Formula E news - Bird beats Wehrlein as Buemi crashes out in Santiago

Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird scored his first win of the 2018/19 ABB FIA Formula E season in Santiago, Chile, after longtime leader Sebastien Buemi crashed out under pressure.

Pascal Wehrlein finished second for Mahindra, who closed right up with Bird in the latter stages before dropping away again just before the finish. BMW’s Alexander Sims charged up to finish third from the fourth row of the grid.

Audi’s Lucas di Grassi, who lost his pole position due to a technical infringement in qualifying and was forced to start last, battled his way up to ninth, as reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne was one of many retirements following a couple of spins.

Belgian Jerome d'Ambrosio, who finished eighth for Mahindra, remains the championship leader with 44 points to Virgin Racing driver Bird's 43.

Bird took over at the front with 11 laps to go after Swiss rival Sebastien Buemi crashed out while leading from pole position on the fenced-off Santiago street circuit.

D'Ambrosio's rookie team mate and fellow former F1 driver Pascal Wehrlein finished second, for his first Formula E podium, with Audi Sport's Daniel Abt third on a sweltering day with track temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius.

Abt finished fourth on the track behind BMW's Alexander Sims, who was then penalised for causing a collision.

France's reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne retired after a collision at the start.

The series, in its fifth season, has now had three different winners in three races.