Luca Filippi will return to drive for the NIO Formula E team at this month’s Berlin ePrix, the Chinese team has confirmed.
The Italian was stood down following his home race in Rome to allow reserve driver Ma Qing Hua (pictured below right) to line up alongside regular driver Oliver Turvey at last weekend’s Paris ePrix, which was won by current championship leader Jean-Éric Vergne who drives for rival Chinese outfit Techeetah.
Ma’s substitution did not improve the NIO team’s fortunes, as the Chinese driver finished seventeenth and last at the Circuit des Invalides after failing to launch off the line at the start of the race.
Ma Qing Hua
The Shanghai-born driver had made on-off outings in the FIA Formula E Championship, contesting a total of seven races in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons with the Aguri and Techeetah squads.
The NIO team currently sits eighth in the Formula E Teams’ Championship standings, with all but one of its 35 points earned to-date coming at Turvey’s hands.
The Englishman has a best finish of second at the Mexico City ePrix in March, while Filippi’s sole point was earned with tenth place at the season-opening Hong Kong ePrix.
The Berlin ePrix takes place on May 19 at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit.
Images via FIA Formula E Championship
Mitch Timms
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