Formula E spools back up for round 2 in Malaysia [w/video]

It's been over two months since the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship kicked off with its first race in Beijing. And after an extended break, the action got back under way this weekend with the second race in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

The qualifying session saw Nicolas Prost (son the of three-time Formula One champion) land on pole but his lingering penalty from Beijing dropped him down to tenth. Oriol Servia was thus elevated to first place on the starting grid, with Sam Bird alongside him and Daniel Abt in third. Jarno Trulli, Karun Chandhok, Nelson Piquet Jr, Nick Heidfeld and Bruno Senna – former F1 drivers all – followed with Matthew Brabham (grandson of the late Sir Jack) completing the top ten.

With the new FanBoost function in place, Bruno Senna, Katerine Legge and Nick Heidfeld were awarded extra bursts of power to use during the race. But who would take the checkered flag in the 2014 Putrajaya ePrix? Head on down below to watch the race highlights and to read how the race unfolded.

Bird was the last to undertake the mid-race car swap on lap 19.

Right off the line, Katherine Legge and Michela Cerruti collided on the first lap, forcing the BMW i8 safety car to be deployed. Once the race got back under way, however, it didn't take long for British driver Sam Bird – a British driver who's shown promise in other single-seater series like Formula BMW, Formula 3 and GP2 – to blitz past Servia to take the lead. And once he did, Bird proceeded to open up a gap that would prove insurmountable to the competition. He was the last to undertake the mid-race car swap on lap 19, subsequently dropping behind Abt but reclaiming the lead by lap 25 – a position he would not again surrender before the checkered flag at the end of the race.

No less impressive, however, was Lucas di Grassi, returning from his win in Beijing. After starting in ninth place on the grid, di Grassi proceeded to fight his way up the field over the course of the race distance to finish in second place. Sebastien Buemi impressed as well by working his way up the field from last place on the starting grid to finish in third place. Things didn't go so well for Trulli and Piquet, however. The F1 veterans running in third and fourth positions until they crashed into each other in the first corner of lap 23, taking both out the race.

Prost ultimately finished fourth after fighting off Abt's advances but letting Buemi get by. Jerome d'Ambrosio finished fifth, Chandhok sixth, pole-sitter Servia seventh, Antonio Felix da Costa eight, Jaime Alguersuari ninth and Abt – having spent too much of his allotted power early in the race – came home in tenth place.

With a win and a second place to his name, the results leave di Grassi still in the lead with 43 points, but only just ahead of Bird's 40. Montagny, Prost, d'Ambrosio and Chandhook follow with 18 points apiece, ahead of Beumi's 15 and Pic and Servia with 12 points each. In the combined team standings, Audi Sport Abt holds the lead with 45 points, just ahead of Virgin's 44, followed by e.dams-Renault (33) and Andretti and Dragon with 30 points apiece.

The electric circus sails next to South America for races in Uruguay (December 13) and Argentina (January 10) before coming to the US for races in Miami, FL and Long Beach, CA.