Formula E

Formula E in Shanghai: Nick Cassidy wins in the rain on Sunday, both Porsche drivers finish on the podium

Timo Pape

Timo Pape

Jake Osborne / Spacesuit Media

Nick Cassidy won Sunday's Formula E race in Shanghai. The Jaguar driver made no mistakes in the rain and dominated the rest of the field. Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix da Costa (both Porsche) completed the podium ahead of Jake Hughes (Maserati) and Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske). The previous day's winner Max Günther was the only driver to retire early with a technical problem.

After the race had been postponed from 7:04 to 8:34 (CEST) due to rain, it finally got underway - with a "roling start" behind the safety car because the track was still wet. Pole-sitter Nick Cassidy finished the first lap in the lead ahead of the two Porsche drivers Antonio Felix da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein. The safety car initially stayed out for a few more laps so that the field could clear a drying lane. After seven laps, the safety car turned into the pit lane and finally cleared the race for a rolling start.

A big surprise was that the two Porsche drivers, Mitch Evans and Dan Ticktum, had consumed significantly more energy behind the safety car than everyone else. This cannot have been tactical, as there was no pit boost on Sunday. With the exception of Lucas di Grassi, all the drivers in the top nine drove straight through the attack zone. Wehrlein received a radio message from his Porsche team: "Swap (positions) in turn 6 and catch Cassidy." The background to this was that Wehrlein had been in attack mode for a minute longer than his team-mate and the race leader.

Nyck de Vries was the first driver to spin and ride off through the gravel on lap 10. Jake Dennis also misjudged his attack on Dan Ticktum and almost shot down his compatriot. David Beckmann also spun. Wehrlein, meanwhile, did not quite manage to overtake Cassidy at the front. Instead, he made a small mistake and lost time. After twelve of 28 laps, the Jaguar driver was still ahead of Wehrlein, Felix da Costa, Jake Hughes, Jean-Eric Vergne and Max Günther.

Less action than expected

The gaps on the track were relatively large: Cassidy was around 5.5 seconds ahead of Wehrlein, with Felix da Costa a further 2.5 seconds behind. In terms of energy, the Portuguese driver was able to economise somewhat effectively and closed the gap to the rest of the field. Wehrlein still lacked a good five per cent of the energy of most of the others. He also complained about his set-up. There were two contacts at the back of the field: First Dennis pushed Oliver Rowland slightly, who was only in 13th position, then de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne clashed slightly. All in all, however, things went smoothly. The fans did not get to see many overtaking manoeuvres.

Ticktum made a mistake and spun. This ruined his tactic of getting both attack modes late in the race. Then came the shock for the previous day's winner: Max Günther slowed down with a "Red Car" status and eventually spun out in turn 10. Race control had to resort to yellow flags to recover the DS Penske. Cassidy picked up his second attack mode on lap 22. He set a new fastest lap and extended his lead to just under twelve seconds.

The race was pretty boring by Formula E standards. Although most of the drivers were in attack mode on lap 27, there were hardly any shifts in the field because the gaps were so large. Sam Bird and Vandoorne had spectacular spins, while Taylor Barnard at least made it into the top 10 in attack mode. The race literally trickled away in the final laps. Cassidy ultimately drove to victory by seven seconds - his first since the 2024 Berlin E-Prix - before Porsche drivers Wehrlein and Felix da Costa completed the podium.

Wehrlein was able to close the gap to overall leader Rowland in the drivers' championship, but is still 68 points behind in second place. In the teams' standings, however, Porsche was able to overtake Nissan and is now one point ahead of the Japanese team. Nissan is still ahead in the manufacturers' standings. The next Formula E race takes place in three weeks' time: On 21 June, the electric series visits Jakarta for the final single race of the season, before the two final double-headers in Berlin and London are on the schedule.

Results & lap times

Championship standings (drivers, teams & manufacturers)

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