The first round of the ABB Formula E Race At Home Challenge took place on Saturday and Pascal Wehrlein impressed, taking a podium finish in his debut esports race! Jerome D’Ambrosio’s performance sealed the team a double-points finish in the opening race of the competition.

Both Pascal and Jerome will race in the eight week sim series for Mahindra Racing, which is the first major fundraising initiative in Formula E’s partnership with UNICEF that aims to keep children around the world safe, healthy and learning in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

On a virtual Hong Kong E-Prix track, Pascal impressed out of the blocks, setting the second fastest time in qualifying to line-up on the front row of the grid. On the first corner of the race he was squeezed by Maxi Gunther and Nick Cassidy and was pushed down to fifth but, with Stoffel Vandoorne making a mistake and Jean Eric Vergne retiring on lap four, he moved up to third where he remained until the chequered flag. Taking the podium place also secured him 15 points in the championship.

After starting 16th, Jerome made a stellar start to make up four places immediately and was in a tenth place, points scoring position by lap four. By lap eight had moved up to ninth and crossed the line in that position to score two points.

The second of eight rounds will take place this Saturday at 3.30pm BST and can be viewed across Formula E’s digital platforms.