Jaguar 1-2 and team order fury in Spain Formula E race
Antonio Felix da Costa won a second Formula E race in a row, leading a Jaguar 1-2 ahead of 16th-place starting Mitch Evans in a breathless Jarama circuit race in Spain.
Evans was left fuming on the radio after being told to hold poisition behind da Costa in the closing stages. “Don’t talk to me,” he said, visibly annoyed in the post-race exchanges, too.
Championship leader Pascal Wehrlein took third for Porsche after mugging Dan Ticktum - who lunged Evans for second on the last lap but ultimately missed out as Wehrlein took the place at the last corner.
Nick Cassidy - after scoring Citroen’s maiden pole in Formula E - played road block in the opening stages as the fast-starting Wehrlein (from sixth) and Ticktum (from 10th) took turns at trying to raise the pace.
Wehrlein was lucky not to be taken out on the third tour by second-place starter Nyck de Vries - who lost his front wing smashing into the back of Wehrlein mid-corner, earning a five-second penalty in the process.
Cassidy led until lap eight when Felipe Drugovich took over the lead coming from the back of the grid - but with the benefit of attack boost. It was a predictably short-lived lead and strategy as home favourite Pepe Marti followed suit and was rewarded with airhorns from the very well-attended grandstand but got the same result, a short spell in the lead before dropping back.
The undercut proved to be the best strategy for the pit boost stops, as Cassidy’s really late lap 15 stop initially dropped him back to as far as 13th - whereas Da Costa benefitted from leading the earlier stoppers.
Da Costa had jumped Wehrlein in the pits for the net lead, and both took late attack modes alongside a flurry of late challengers. But the big surprise was Evans scything through the field and being able to challenge with more energy in the closing stages than his rivals - bucking the trend with a later stop than his win rivals.
Evans dispatched Wehrlein at the final chicane on lap 21 of 23 and then got by Ticktum on the penultimate lap - but there will be an inquest, on his side of the garage at least, as to why he wasn’t allowed to go for the win.
Mortara - still second in the championship - followed Wehrlein and Ticktum to round out the top five, while Cassidy dropped out of that top five battle on the last lap, all the way back to 17th, after over-consuming energy.
Sebastien Buemi had been in podium contention - although taking his attack mode before his fellow victory challengers cost him in the closing stages as he fell back to sixth ahead of Jake Dennis, Nico Muller, Marti and Joel Eriksson.
It was a nightmare race for reigning champion Oliver Rowland, who falls from third to seventh in the points after a penalty for using too much power at the start.
Race results
1 Antonio Felix da Costa (Jaguar)
2 Mitch Evans (Jaguar) +0.386s
3 Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) +0.799s
4 Dan Ticktum (Cupra Kiro) +0.985s
5 Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra) +1.570s
6 Sebastien Buemi (Envision) +1.922s
7 Jake Dennis (Andretti) +3.760s
8 Nico Muller (Porsche) +3.884s
9 Pepe Marti (Cupra Kiro) +4.117s
10 Joel Eriksson (Envision) +6.576s
11 Norman Nato (Nissan) +7.182s
12 Lucas di Grassi (Lola) +10.216s
13 Max Gunther (DS) +15.686s
14 Jean Eric Vergne (Citroen) +16.345s
15 Felipe Drugovich (Andretti) +26.016s
16 Oliver Rowland (Nissan) +26.917s
17 Nick Cassidy (Citroen) +29.372s
18 Nyck de Vries (Mahindra) +53.664s
19 Taylor Barnard (DS) +55.751s
20 Zane Maloney (Lola) +55.889s
