and narrowed Vergne's championship lead to 18 points. He spoke of his team's belief they were closer than they had been in the title contest and aimed to capitalise on their current situation, adding that "I won last time out so I'm feeling good. It's getting to crunch time now in the championship and thankfully I'm there and fighting for the world title this year." Vergne did not finish the 2017 event due to a suspension failure and spent a week testing in Techeetah's simulator with his mechanics and looked forward to driving in Paris, saying that "Having grown up in Paris, this race is extra special for me. I'm really looking forward to racing now and to meet all the French fans that have been an incredible support so far this season." Lucas di Grassi (Audi), the 2016 Paris ePrix winner, was stimulated to keep getting podium finishes and took a plethora of momentum from Rome, adding that "Now we need to perfectly nail everything down."
  There was one change of driver heading into the event. Having been in one of the NIO cars since the season-opening Hong Kong ePrix double header, Luca Filippi was dropped for the race and replaced by the team's reserve and simulation driver Ma Qinghua. The change was necessitated following Filippi's poor performances over the season compared to teammate Oliver Turvey and the lack of significant results and internal pressure was applied to allow a Chinese driver to race once during the campaign. This caused Ma to miss the FIA World Rallycross Championship round at Montalegre.
caption: The Esplanade des Invalides, where the track's pit lane was located.
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