Formula E

Formula E in Monaco: Oliver Rowland wins Saturday's race with Pit Boost chaos

Timo Pape

Timo Pape

FIA Formula E

Oliver Rowland has won the Monaco E-Prix. The Nissan driver prevailed in an entertaining Saturday Formula E race against Nyck de Vries, who sensationally placed his Mahindra in second place. The podium was completed - despite a time penalty - by Jake Dennis in the Andretti.

While pole-sitter Taylor Barnard maintained his lead at the start, Dan Ticktum had to let Nyck de Vries, who had started fourth, pass him. Oliver Rowland remained second ahead of de Vries, while Pascal Wehrlein finished the first lap in fifth place. Max Günther lost a position to David Beckmann, but otherwise things went very smoothly in the early stages. Rowland reported "strange noises" in his Nissan after his qualifying accident, which could also be heard on TV. Nevertheless, the world championship leader initially continued in 2nd place.

Nico Müller came into the pits on lap 3 to change the right rear tyre - regardless of his pit boost. One lap later, Nick Cassidy and Zane Maloney each took their first of two attack modes. Cassidy fought his way up to sixth place in four-wheel drive mode. Ticktum attacked de Vries at the exit of the tunnel, but was unable to get past and had to cut the chicane. As a result, he lost fourth place to Wehrlein.

On the first TV feed of the energy stalls, it became clear that Rowland had the best intermediate position in the lead group. Ticktum found himself involved in several duels, including with the Jaguar drivers. But then there was a clash elsewhere: Edo Mortara and Antonio Felix da Costa came into contact on the final corner: the Porsche driver drove on the inside of the Rascasse corner next to Mortara, who in turn had Beckmann on his left. Felix da Costa spun and hit the wall with the right front - the end of the race for him. A full-course yellow phase followed to recover the Porsche.

Pit boost throws rankings into disarray

After a lengthy interruption, the race resumed at race pace on lap 11. De Vries missed the restart and blocked Wehrlein in the process. Jake Dennis behind him, on the other hand, accelerated a little too early and passed them both. Things also got exciting at the front: Rowland attacked Barnard in the swimming pool section, forcing the McLaren driver to take a shortcut and stay in front. One lap later, however, Rowland got past and took the lead. Dennis Barnard now also attacked, but initially remained behind his compatriot.

On lap 14, Cassidy was the first driver to pit, as did Müller a few moments later - good timing, as it later turned out. Because then came the next scary moment for Jaguar: Mitch Evans rolled out in turn 7 with a technical problem - the previous year's winner out again! The next short full-course yellow phase followed.

The front-runner Rowland now made his first attack mode, whereupon his rivals behind him also reacted and followed suit. In addition, more drivers now pitted for the pit boost, which shuffled the order. In the "adjusted classification" - at least as far as the pit boosts were concerned - Müller was now right at the front, around five seconds ahead of Cassidy! He was followed by Rowland, de Vries and Barnard, who had fallen behind his rivals.

Rowland fights his way to the front

On lap 20 of 29, Müller picked up his first attack mode. Andretti gave him his energy targets and already sensed the big sensation. Cassidy had already fought his way up to the Swiss and followed within a second behind. However, the Jaguar driver had used up so much energy that he had eight per cent less in his battery than Müller. Perhaps Jaguar was speculating on a safety car - or had simply miscalculated. Beckmann, meanwhile, was under investigation for a possible pit boost offence.

Now the original leading group rushed back to the front. Rowland and de Vries first overtook Cassidy and then put pressure on Müller - despite the latter driving in his second attack mode. On lap 24, de Vries attacked Rowland at the end of the start and finish straight and passed the Briton! Then came the shock for McLaren: Wehrlein pushed Barnard to the outside in the hairpin - and into the wall! As a result, the pole-sitter dropped back a long way and lost any chance of victory. There was initially no investigation into Wehrlein.

A few corners later, de Vries attacked Müller and overtook him in the harbour chicane - the Mahindra driver took the lead! Behind him, Rowland and Dennis also passed Müller. On lap 26, Rowland attacked the leader in attack mode and regained the lead from de Vries! Meanwhile, third-placed Dennis received a 5-second time penalty for accelerating too early at the end of the first full-course yellow phase.

Dennis remains third, Müller loses 4th place

While race control announced that the race would be extended by one lap, the gap between Dennis and Müller widened. The Swiss driver was obviously trying to get over five seconds so that team-mate Dennis would remain third. In the final laps, things calmed down a little due to the tactical games. Rowland took his third win of the season in the sixth race and extended his overall lead! De Vries sensationally finished second ahead of Dennis. Müller lost fourth place to Mortara literally at the finish line.

In the drivers' championship, Rowland has already extended his lead to 34 points! Second is now Wehrlein, who not only finished sixth but also set the fastest lap in the top 10. Felix da Costa and Barnard follow on equal points. Porsche is still in the lead among the teams, with Nissan in second place. Mahindra climbed to third place thanks to the strong team result! In the manufacturers' standings, Nissan again leads ahead of Porsche and Mahindra.

The next Formula E race takes place in less than 24 hours. No pit boost will be used for Sunday's race in Monaco, which means we can expect a completely different race. As usual, e-Formula.news will also be reporting live from the race track on Sunday.

Results & lap times

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