Formula E fans, we are so back! After what feels like an eternity without our favourite electric cars on track, fans were treated to a highly chaotic season opener in the streets of the Brazilian circuit; with two unexpected drivers making it to the podium, and some fan favourites unable to finish the race. But it’s a clean slate now for our teams, with many of them boasting new driver lineups, so will they all start as they mean to go on or will we see some more spanners thrown into the metaphorical works?
Perhaps the first bad omen was the delayed start. At first, spectators thought there might’ve been an issue with the lights at the front of the grid, not being able to correctly signal for the race to commence. However, just seconds later, the Envision #4, driven by Robin Frijns, was wheeled off the grid due to an issue with his car, causing it to seemingly shut itself down. Now, with the race yellow flagged before it had even started, 21 drivers remained on the grid, ready to get the e-prix underway.
Yorkshire's own Oliver Rowland has been on top form all weekend. Credit: @FIAFormulaE on X.
Defending champion Pascal Wehrlein started on pole, but it was Oliver Rowland who led the race through the first corner after making a strong start in his Nissan. A few corners later there was some brief contact in the midfield, with Season 9 champ Jake Dennis reporting possible damage to his car over the team radio. Mitch Evans, in the #9 Jaguar, managed to climb to P15 in the first lap after starting in last at the very back of the grid and avoiding any close calls thus far. Following on from Rowland leading the race, Wehrlein stayed hot on his tail, with Günther, Vergne and Da Costa battling it out right behind them. At the far end of the grid were the young rookies, new to the grid; Zane Maloney and Taylor Barnard, driving for Lola Yamaha ABT and NEOM McLaren respectively, both hail from Formula 2.
Only a few laps in and we saw our first crash incident of the race. Jake Hughes, driving for Maserati this year, found himself sandwiched between the wall and the Andretti of Nico Muller. Both drivers were okay, however the safety car had to be brought out whilst the cars remained on the track. Whilst the safety car was still out, Taylor Barnard nipped into the pits, but seemed to be the only driver to do so – meanwhile out on track, the #48 Mahindra of Edo Mortara was shown the black and white flag, for causing a collision, and immediately after this, everybody was shown their favourite flag; the green one.
Coming into lap 6, Rowland maintained the lead, but Wehrlein was eagerly looking for the chance to get past him, and a little further back, several cars elected to activate their first attack modes of the race; Cassidy’s Jaguar, Vandoorne’s Maserati, Di Grassi’s Lola Yamaha ABT and Barnard’s NEOM McLaren all triggered the boost, giving them a little extra in power in order to try and climb the rankings. However, not long into his attack mode, Di Grassi dropped to the bottom of the board, bringing out another yellow flag as his car stopped after sustaining damage, but he was able to limp back to the pits and by the start of the 8th lap, everybody was full steam ahead again. Wehrlein had dropped back to P5, with Cassidy now on Rowland’s tail, looking to take the lead as he set the new fastest lap of the race.
As more drivers further back in the field activated their attack modes, Cassidy became the new race leader. Meanwhile, Evans, Cassidy’s teammate, had successfully gained more positions and found himself up in the top 10, creeping ever closer to the cars remaining ahead of him. Lap 9 saw over half the remaining drivers simultaneously in attack mode at one point, with Evans now peaking at P6, right on the tail of Dennis and then in front of him, Dennis’ former teammate, Norman Nato - all three drivers still in attack mode. Before the end of Lap 11, Nato had high-tailed it into P1, just as his attack mode ended, but it wasn’t long before Cassidy took the lead back. Nato’s subsequent trip to the pits led him to P16, with his teammate Rowland now fighting to stay up in the top 3.
Lap 16 marked the drivers being just over halfway through the initial 31 laps of the race, though as Formula E fans will know, a few extra laps are often added at the end in instances where yellow flags and safety cars have delayed the racing. Maloney had managed to find himself in 5th place – much to the apparent surprise of the commentators – though Barnard was still at the back with his teammate, Sam Bird. Also in the points behind Maloney, and soon overtaking him further into the lap, was Nyck De Vries, a Mahindra driver and former Formula E world champ that F1 fans will certainly recognize from his stint at AlphaTauri.
Evans, impressively, had now found his way into the top 3, despite his disadvantage on the starting grid. In front of him was Cassidy, and behind him, now in P4, was De Vries. Things were certainly going in favour of the Jaguar drivers, however that same luck didn’t apply to everybody else, as we were soon to find out. Lap 19 saw the two Porsches now at the front of the race, wheel-to-wheel and surely giving their team heart failure for a brief second back in the garage.
Lap 20 saw the next stroke of misfortune occur, and it was for none other than Jake Dennis, stranded off-track due to a technical issue; despite having shown immense speed through practice and qualifying, the battery of his Andretti clearly had other plans. The race was red-flagged due to the Andretti being classed as a ‘red car’, meaning the car was unsafe due to an isolation issue and that it was not safe for anybody else to touch it. Dennis’ retirement meant that both Andretti cars were out of the race, a disappointing and premature end to the team's weekend.
Lap 22 commenced under the safety car, with six of the remaining cars still yet to use up all of their mandatory attack mode time, and for lap 23 the drivers lined up on the grid to take a standing start. Da Costa’s Porsche led at the front of the grid for the start, but Rowland led the race again into the first corner, making another fantastic start for the Yorkshire driver. Günther also got past Da Costa, leaving the Porsche drivers in P3 and P4.
On Lap 28, Oliver Rowland reacted with great disappointment to the drive-through penalty he’d been given, but this was entirely in favour of the two Jaguars behind him, who were now looking hopeful for a 1-2 finish – a strong start to the season after they took the constructors championship home in season 10. The following lap, as fans were on the edges of their seats watching Evans overtake his teammate whilst in attack mode, we learned that there would be four laps added to the end of the race, meaning that it was more important than ever for the drivers to conserve their car’s energy and make it to the chequered flag.
Günther, who had been maintaining strong pace for the whole race, was the next to be shunned by Lady Luck, finding himself kissing the wall during lap 30 and bringing his race to an abrupt end. As fans were looking towards Günther's DS Penske, however, through the next corner was perhaps the worst incident of the race – one of the distinctive purple Porsches was rolled up onto its side and nearly completely upside down, coming to a stop against the wall of the track. It soon came to light that the Porsche belonged to none other than our reigning champion, and the race was swiftly red flagged for his safety – thankfully, he and Günther were both confirmed to be okay after their respective crashes.
Much the same as the previous restart, lap 31 also commenced behind the safety car as the drivers returned to the track after the fantastic efforts of those who came to the aid of our drivers. Evans now led the remaining sixteen cars on the track, looking towards a potential victory after his initial goal being to simply make it back into the points. Da Costa was in second place, and behind them were the two NEOM McLarens – Barnard in P3 and Bird in P4, hoping for one – or even both of them – to make it onto one of the coveted podium spots.
The race was green flagged again, in time for the beginning of lap 32, and what fans hoped would be an uneventful last few laps of the race after the chaos that had already ensued. Evans looked to extend his lead, but the drivers behind him weren’t ready to let him pull away so easily. Behind the NEOM McLarens was Mortara, with his teammate De Vries in P7, looking to score big after they closed out the last race weekend of season 10 with an impressive double points finish and thus proving the Mahindra to still very much be a competitive car.
As the final lap commenced, it was looking more and more likely that Evans was poised to take the victory, which would surely be a morale booster after both Jaguar drivers came so close to the drivers championship last season. Barnard, impressively, was holding his own at the front too, looking to start his rookie season with a trophy in hand.
Mitch Evans and Jaguar team principal James Barclay celebrate their victory. Credit: @JaguarRacing on X.
And so, as the chequered flag was waved, Mitch Evans crossed the line first, becoming the first Formula E driver to win from starting in last place. Da Costa crossed the line second, and Barnard finished soon after him – making him the youngest Formula E driver to stand on the podium; at just 20 years and 189 days old, beating Daniel Abt’s record, after he stood on the podium in 2015 aged 22 years old. A bit further down in the standings from them, Nato had finished in P6, but received a penalty which saw him demoted to P13 – meaning that Vandoorne was promoted into the points, the Mahindras were now next to each other in P5 and P6, and Vergne, Ticktum and Buemi all gained a little extra towards their title fight, too.
What have we learned from this opening race? Number one – the Jaguars are hungrier than ever for the drivers championship. Number two – the youngsters in the sport are shaping up incredibly well, and they have a bright future ahead of them. Third, and finally – that nobody I know correctly predicted that podium on the Formula E race predictor. So now, we simply have to sit tight and wait for January, when Formula E returns and we race in Mexico City.
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