In the tenth round of the Formula E season, Mitch Evans has just been edged out for a podium after a chaotic race in Monaco. Fellow Kiwi Nick Cassidy endured another tough race, with his focus now solely on the next Formula E weekend.
Qualifying
Evans featured first in group A, and easily progressed after finishing third, +0.170 behind Round 9 polesitter Dan Ticktum, and just behind Eduardo Mortara. Cassidy headed out in group B, but was unable to progress after finishing the session in ninth, just under half a second behind DS Penske’s Taylor Barnard, setting a fast 1.28.545.
Evans was the first driver to take part in the duels, facing off against Mortara. Mortara was dominant throughout the one-lap shootout and set a lap +0.220 faster than the Kiwi to progress to the next stage of the duels, leaving the Kiwi starting the race in seventh.
Race
At the start of the twenty-eight lap race, both Evans and Cassidy were able to hold position through the chaotic first few corners. Evans was lucky to avoid early carnage as his Jaguar teammate, Antonio Felix da Costa was turned around at the iconic Nouvelle Chicane.
As da Costa went down the order, Evans was able to climb up into fifth position. Race leader Mortara was subsequently given a ten-second time penalty for causing a collision, potentially changing up the order at the top.
Evans elected to take his first attack mode on lap seven, allowing him six minutes of extra power as he sat in ninth. The Kiwi, showing his prowess on track, put on a set of phenomenal moves to move up into third place by lap eleven. As he approached the leaders, Evans put it all on the line with a spectacular move through Massenet to pass both Mortara and Nico Muller in one go, elevating him to the lead.
At the same time, Cassidy sat in eighteenth, behind da Costa and Round 9 race winner Nyck de Vries.
Mortara then activated part of his attack mode and moved back into the race lead. Whilst other drivers on different strategies also activated their attack mode, Evans moved down the order to fifth position.
Reigning champion Oliver Rowland then moved into the lead on lap twenty-three, ahead of Mortara, Felipe Drugovich, da Costa and Evans. The race was temporarily neutralised on lap twenty-six after Penske’s Taylor Barnard attempted a move on Evans but overcooked it heading into the tunnel, leaving his car damaged and in the wall.
The race resumed on the final lap, and Rowland was able to get a good restart to drive away at the green flag and come home with his first win for the season. Mortara crossed the line second with but with his ten-second penalty, moved down the order. This promoted Felipe Drugovich to his first Formula E podium, ahead of da Costa in what was a thrilling recovery to take third.
Evans just missed out on the podium in fourth place, but still moved up three places from his starting position. It was an extremely tough race for Cassidy, who came home as last of the finishers. This finishes off a very tough weekend for the Citroen team after Cassidy’s teammate, Jean-Eric Vergne, finished in sixteenth.
Formula E now takes a short break before resuming at Sanya on June 20, a track the series has not visited in seven years.
Header Image: Joe Portlock/LAT Images
