Formula E: Mitch Evans wins thrilling Monaco E-Prix in Jaguar one-two victory
Tobias Wirtz
Mitch Evans has won the Formula E race in Monaco. The Jaguar driver finished an eventful race in the Principality ahead of his team-mate Nick Cassidy. Stoffel Vandoorne finished third in the DS Penske. Pascal Wehrlein retained the championship lead with a fifth place, while Jake Dennis had a race to forget.
Pole-sitter Pascal Wehrlein retained the lead at the start ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne, with the Jaguar drivers swapping positions behind him. While things were very orderly at the front of the field, Nyck de Vries lost part of his front wing after contact with Sacha Fenestraz and the season 7 champion lost several positions.
On the third lap, Wehrlein was the first driver to activate attack mode, dropping back to fourth place, and shortly afterwards Vergne also passed the Porsche. Several drivers at the back of the field also activated the additional power. Norman Nato lost his front wing after contact at the back of the field.
Mortara with a heavy impact, Hughes crashes behind the safety car
One lap later, there was chaos in the hairpin: Sergio Sette Camara cut inside and collided with Sebastien Buemi, who then found himself in the barriers. The victim was Antonio Felix da Costa, who was driving behind Buemi and had to stop. The Porsche driver had to wait until Buemi was able to continue and dropped to the back of the field.
Buemi is into the barrier at the hairpin! ?
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 27, 2024
Da Costa is caught up in the incident as well, but both cars are able to get going again.#MonacoEPrix pic.twitter.com/YomcT3gK0T
Mortara crashed into the wall at high speed in the swimming pool section shortly afterwards. Even though Dan Ticktum was driving alongside him, there had been no contact. As the team confirmed shortly afterwards, brake failure was the cause of the accident. The Race director called out a safety car phase in order to recover the car. This led to another collision in the area of the hairpin: Jake Hughes hit Sergio Sette Camara, the McLaren driver also lost his front wing. This time, however, the ERT driver was not at fault.
Another look at the incident that brought out the @PorscheRaces Safety Car.#MonacoEPrix pic.twitter.com/Q3PrF8jYa8
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 27, 2024
Drama for Jake Dennis
Hughes and Norman Nato used this to have a new front wing fitted. The repairs to the TecPro barrier dragged on and the race was reopened at the end of lap eight. Cassidy missed the start of the race, giving Vandoorne and Evans a lead of around two seconds. However, as both were saving energy, the drivers behind them closed the gap again.
Rowland, who had moved up to sixth place, attacked Wehrlein, who was able to defend. On the tenth lap, Vandoorne activated his attack mode and both Jaguar drivers passed him. Problems for the world champion shortly afterwards: Jake Dennis had damaged his front wing in the tunnel and was travelling slowly towards the pits.
More front wing drama for @AndrettiFE! ?
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 27, 2024
This time it's @JakeDennis19 with damage, forcing him to return to the pits.#MonacoEPrix pic.twitter.com/3h6Lx6btWu
Team tactics at Jaguar pay off
Cassidy blocked the drivers behind him, allowing Evans to activate attack mode and remain comfortably in the lead. He extended his lead to as much as four seconds shortly afterwards, while Cassidy continued to block Vandoorne's attacks. Evans activated his second attack mode but remained in the lead. Behind him, Max Günther passed Pascal Wehrlein, who regained the position shortly afterwards.
The drivers swapped positions at Jaguar: Cassidy was now in front, while Evans blocked the rest of the field, giving him a lead. Cassidy retained the lead even after activating attack mode. The two DS Penske drivers also swapped positions so that Vergne could activate attack mode without falling behind Wehrlein. Meanwhile, Robin Frijns had also suffered damage to his front wing and came in for a pit stop shortly afterwards.
On lap 17, Evans took the lead again after Cassidy activated the second attack mode. The field at the front tightened up again. Rowland and Günther were subsequently involved in several skirmishes, with the German losing several positions in the process. Instead, Felix da Costa was suddenly back: the Porsche driver moved up to sixth place with a robust manoeuvre against Rowland. Porsche then also utilised the team tactic: Felix da Costa blocked the drivers behind him so that Wehrlein was able to activate his second attack mode without losing a position.
Muscling through ?@oliverrowland1 capitalised on a gap to snatch P6 off @maxg_official!#MonacoEPrix pic.twitter.com/sLvkQbAvB2
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 27, 2024
Nico Müller crashes: Safety car again
Cassidy was instructed by his team to maintain his position behind Evans in order to bring home a one-two victory for the team. Yellow flags were waved at the first corner due to debris on the track. There was a collision between Buemi and Nico Müller at the back of the field. Shortly afterwards, Müller crashed into the barriers after a collision with Hughes and race control again sent the safety car onto the track.
? SAFETY CAR ?
- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 27, 2024
The @abtmotorsport of @nico_mueller is in the wall after making contact with Hughes! #MonacoEPrix @PorscheRaces pic.twitter.com/3hPOxyravT
The standings after 26 laps: The two Jaguar drivers Evans and Cassidy led ahead of the DS Penske duo of Vandoorne and Vergne, followed by the two works Porsches of Wehrlein and Felix da Costa and the Nissan duo of Rowland and Fenstraz. Max Günther and Norman Nato completed the top 10.
The race was extended by two laps. Rowland passed Felix da Costa shortly after the restart and was now in 6th place. The drivers in the leading group now tried to set the fastest lap, but there were no more changes to the positions as the drivers had saved enough energy to finish the race at full power. Cassidy managed this on the final lap to secure the extra point.
Pascal Wehrlein continues to lead the overall Formula E standings, with Nick Cassidy now second ahead of Jake Dennis. Jaguar now leads the teams by a clear margin ahead of Porsche and Andretti. The next Formula E races will take place in a fortnight' time: On 11 and 12 May, the electric series will contest its traditional German race at Berlin-Tempelhof Airport. Two races will be held here, with a test day for Formula E newcomers also taking place on Monday.
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