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Formula E in Cape Town: Porsche keeps winning!

It was a "photo finish": After a spectacular overtaking maneuver in the penultimate lap, António Félix da Costa in his TAG Heuer Porsche moved past Jean-Éric Vergne in the DS Penske and secured his first victory since the race in New York 2022.

Antonio Felix da Costa jumped high: he overtook Vergne in the penultimate lap. | Photo: Porsche
Antonio Felix da Costa jumped high: he overtook Vergne in the penultimate lap. | Photo: Porsche
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Formula E premiered in South Africa on one of the fastest circuits of season 9, which is also quite bumpy and has many different surfaces: Thomas Baltes, Hankook Formula E Race Engineer, explains the circuit in detail:

"The track is certainly one of the fastest in Season 9. Especially the bumps and a total of five different types of asphalt demanded everything from the drivers and our tires. The temperature difference between the red and black asphalt was up to six degrees Celsius. This, of course, had an impact on the grip level. However, the high consistency of the iON Race gave the drivers the necessary confidence to make overtakes or brake at the end of the high-speed straight with the needed grip."

But the challenging track led to numerous lead changes and nail-biting finales with sold-out grandstands. For his overtaking maneuver in the penultimate lap, da Costa received standing ovations from the spectators. It wasn't clear from the start that he would win: António Félix da Costa had to start from 11th place – but he probably drove one of the best races of his career! It helped that he was able to move up several places right after the start. After 21 of the total 32 laps, he was already third and could take the lead three laps later and separate himself from the field. Bad luck for Max Günther in the Maserati: He was in second place shortly after the start but had to settle for a zero-round in the end.  

The activation of the last Attack Mode did not succeed on the first attempt and required a second try, costing him the lead. But he stayed close and managed to overtake the then-leading Vergne again in the penultimate lap. The Porsche triumph was only overshadowed by the retirement of da Costa's teammate Pascal Wehrlein, who crashed into the rear of Buemi's Envision in the first round.

The victory was brave and hard-fought

Rarely have there been such tough fights for victory in the races: Vergne is one of those drivers who fight hard and always have to earn their victories: Only one of his previous 11 wins did he drive with a "comfortable" lead of more than two seconds. This time too, da Costa was right on his heels: In the end, he again drove around the outside of turn 7 into turns 8 and 9 to secure a spectacular victory.

Fenestraz was in third place until shortly before the end, passing Cassidy with his Nissan to claim Nissan's first potential podium spot, but unfortunately, he hit the wall in the last lap and retired from the race. However, the rookie showed what he is capable of - even though third place then went to Cassidy. The Nissan customer team McLaren continued to show strong consistency: René Rast improved by six places to finish fourth, behind him Sébastien Buemi in the Envision finished fifth. Rast noted:

"This track is really brutal: There are extreme corners where you end up in the wall immediately after mistakes."

And he added:

"What Félix da Costa did against Vergne, I wouldn't have dared!"

Once again surprising was Dan Ticktum, who managed to drive his NIO to sixth place, putting the Anglo-Chinese team in better shape than last year.

Reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne in the second DS secured seventh place, and Norman Nato earned points for Nissan by finishing eighth. André Lotterer in the Avalanche Andretti claimed ninth place, and Jake Hughes in the second McLaren also scored points.

Jaguar has a streak of bad luck, Cupra and Maserati also couldn't score points

Once again, Jaguar TCS Racing had bad luck: Sam Bird's damaged car was not ready to start after his crash in qualifying, and Mitch Evans was penalized for a breach of overtaking rules with a drive-through penalty, which knocked him back from a strong fourth place at the beginning of the race. In the end, he could only manage eleventh place. The second Nio, driven by Sergio Sette Camara, finished in twelfth, and Jake Dennis secured the final classified position by finishing thirteenth. Unfortunately, the newcomers Maserati and Cupra had to settle for another race without points.

Despite this failure, Wehrlein leads the drivers' championship with 80 points ahead of Jake Dennis with 62 points. Vergne is now in third place with 50 points, and da Costa is in fourth with 46 points. In the team standings, Porsche leads with 126 points ahead of the Jaguar customer team Envision Racing with 84 points. Behind them follows the Porsche customer team Avalanche Andretti with 80 points, followed by Neom McLaren (66 points) and DS Penske (61).

What does this mean?

Porsche remains the dominant force in the current Formula E season, although it is no longer quite as "overwhelming" as at the start of the season. DS Penske seems to be gradually finding its form again, while Envision, McLaren, and Avalanche Andretti continue to score points reliably. Mahindra and TCS Jaguar are experiencing a slump, while Nio and Nissan are scoring points more consistently. Abt Cupra and Maserati still have not gained momentum.

Translated automatically from German.
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