Sebastian Buemi gifted victory at second round of the Berlin ePrix

Sebastian Buemi gifted victory at second round of the Berlin ePrix as Rosenqvist receives a ten second penalty

This afternoon saw Renault e.Dams and championship leader driver Sebastien Buemi gifted victory in the final race of the series’ two races in Berlin this weekend ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and Lucas Di Grassi as Rosenqvist is given a ten second time penalty after an unsafe release in the mandatory pit stop window.

The start of the race saw Pole Sitter Felix Rosenqvist get a great start off the line as both Sam Bird and Jose Maria Lopez were battling each other for track position. As we headed into the first few corners, there was contact further down the field with Venturi driver Maro Engel and Faraday Future Racing driver Loic Duval which sees Engel go into the pits and then does rejoin the race.

In the first few laps, Rosenqvist built up a gap to Sebastien Buemi that went as high as just over two seconds as Nick Heidfeld who started from the back of the grid by Lap 4 was up to twelfth place. Lucas Di Grassi was able on Lap 4 to pass Oliver Turvey and looked like he could have a problem; as Nicolas Prost is quickly catching the British driver.

As the race settled down, Panasonic Jaguar Racing driver Adam Carroll has made up a few places and was up to fifteenth place by Lap 7. The battle between the DS Virgin Racing drivers for third place was the focal point; with Bird slowly catching his team mate Lopez every lap as Heidfeld continues to close the gap to the rest of the field.

Lap 10 saw the announcement of Buemi, Di Grassi and Abt being the winners of the FanBoost and can use the extra horsepower in the second half of the ePrix. With both Rosenqvist and Buemi having a substantial gap to the rest of the field, the only main source of actions on the track was Heidfeld's progression towards the front end of the field (which by Lap 15, he was running in the final point position) and the battle between Bird and Lopez came to a climax on Lap 17 when Bird tried to make his move on his team mate going into Turn 1, with both colliding with each other and Bird losing three places as a result to Vergne, Di Grassi and Abt.

The next lap saw Vergne passing Lopez for third place as Heidfeld's progression up the grid is stalled after Mitch Evans and Jerome D'Ambrosio are able to pass the German driver for track position. Two laps after the incident with his team mate, Lopez then loses yet another two positions on the track to both Abt Schaeffler drivers and it would appear that Lopez could have a problem with the DS Virgin Racing car.

Just before the halfway point of the Berlin ePrix, Buemi has slowly caught the back of the Mahindra of Rosenqvist, with both drivers draining both the Abt Schaeffler drivers running closely together in the top 5.

With all the drivers making their mandatory pit stop on Lap 23, all eyes were upon if Rosenqvist or Buemi will rejoin the race in the lead. However, with Heidfeld blocking the way for Rosenqvist when he tried to leave the pit lane, he still managed to rejoin the race back in the lead ahead of Buemi, Vergne, Di Grassi and Abt. This incident could see the Mahindra team get a penalty that could impact the whole team's race.

In the early stages of the second half of the ePrix, Rosenqvist continued at the head of the field and tried to build a cushion against Buemi as the stewards announce that the incident between himself and Heidfeld in the pitlane is being investigated as D'Ambrosio is being investigated for failing to meet the required pit stop time. Meanwhile, Di Grassi is slowly catching the Techeetah of Vergne for the final podium places with both drivers defending hard especially on Lap 31 and seeing Di Grassi pass Vergne into Turn 1 the following lap after Vergne cannot get the car to turn into the corner. The next lap sees Daniel Abt try to pass Vergne himself going into Turn 1 but cannot make the move stick.

The race then changed for Rosenqvist who has driven superbly all weekend long has been given a ten second time penalty for an unsafe release which would at this stage in the race see him finish the race in third place. This then effectively means that Sebastien Buemi leads the Berlin ePrix.

In the final stages of the ePrix, Di Grassi has now realised that he can get second position because of Rosenqvist's penalty and with FanBoost at his disposal, he could close up the gap to Buemi in order to inherit second place once Rosenqvist's penalty is applied at the end of the race.

With Vergne's Techeetah car slowly declining in power and pace; both of the DS Virgin Racing drivers and Prost were catching up with him on the circuit for fifth place. Vergne defensively drove well in order to keep both the DS Virgin Racing drivers and the Renault e.Dams of Prost behind him until Lap 41 where Lopez was able to pass Vergne for fifth place.

On Lap 41, Jerome D'Ambrosio takes his drive through penalty and promotes Heidfeld up to tenth position as Bird eyes up Vergne for sixth place on the circuit and the best chance of him passing Vergne into the final stages of the lap.

But it was Sebastien Buemi who claimed the victory at the second and final race of the Berlin ePrix with a solid drive at the front on the grid. Buemi finished ahead of Felix Rosenqvist in a brilliant second place after a superb drive all weekend long who was 2.232 seconds behind and ahead of Lucas Di Grassi in a surprising third place who was 4.058 seconds behind Buemi.

Daniel Abt ended the ePrix in fourth place ahead of Jose Maria Lopez in fifth place, Jean-Eric Vergne in sixth place, Sam Bird in seventh place, Nicolas Prost in eighth place, Oliver Turvey in ninth place and Nick Heidfeld in tenth place.

Antonio Felix Da Costa finished the race just out of the top ten in eleventh place ahead of Nelson Piquet Jr in twelfth place, Jerome D'Ambrosio in thirteenth place, Stephane Sarrazin in fourteenth place and Tom Dillmann in fifteenth place.

As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Adam Carroll ended the ePrix in sixteenth place ahead of Mitch Evans in seventeenth place, Robin Frijns in eighteenth place, Loic Duval in nineteenth place and Maro Engel in twentieth place.

Here's the classification of the 2017 Berlin ePrix (R2) as follows:-

1. Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.Dams, 46 laps
2. Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, -1 lap
3. Lucas di Grassi, Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport, +10.682s
4. Daniel Abt, ABT Shaeffler Audi Sport, +13.631s
5. Jose Maria Lopez, DS Virgin Racing, +20.324s
6. Jean-Eric Vergne, Techeetah, +20.689s
7. Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, +21.959s
8. Nicolas Prost, Renault e.Dams, +22.155s
9. Oliver Turvey, NEXTEV NIO, +34.949s
10. Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +35.814s
11. Antonio Felix Da Costa, Andretti, +44.057s
12. Nelson Piquet Jr, NEXTEV NIO, +44.439s
13. Jerome D'Ambrosio, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, +47.336s
14. Stephane Sarrazin, Techeetah, +51.653s
15. Tom Dillmann, Venturi, +56.577s
16. Adam Carroll, Jaguar Racing, +1.05.426s
17. Mitch Evans, Jaguar Racing, +1.07.018s
18. Robin Frijns, Andretti, +1.12.083s
19. Loic Duval, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, +12 laps
20. Maro Engel, Venturi, +32 laps

Sebastien Buemi leads the Formula E Drivers Championship with 157 points ahead of Lucas di Grassi in second with 125 points, Felix Rosenqvist in third with 86 points, Nicolas Prost in fourth with 72 points, Nick Heidfeld in fifth with 63 points, Jean-Eric Vergne in sixth with 52 points, Jose Maria Lopez in seventh with 50 points, Sam Bird in eighth with 47 points, Daniel Abt is ninth with 46 points, Nelson Piquet Jr is in tenth with 33 points , Oliver Turvey is eleventh with 18 points, Mitch Evans is in twelfth place with 16 points, Robin Frijns is thirteenth with 16 points, Maro Engel is fourteenth with15 points, Antonio Felix Da Costa is fifteenth with 10 points, Jerome D'Ambrosio is sixteenth with 10 points, Loic Duval is seventeenth with 9 points, Esteban Gutierrez is eighteenth with 5 points, Adam Carroll is nineteenth with 4 points, Tom Dillmann is twentieth with 4 points and Stephane Sarrazin is twenty first with 2 points.

Renault e.dams leads the Formula E Constructors Championship with 229 points, Abt Schaffler Audi Sport are second with 171 points, Mahindra Racing are third with 149 points, DS Virgin Racing are fourth with 97 points, Techeetah are fifth with 57points, NEXTEV NIO are sixth with 51 points, Andretti are seventh with 26 points, Venturi are eighth with 21 points, Jaguar Racing are ninth with 20 points and Faraday Future Dragon Racing are tenth with 19 points.

Driving for Pleasure will be covering all the latest from the 2016/2017 FIA Formula E Championship with the latest news as it breaks.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa