by Linus O’Howell
Antonio Felix da Costa kept calm to deliver a big win from 13th for TAG Heuer Porsche in one of the maddest Formula E races I’ve ever seen! Oliver Rowland made it four podiums on the spin with a second-placed finish whilst Jake Dennis came through from 17th to third! However, a post-race disqualification for da Costa meant Rowland took victory from Dennis whilst Maximilian Gunther inherited third.
The Most Notable Moments
Mitch Evans managed to get off the line well, but after that, this race was honestly complete chaos! Edoardo Mortara was out on Lap 1, Nick Cassidy had to box after coming together with Jean-Eric Vergne in the tight and tricky chicane, Pascal Wehrlein also picked up damage a few laps later after he drove into the back of Vergne, whilst the lead swapped hand countless times!
📸 A frenetic race saw multiple race leaders.
It’s interesting to note that JEV was given a 5-second time penalty for his collision with Cassidy which seemed a bit harsh, whilst Maximilian Gunther went airborne at one point after running over a pair of sausage kerbs.
Sam Bird had planned to bolt, but it proved to be slightly too early as Bird dropped through the field before he ultimately suffered a puncture which took him out of the points completely.
📸 A puncture meant the end of any meaningful running for Bird.
Towards the end of the E-Prix, Antonio Felix da Costa and Oliver Rowland pulled away to ultimately finish 1st and 2nd respectively whilst Vergne aggressively defended from Jake Dennis, even though it ultimately didn’t matter for much given the DS Penske driver was running with a penalty. Also, on the final lap Jehan Daruvala found the gravel trap as his tough season continues.
📸 Da Costa(middle) took to the podium before news broke of his disqualification.
Drivers who Impressed
There were three drivers that really impressed me today and the first one was Antonio Felix da Costa. He was was still technically impressive, but his disqualification doesn't help matters!
📸 Ollie Rowland has enjoyed a stellar start to the season.
The second driver that really impressed me today was Oliver Rowland as he’s just loving finishing on the podium right now! Also, Rowland heads into the round seven as the Championship leader which certainly wasn’t on my bingo card at the start of Season 10!
The third driver that deserves a massive amount of praise is Jake Dennis, who just has a knack for finishing high up, but coming from P17 makes it even more impressive!
📸Dan Ticktum took his best Formula E finish to date in fourth.
I also feel that Maximilian Gunther deserves some praise for scoring another podium whilst ERT managed to score a massive 20 points which is an incredible result!
Drivers who Struggled
For me, Pascal Wehrlein and Jehan Daruvala were the two most disappointing drivers today.
Pascal made a poor and out-of-character mistake when he drove into the back of Jean-Eric Vergne early on whilst Jehan didn’t have great pace anyway, let alone him making a mistake at the end!
📸 Frijns endured a poor result.
It also wasn’t a great day for Envision Racing as Sebastien Buemi finished P15 whilst Robin Frijns finished P18.
Overall Race Results
1) Oliver Rowland: Winner 2) Jake Dennis: +3.413 3) Maximilian Gunther: +4.198
4) Dan Ticktum: +4.964 5) Mitch Evans: +6.083
6) Sergio Sette Camara: +7.936* 7) Jean-Eric Vergne: +7.969 (5 second penalty) 8) Norman Nato: +7.998 9) Stoffel Vandoorne: +8.049
10) Sacha Fenestraz: +8.178 11) Lucas di Grassi: +8.377 12) Nico Muller: +8.721 13) Nyck de Vries: +13.461 14) Sebastien Buemi: +13.857
15) Jake Hughes: +14.115 16) Pascal Wehrlein: +1:05.378 17) Robin Frijns: +1:18.770
(Gaps behind da Costa)
DNF: Jehan Daruvala (Crash), Sam Bird, Nick Cassidy, Edoardo Mortara (Incident)
DSQ: Antonio Felix da Costa
*Sergio Sette Camara received a 50 second penalty, dropping him to 15th.
📸 Image credits: TAG HEUER Porsche, ERT Formula E, ABB FIA Formula E, Envision, DS Penske, Nissan NISMO, NEOM McLaren.
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