The Formula E Championship debuted at the "Bird's Nest" Olympic Stadium which started with an inaugural race and finished with a controversial crash in Beijing.

The world's first fully electric car, Formula E Spark-Renault SRT_01E, was officially recognized by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) to be part of its global motor racing family.

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"The creation of a new series and category of motorsport is like being a pioneer," said FIA Presient Jean Todt.

The inaugural race started Saturday with Brazilian driver Lucas Di Grassi from team Audi Sport ABT winning the event but it was Nicolas Prost, son of four-time formula one champion Alain, who stole the show.

In the last lap, the Frenchman Prost tried to fend off Nick Hedfield, former formula one driver, but swerved and caused the German to crash onto the top of a concrete barrier.

The cars look similar to Formula One single-seaters which require power provided by the McLaren Electronics Systems and batteries that are produced by the Williams Advanced Engineering.

The battery operated cars are slower and require a vehicle change in the middle of the race.

Beijing is just one part of a series of races in 10 various cities from around the world including Los Angeles, Miami, Buenos Aires, Monte Carlo, Berlin, Putrajaya in Malaysia, Rio De Janeiro, Punta del Este in Uruguay and London.

The Beijing ePrix features 10 teams with 20 drivers and 40 cars. Two drivers will race the event using four cars.

Among the drivers are two females, Michela Cerruti of Italy and Englishwoman Katherine Legge.

Franck Montagny of Andretti Autosport took second place followed by Sam Bird of Virgin Racing, Charles Pic also of Andretti Autosport and fifth place Karun Chandhok of Mahindra Racing.

In the team standings, Andretti Formula E is on top with 30 points followed by Audi Sport ABT (25) and Virgin Racing with 15 points.

TagsLucas Di Grassi, Nicolas Prost, Nick Hedfield, Franck Montagny, Sam Bird