The 2019 Mexico City ePrix (formally the 2019 CBMM Niobium Mexico City E-Prix) was a Formula E electric car race held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the centre of Mexico City on 16 February 2019. It was the fourth round of the 2018–19 Formula E season and the fourth edition of the event as part of the championship. The 45-lap race was won by Audi driver Lucas di Grassi after starting from second position. António Félix da Costa finished second for Andretti and Edoardo Mortara came in third for Venturi.
Report
Background
The Mexico City ePrix was confirmed on for the 4th consecutive year on June 7, 2018, by the FIA World Motor Sport Council, and was held at the permanent Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez located in Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City in the southeast of Mexico City. It was both the 4th race of the season and the 4th time the annual race had been held in Mexico City. The sport continued to use the 2.092 km (1.299 mi) short circuit centred around the Foro Sol which had 17 turns, 12 to the right and 5 to the left. At 2,250 m (7381.89 ft) above sea level, it is the highest track on the calendar.
After winning in Santiago the previous weekend, Sam Bird entered the weekend leading the drivers championship with 43 points and a 2-point lead over Jerome d'Ambrosio. Third place was António Félix da Costa who had failed to score since winning the opening race of the season in Ad Diriyah. He was tied on points with both Sam Bird's Virgin Racing teammate Robin Frijns and Techeetah driver, and defending champion, Jean-Éric Vergne, all three of which had 28 points. In the teams championship, Virgin led with 71 points with Mahindra close behind in second, with 59 points and Techeetah in third with 47 points. Going into the weekend, only one team had failed to score points, that team being HWA.
There was one driver change before the weekend, with former Formula 1 driver Felipe Nasr replacing Maximilian Günther at Dragon Racing after Günther had completed a three race programme with the team which started at the opening round in Ad Diriyah.
Practice
Both practice sessions were held early on Saturday morning. Practice 1 started shortly after sunrise, meaning that the track was considerably colder than normal, causing several drivers to be caught out by lack of grip. This became apparent when Robin Frijns spun his Envision Virgin 180 degrees on approach to turn 3. Daniel Abt was the fastest in Practice 1 with a time of 59.319. Second fastest was Edoardo Mortara with a 59.397 and third was Alexander Sims with a time of 59.539.
Practice 2 got underway, one and a half hours after the first practice. The only notable incident during Practice 2 is when Oliver Turvey clipped the inside of turn 15 and broke his suspension. Da Costa set the pace with a 58.963, followed by Felipe Massa with a 59.138 and with Sébastien Buemi rounding out the top 3 with a 59.248.
Qualifying
Qualifying was divided into four groups. During the group 1 Qualifying session, the championship leader Sam Bird had his car broke down with a driveshaft problem before he could set a flying lap. Bird would start the Mexico City ePrix from the back of the grid. Oliver Rowland was fastest on the overall group qualifying, with a time of 59.593, ahead of Pascal Wehrlein. Jerome D'Ambrosio qualifies at 19th, while Frijns takes 17th, but was later demoted to 20th after impeding D'Ambrosio. After group qualifying, Rowland, Wehrlein, Massa, Di Grassi, Buemi, and Da Costa progressed to super pole. Pascal Wehrlein went on for his first Pole Position in his Formula E career with a time of 59.347 to secure Mahindra Racing’s first pole since 2018 Rome ePrix, by a margin of three-tenths over Lucas di Grassi. Massa qualifies third, while Rowland takes forth, ahead of BMW Andretti driver, António Félix da Costa, and his teammate Sébastien Buemi.