page_title: 2016 Paris ePrix
section_title: Race
hierarchical_section_title: 2016 Paris ePrix / Race
caption_attribution_description: English: Lucas di Grassi Paris EGP 2016 winner
context_page_description: The 2016 Paris ePrix was a Formula E electric car race held on 23 April 2016 at the Circuit des Invalides in the Les Invalides building complex. A total of 20,000 people attended the race. It was the seventh round of the 2015–16 Formula E season and the first Paris ePrix. The 45-lap race was won by Audi Sport ABT driver Lucas di Grassi after starting from second position. Jean-Éric Vergne finished second for Virgin and e.Dams-Renault's Sébastien Buemi took third. It was di Grassi's second consecutive victory after the Long Beach ePrix, his third of the season and the fourth of his career.
  Sam Bird won the pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying but was passed by di Grassi at the start due to a mapping problem that gave him excess wheelspin. Bird could not retake the lead from di Grassi who drew clear from him and got into a battle with his teammate Vergne as Buemi was moving through the field and drew closer to the pair. After the pit stops for the mandatory switch into a second car, di Grassi kept the lead and continued pulling away from the pack and looked set to win comfortably until the race ended under the safety car for a crash involving Ma Qinghua on lap 40.
context_section_description: The weather conditions at the start was dry but cloudy and cold with the air temperature between 11.4 and 12 °C (52.5 and 53.6 °F) and the track temperature ranged from 17.25 to 17.75 °C (63.05 to 63.95 °F). A special feature of Formula E is the "Fan Boost" feature, an additional 100 kW (130 hp) of power to use in the driver's second car. The three drivers who were allowed to use the boost were determined by a fan vote. For the Paris race, Buemi, Duval and Vergne were handed the extra power. The race began before 20,000 people at 16:04 Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00). Bird spun his tyres due to a mapping problem and he lost the lead to di Grassi who was to the inside of him on the approach to the first corner and pushed him out wide. This gave Vergne the opportunity to find his way past his teammate Bird on the inside at the exit of turn two after they touched wheels. Overtakes occurred further down the field as Prost overtook Sarrazin for fourth, while Frijns fell from sixth to ninth. Félix da Costa momentarily moved to seventh until Buemi overtook him. Despite competitors having difficulty getting heat into their tyres, the field avoided causing an incident on the tight track as the top five settled into their respective positions.
  As di Grassi began setting consecutive fastest laps to pull away from Vergne and Bird, Ma passed Conway on the run to the first corner on the second lap and he then overtook de Silvestro to move into 15th. Duval had car setup trouble over the weekend but his day worsened when his gearbox failed on lap six. He consequently stopped his car between turns six and seven. This signalled the premature end of Duval's race and the full course yellow procedure was necessitated on the next lap to allow for the recovery of his car by marshals to a safe location. Racing resumed on the eighth lap with di Grassi's lead of three and a half seconds over Vergne lowered to one and a half seconds during the full course yellow period but most drivers retained their respective positions. Frijns had drawn close to Félix da Costa and the two battled each other until Frijns lunged up the inside of Félix da Costa at turn six to gain seventh. The two soon got near to Buemi and Turvey who were duelling over sixth. Initially, Buemi could not find a way past Turvey but succeeded in doing so by turning to the outside of him at turn eight on lap nine. This left Turvey to hold off the challenge presented to him by Frijns and Félix da Costa.
  Then, on the same lap, Turvey lost sixth when Frijns passed him. Most of the field found their rhythm in the opening ten laps and lap times began lowering as a result. Vergne and Bird were slowly getting closer to di Grassi but had not brought themselves into a position where they could attack him. At the end of the 15th lap, Félix da Costa braked later than Turvey into turn one to move into seventh. On the following lap, Buemi passed Sarrazin entering the first corner for fifth. On lap 18, Piquet was in tenth when he slowed on the straight with a power issue that dropped him to the rear of the field. He made an early pit stop to switch into his second car on that lap. Vergne and Bird ran close together throughout the first half of the race. Bird appeared quicker before the pit stops and sought to pass Vergne between turns three and four on lap 22 but they made contact. Bird's front wing and Vergne's right sidepod were damaged in the collision. Prior to this, Buemi passed his teammate Prost for fourth on lap 22 and he closed up to Vergne and Bird before the mandatory pit stops began the lap after.
  Senna, Heidfeld and Abt stayed out to give themselves more usable electrical energy for the end of the race. After the pit stops, di Grassi kept the lead and increased his lead to 6½ seconds by the end of lap 26. The race stagnated over the next seven laps as drivers found it difficult to overtake on the tight track. But the battle for third place between Bird and Buemi gathered pace on lap 33 as Buemi set a series of fastest laps to draw closer to Bird who was still close to his teamm
caption: Lucas di Grassi celebrating his second consecutive victory of the season and the fourth of his career on the podium.
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