Brazilian Lucas di Grassi will go down in history as the first ever winner in the FIA Formula E championship but the Audi sportscar driver wasn’t thinking about victory as he headed into the final corner.

Nicolas Prost (pictured right) held the race lead ahead of Rebellion sportscar teammate Nick Heidfeld going into the last corner of the last lap. Heidfeld made a move down the inside, Prost move to block and contact resulted in Heidfeld bouncing over the high kerb, hitting the safety barrier and spectacularly rolling.

Broken steering for Prost put him out of the race as his four-time World Championship father Alain watched from the pit lane in Beijing. An angry Heidfeld fortunately was able to climb out of his destroyed car uninjured.

Former ALMS Acura P2 race winner Franck Montagny took second for Andretti Autosport ahead of British driver Sam Bird.

“We didn’t have the best strategy, but it feels great to be the first winner in Formula E, even if nobody likes to see a race end with an accident. I’m just glad Heidfeld is ok and it proves that these cars are very safe,” di Grassi said.

di Grassi’s teammate Daniel Abt originally crossed the line in third place but was demoted to 10th for using two much battery energy.

Drivers in the championship had their first experience of the unique Formula E pit stop routine where the teams don’t actually change tires, but actually change cars. Teams have a minimum mandatory pit stop time to complete the car swap in.

The cars in the FIA Formula E championship use a unique 18 inch Michelin grooved tire which is used for both dry and wet conditions.
RESULTS – 25 LAPS:

Pos : Driver : Team : Gap
1 Lucas di Grassi Abt 52m23.413s
2 Franck Montagny Andretti -2.867s
3 Sam Bird Virgin -6.559s
4 Charles Pic Andretti -19.301s
5 Karun Chandhok Mahindra -23.952s
6 Jerôme D’Ambrosio Dragon -31.664s
7 Oriol Servia Dragon -41.968s
8 Nelsinho Piquet China -43.896s
9 Stephane Sarrazin Venturi -43.975s
10 Daniel Abt Abt -1m02.507s
11 Jaime Alguersuari Virgin -2m00.613s
12 Nicolas Prost e.dams Collision
13 Nick Heidfeld Venturi Collision
14 Michela Cerruti Trulli 1 Lap
15 Katherine Legge Aguri 1 Lap
16 Ho-Pin Tung China 2 Laps
– Takuma Sato Aguri Retirement
– Sebastien Buemi e.dams Retirement
– Jarno Trulli Trulli Retirement
– Bruno Senna Mahindra Retirement