Formula E Sanya E-Prix result: Jean-Eric Vergne dedicates victory to Charlie Whiting after sixth new winner this season

Former F1 driver Verge dedicated his victory in China to the late FIA race director as the wide-open championship took another twist with leader Sam Bird crashing out on the first lap

Reigning Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne dedicated his first ABB FIA Formula E Championship win of Season 5 to the late Formula One race director Charlie Whiting after an emotional victory at the Sanya E-Prix.

The Frenchman made it a home victory for his Chinese DS Techeetah team after a difficult start to his title defence which saw him pointless in the last three races - and tears began flowing on the podium as La Marseillaise played.

Vergne’s win continued Formula E’s streak of unpredictability with a sixth different winner from a sixth different team in the first six races and lifted Vergne from 11th to third in a wide-open Drivers’ Championship.

The top six drivers, now led by BMW’s Antonio Felix Da Costa who finished in third, are separated by just ten points while all drivers down to Pascal Wehrlein in 11th can mathematically top the Championship should they win the next race in Rome.

And Vergne, who spent several years in F1 at Toro Rosso, was keen to make a tribute to motorsport official Whiting who died suddenly last week.

He said: “I got to know [Whiting] when I arrived in F1 – I had many discussions with him and I got to learn a lot from him. He was a brilliant man and more than just a race director and his loss was huge to the world of motorsport in general.

“I had been all over the world working with him so losing him was not nice and dedicating my win to him is the minimum we can do as racing drivers, so it goes to him.”

Oliver Rowland made a lightning start to lead the race from pole position (Getty)

The French driver added: “I feel very proud to have made this win. After 20 races in the points to have three races in a row without points was very tough, very hard for me.

“I did not sleep very well between Hong Kong and here but we stuck together and kept moving forward doing the best job as possible. It is a big day for us as a Chinese team here, all the fans were singing the national anthem and it was all quite emotional.”

It was a tale of two races for British drivers Oliver Rowland and Sam Bird who had contrasting fortunes in China.

Jean-Eric Vergne celebrates his victory in China for the home team DS Techeetah team (Getty)

Nissan e.dams rookie Rowland produced a fantastic qualifying to take pole position and despite losing out to Vergne, who produced a bold overtake reminiscent of his Season 4 form halfway through the race, was able to finish second for his first Formula E podium.

Bird, who began the day leading the Drivers’ Championship, had a tougher day as he qualified down in 16th and then crashed out on the first lap after a collision with HWA Racelab’s Stoffel Vandoorne although the Brit remains in the hunt just eight points off the lead.

Oliver Turvey in action during the Formula E Sanya E-Prix (Getty)

Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Lucas Di Grassi also had an eventful day – failing to activate Attack Mode properly twice in a row, recovering to move into sixth place only to be t-boned by Envision Virgin Racing’s Robin Frijns on the final lap to end his race.

The late drama continued into the media pen following the race as Di Grassi and Frijns engaged in a heated argument over who was to blame.

With driver tensions reaching boiling point the Championship will now move into its European leg beginning with the Rome E-Prix on April 13.