Formula E's best tactician? Rowland takes third 2024-25 win in Monaco

Formula E championship leader Oliver Rowland executed another strategic masterclass to win the first race of Formula E's Monaco double-header weekend.

Rowland had a sore hand after a shunt in the final part of qualifying, complained of a "strange noise" from the car on the way to the grid and had a gearbox warning during the race, but shrugged all of those off to clinch a third victory in six races so far in the 2024-25 Formula E season for himself and Nissan.

He ran second in the early stages, behind the Taylor Barnard, who'd clinched his second pole position following's Rowland's crash in their final duel, but claimed the lead at the second time of asking after twice lunging at Barnard's McLaren-Nissan between two full course yellow periods.

Not long after the end of the first FCY - a lengthy one as Antonio Felix da Costa's ambitious lunge on Edoardo Mortara and David Beckmann into Anthony Noghes ended in his Porsche being stranded after clipping the inside barrier - Rowland tried a move for the lead into the inside of Swimming Pool, only for Barnard to skip the chicane and stay ahead.

But Barnard relented after a second chicane skip, this time at Nouvelle, on the following lap - allowing Rowland through into the lead, after which he pulled out a gap with the assistance of his first attack mode activation.

Rowland's route to victory from there wasn't smooth, as the timing of the FCYs and his own Pit Boost helped vault Nico Mueller, who made an unscheduled pitstop at the end of lap two, into the lead and bunch up the pack by the time the mandatory fast-charging pitstops had been completed.

Rowland found himself shuffled down to fifth behind Mortara - who'd escaped his clash with da Costa and Beckmann with front wing damage - by the time he took his second attack mode, but he'd worked his way past the Mahindra driver and Mueller's Andretti-Porsche by the end of that lap and then set off after the leading duo of Nyck de Vries and Jake Dennis.

Light work was made of Dennis's Andretti-Porsche as Rowland breezed his way into second up Beau Rivage, and De Vries was near-defenceless as Rowland swept by into the lead before the approach to the Nouvelle chicane with four and a half laps remaining.

A comfortable run to the chequered flag followed, with another victory putting Rowlands 34 points clear of nearest challenger Pascal Wehrlein in the drivers' standings.

The runner-up finish was a hard-earned one for De Vries, who'd been a contender throughout, as he'd first grabbed the lead with a robust move around the outside of Mueller in the second part of the Nouvelle chicane and then held onto it by defending from the attack-mode assisted Dennis into that same corner.

Second would likely have been his regardless, as Dennis - who earlier had passed De Vries and Wehrlein opportunistically as the first FCY period ended - was given a five-second penalty for speeding under a full course yellow, which required Mueller to create a buffer to his team-mate to preserve third place.

Mueller's efforts paid off as far as Dennis's podium bid was concerned, but there was late disappointment for the second Andretti driver as he was mugged on the run to the line by Mortara, who completed an excellent day for Mahindra as it got both cars into the top four.

Defending champion Wehrlein was never a proper contender in the lead fight but his sixth-place finish did ensure Porsche retained a slender lead of nine points over Nissan in the teams' championship.

Dan Ticktum was one of the stars of the early running and though he faded a combative drive was rewarded with a seventh-place finish as he passed Maximilian Guenther late on.

DS Penske driver Guenther ultimately slumped to 10th and the final points position, behind Envision’s Robin Frijns and Stoffel Vandoorne (Maserati MSG).

Polesitter Barnard had been relegated to the lower reaches of the points when he was barged wide at the hairpin by Wehrlein, which required him to reverse out and dropped him out of contention.

Jaguar failed to score at all for a second race in a row.

Mitch Evans came to a halt out of Portier - team principal James Barclay said it "looks like we've had a cut to the powertrain" - which was timed terribly for team-mate Nick Cassidy, who was midway through his second attack mode having earlier fought his way into the points with his first deployment.

Cassidy did run second immediately behind Mueller for a brief spell in the closing stages but he was effectively a ghost car in that fight, such was his energy disadvantage. A final stint that featured heavy energy conservation meant he finished 18th and nearly a minute behind race winner Rowland.