Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans has finished as runner-up in this morning’s Sao Paulo E-Prix, with a last-lap pass seeing former teammate Sam Bird claim McLaren’s maiden Formula E victory.
Nick Cassidy leaves Brazil at the top of the standings despite crashing out of the race on Lap 16. Porsche Formula E Team’s Pascal Wehrlein qualified on the pole and finished fourth, reducing the Kiwi’s championship advantage to just four points, while Evans jumps to third in the standings.
Evans had earlier qualified fifth for the race, losing out to Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne in the quarter-finals, having progressed to the duels from Group 1.
Cassidy had narrowly missed out on qualifying for the battle stages from the same group and began from ninth.
Wehrlein got the better of the starts off the front row and pulled a clear advantage over Vandoorne over the opening lap. Evans also got a good launch and took third off Jean-Eric Vergne.
Antonio Felix da Costa was one of the biggest movers from eighth on the grid, taking third of Evans on Lap 2 and moving to the front when the two leaders activated their first of two attack modes a circuit later.
A safety car for debris on the circuit bunched the field together, and Bird, having used both attack modes, was positioned well with the lead group.
Evans led at times mid-race but dropped behind his former teammate on Lap 15 when he activated his final Attack Mode allotment.
Cassidy had struggled to make ground from ninth, having damaged his front wing early in proceedings.
Turn 10 proved his undoing. His wing dislodged and became stuck under his front tyres, sending him into the barriers.
Evans found himself at the front entering the final circuit, but the hot conditions had affected his battery, which he says made him a ‘sitting duck’ on the final of three additional laps.
Bird swept through at the penultimate corner for the lead and went on to win his first race since the 2021 New York E-Prix, delivering McLaren their first-ever Formula E victory.
Nissan’s Oliver Rowland took the final podium place at the final turn, jumping from fifth to third in one more, leaving Wehrlein in fourth and Dennis fifth.
Da Costa, Jean-Eric Vergne, Vandoorne, Maximilian Gunther and Sebastien Buemi completed the top 10.
Jaguar TCS Racing remains at the top of the Team’s Championship standings with a 35-point buffer over Porsche.
Evans’s first podium of 2024 moves him to third in the Driver’s Championship, 14 points behind Wehrlein.
Formula E returns for the Tokyo E-Prix on March 30.
Header Image: Formula E
