Mitch Evans Keeps Slim Formula E Title Hopes Alive with Win in Seoul

• Mitch Evans’ victory leaves him 21 points shy of Stoffel Vandoorne in the championship heading into the Sunday finale.

• Vandoorne, still the favorite for the championship, finished fifth on Saturday.

• A perfect Sunday, including race win, pole and fastest lap of the race, is worth 29 points. Top 10 finishers score points on a 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 basis (pole is worth three points and fastest lap of the race is worth one.

Stoffel Vandoorne moved closer to his first ABB FIA Formula E championship with a solid fifth-place finish in the opening round of the season-ending Seoul E-Prix on Saturday.

Mercedes EQ-Formula E Team's Vandoorne, the former McLaren F1 driver, leads Saturday's race winner Mitch Evans by 21 points heading into the final race of the season (2:30 a.m., Sunday, CBSSN TV).

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Should Jaguar TCS Racing's Evans sweep the doubleheader with a win (and the pole and the fastest lap) in the finale, Vandoorne could still win the title of the all-electric open-wheel series with a finish of fifth or better. Evans' win on Saturday was his fourth of the season.

Vandoorne, which just one win, has played the points game to perfection to put himself in a position to win the championship. Evans in the only other driver with a chance to win the title on Sunday.

The maximum amount of points available for the final race is 29 (25 for the win, three for the pole, one for fastest lap of the race). Should Vandoorne finish out of the top 10 and fail to score in the finale, Evans could win the championship with a win or with a second-place finish and the pole.

“That was the plan (to keep the championship race alive)," said Evans, who won from the second starting position. "It has been a lot of work since London to make sure we can make this result possible. This morning was tricky, we didn't quite have the pace, but then the rain came at the right time I qualified at the front—and had a good start. The race was really hard to manage, the conditions change all the time, so thanks to the team for guiding me through. This is what we needed, we don't give up, so we go to tomorrow and keep fighting. Can I do the double? That's the plan, I've done it before—let's do it again."

Oliver Rowland finished in second on Saturday after starting from pole. Lucas di Grassi, the only driver to compete in all 99 Formula E races to date, completed the podium in third.

“It is a really big honor to race here, amazing place, amazing fans," di Grassi said. "We did our best today for the team on the constructor's championship, and for me personally to reach my 39th podium and 1,010 (career) points, so I am super happy and we are going to celebrate a lot."

The second race in the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix will be the 16th of the season and the 100th E-Prix in Formula E history. The race will mark the end of season eight and the Gen 2 race car era, ahead of an all-new Gen 3 race car set to debut in 2023.