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E-Grand Prix Sao Paulo: Mitch Evans wins, Jaguar achieves a triple victory!

The wildcats have never roared louder: The first E-Prix in Brazil was a complete win for Jaguar.

All three first places this time went to drivers with Jaguar powertrains: Evans, Bird, and Cassidy. | Photo: ABB FIA Formula E
All three first places this time went to drivers with Jaguar powertrains: Evans, Bird, and Cassidy. | Photo: ABB FIA Formula E
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Gregor Soller

Finally, Mitch Evans was able to secure his long-awaited victory on Jaguar TCS Racing. The podium was completed by two other drivers with Jaguar powertrains: Nick Cassidy on Envision Racing and Sam Bird on the second Jaguar TCS Racing car crossed the finish line almost simultaneously: The trio finished just half a second apart and concluded an exciting first Julius Baer São Paulo E-Prix in front of more than 23,000 motorsport fans.

The São Paulo Street Circuit, with its 11 turns, is also one of the fast Formula E tracks. And once again, the competition was fierce: Evans managed to navigate his way from third on the grid through the constant position changes in the field and stay at the front. The New Zealander soon took the initiative and the lead from his compatriot Cassidy, as the race went into additional laps following several safety car incidents.

DS and Porsche remain strong

Once again, DS Penske and Porsche were strong: Reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne on DS Penske started from pole position and led the race for a long time. He fended off António Félix da Costa on TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, even during the first round of attack mode activations, but faltered in the second half of the race. He managed to break away with a lead group that was almost unreachable for the field until lap 14 – but within this group, every centimeter was fiercely contested. Lap 14 alone saw multiple lead changes, with Cassidy taking the lead. Vandoorne had to fight for energy: He finished sixth – behind his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne. Fourth place went to Félix da Costa in the Porsche.

Brilliant move in lap 32: Evans leads – but surprisingly defensive

Evans' brilliant overtaking move in lap 32 proved decisive: He took the lead but then drove surprisingly defensively: Neither Cassidy nor Evans' teammate Bird could seriously challenge him – and this, despite Bird collecting a few extra percentage points of usable energy during his rise from tenth on the grid at the start of the race. Cassidy had led the race more than once but will be more than satisfied to have achieved three podium finishes in a row for the first time in his Formula E career. Evans was delighted:

“This comes at the perfect time. We had a tough start, but the car was fast, and finally getting the win and some points is incredible. Jaguar in the top three – pretty cool! Nick pushed me the whole time - we drove each other forward, and both teams worked brilliantly.”

Evans knows what he's talking about – he had to wait a long time for this victory, for which he also thanked the team:

“This is the result of hard work. There is a lot of work in simulations, and it's not easy to put these races together in terms of strategy. I wouldn't have wanted it to be any closer."

Things didn't go quite as smoothly this time for the usually successful Porsche: Nonetheless, championship leader Pascal Wehrlein, who had to start from 18th, was able to plow through the field and eventually finished seventh. His teammate da Costa started from second position and had to settle for fourth place in the end. McLaren with the Nissan customer machines also delivered solidly: Jake Hughes finished eighth, just ahead of his teammate René Rast, who crossed the line in ninth. Sébastien Buemi placed the second Envision Racing in tenth, scoring points – so all Jaguar powertrains scored points this time.

Jake Dennis on the Porsche customer engine in Avalanche Andretti had to endure another retirement after his 99X Electric was pushed into Wehrlein's Porsche by a contact with Dan Ticktum's NIO 333.

Aussagen in diesem Video müssen nicht mit der Meinung der Redaktion übereinstimmen.

Porsche: Strong Start by da Costa, Marred by a Driving Error

A quick look at Porsche, where things initially looked promising for da Costa: After his best qualifying session this season, in which he missed pole position by only six hundredths of a second with his Porsche 99X Electric, he started the race from second position. On the 2.933-kilometer course, he led the race several times. In the final stage, however, the winner of the Cape Town race made a driving error, costing himself a chance at a podium finish. Nevertheless, he secured important points by finishing fourth, just as Pascal Wehrlein did: Starting from eighteenth, the double winner from Diriyah gained eleven positions with a strong performance and finished seventh. Wehrlein maintains his lead in the drivers' championship with 86 points, ahead of Dennis with 62 points, while Cassidy is just one point behind the Brit in third place. The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team leads with 144 points, ahead of Envision Racing with 103 points and Jaguar TCS Racing with 83 points. Despite this, Evans also focused on tactics, as evidenced by his following statement:

"We obviously thought about track position and where you want to be at certain points in the race. I had a good energy advantage from the start, but it was all about finding the right time to use that energy advantage. I think I might have gone a bit too early. Once Nick was behind me, he could save energy and stay on my heels, but we got the win, so we obviously did the right job. I'm very happy we scored some important points."

Nick Cassidy added:

"I'm super happy with the podium today, you can't be unhappy with a race like this – that was Formula E at its best, so much fun in the car. I hope it was good to watch too. We approached it very strategically and Sam also did a great job. Jaguar powertrains in the top three positions, that's pretty cool. I knew roughly how much energy Sam Bird had, which is why I pushed Mitch to continue. I knew it would be quite difficult to get the win and that I would have to do something special with Mitch to turn the race, but I took a high risk, finishing third."

Once again, Abt Cupra remained without points. Although the team stated that it "confirmed its fundamental upward trend in São Paulo" and fought for midfield positions in all event sessions, tangible success remained elusive: Robin Frijns finished in 14th place in his comeback after a two-month break, while his teammate Nico Müller retired early after an unintentional collision. "We are taking the positive points home," says team boss Thomas Biermaier, adding:

"We made the right steps to be closer in free practice and qualifying. If we consistently continue on this path, we will soon see the corresponding results in the races."

The to-do list for the coming weeks remains long:

"It's good to have Robin back on board. We'll now work intensively together on and off the track to present ourselves even stronger at our home races."
 

Already in the free practice sessions in São Paulo, Nico Müller showed with lap times in the top ten that the newly formed team has found its way into the midfield. In qualifying, the Swiss driver placed 13th – the best starting position in the current season so far. Until mid-race, Müller fought for the first points until he had to retire after a collision. "We were sniffing at the points again, but it didn't work out," says Nico Müller, adding:

"It was quite chaotic on the track at times. For a long time, I managed to stay out of everything, but then, unfortunately, I got caught. But we know we can keep up."
 

What does this mean?

In Formula E, favorites are quickly emerging this season: Besides Porsche, DS Penske and Jaguar TCS Racing are increasingly becoming contenders, along with Envision and occasionally Avalanche Andretti. Wehrlein maintains his lead in the drivers' championship with 86 points, ahead of Dennis with 62 points, while Cassidy is just one point behind the Brit in third place. The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team leads with 144 points, ahead of Envision Racing with 103 points and Jaguar TCS Racing with 83 points.

Translated automatically from German.
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