Emotional Shanghai E-Prix Victory for Brazilian Veteran Racer

Brazilian veteran driver Lucas di Grassi sealed a spectacular victory on the final lap of today's Shanghai E-Prix at Shanghai International Circuit, leaving an emotional memory for his last Formula E season.

The Lola Yamaha ABT driver started 18th in the rain-affected race, which had been brought forward by nearly three hours from its originally scheduled time. Due to the wet track conditions, the first few laps were completed behind the safety car.

Jaguar TCS Racing's Mitch Evans failed to make the race start due to a technical issue. As track conditions improved, all cars returned to the grid for a standing start.

A number of drivers triggered Attack Mode early, exploiting the all-wheel-drive capability to maintain better composure on the slippery circuit.

Drying conditions favored those who gambled on their car setups, who gradually sliced through the field in the latter part of the race.

The two Envision cars, with their energy advantage, climbed to third and fourth places before overtaking Porsche's Nico Muller on lap 21.

Joel Eriksson put in a strong performance, even outpacing his teammate Sébastien Buemi who was in Attack Mode. He overtook Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein to take the lead.

On lap 23, di Grassi's teammate Zane Maloney triggered a full-course yellow flag, which added an extra lap to the race.

Di Grassi managed his energy for the closing stages, sitting third with three laps to go, then triggered Attack Mode and fought wheel-to-wheel with Citroen Racing's Jean-Éric Vergne on the final lap.

In the end, the 41-year-old held off the pack to secure his 14th Formula E victory. It was his first win in 61 races.

Vergne finished second, while Eriksson took third – his first podium for the Envision team.

"We took the right risks (regarding car setup) today," di Grassi said after the race. "In our position, we had to make that decision, and I'm so glad that we managed to make it."

As one of the founding drivers of Formula E, di Grassi was the inaugural race winner at the Beijing E-Prix back in 2014. He clinched the Drivers' Championship in the 2016-17 season, and recently announced that he would bring down the curtain on his Formula E career.

"I will also try to get on the podium in the remaining four races of the season," he added.

After the Shanghai double-header, Wehrlein – who finished fourth on Sunday – moved to the top of the drivers' standings, nine points ahead of second-placed Evans.

In the teams' championship, Jaguar TCS Racing, which scored no points today, maintained a six-point lead over Porsche.

Formula E will next head to Japan for the Tokyo E-Prix, a double-header night race on July 25-26.