Formula E in Monaco: Nyck de Vries wins Saturday's race, 1st podium for Pepe Marti

Nyck de Vries took a long-awaited first win for Mahindra in the Gen3 era in Monaco. Dan Ticktum, who started from pole position, dropped back from a promising podium position after a penalty for a collision with Antonio Felix da Costa at the end of the race. The podium was completed by Mitch Evans in second position and Pepe Marti in third place.

The first race of the Formula E "double-header" in Monaco - in this race with the use of pit boost - got underway on Saturday afternoon at a sunny 20 degrees at the Circuit de Monaco.

Multiple incidents

The race started well but the safety car had to come out on lap 3. Jake Dennis in the Andretti and Nick Cassidy in the Citroen came together in turn 10. The Briton was pushed into the wall by Cassidy after the New Zealander had tried to avoid Norman Nato in the Nissan. Cassidy appeared not to have seen Andretti during the manoeuvre. For Dennis, this meant the end of his race, Cassidy dropped to the back of the field and was handed a 10-second penalty for the contact.

A contact between the two Porsches followed on lap 13: Müller collided with Wehrlein, forcing the German into the garage to change his tyres. Other drivers started their charging stops shortly afterwards.

Towards the end of the race, pole man Dan Ticktum activated attack mode for six minutes, eight laps before the end of the race. The Briton was in fifth place at the time and the drivers in front of him had no attack mode remaining. This allowed him to work his way forwards. On lap 25 of 29, he found himself in 3rd place. His team-mate Pepe Marti was in 6th place and was the only driver in the top 10 with attack mode seconds remaining. A promising position for the Spaniard.

There was a crash on lap 27: As Antonio Felix da Costa drove out of the tunnel, he tried to pass between the barrier and Ticktum's Cupra Kiro on the inside. The two collided and then made contact with the wall. As a result, he lost the rear wheel and had to park the car. A full-course yellow followed.

One lap remained in the race and de Vries led the field, followed by Evans and Ticktum and his team-mate Marti. There were no further changes in position on the final lap and the drivers crossed the finish line in this order. A few seconds later, however, Ticktum received a drive-through penalty for the collision with Felix da Costa, whereupon his team-mate Marti secured the final podium place.

Mahindra's first victory since London 2021, where Alex Lynn last won for the team. The Dutchman celebrated his last victory in Berlin 2022. Mitch Evans ended the race in second position and thus took the lead of the championship. For Pepe Marti, it was his first Formula E podium. The top 10 was completed by Drugovich, Buemi, Eriksson, Barnard, Müller, di Grassi and Cassidy.

The second race in the Principality takes place tomorrow at 3:05 pm (CEST).