Mitch Evans pulled out a move in wet conditions to win Formula E race in Miami EPrix, ahead of Nico Mueller and Pascal Wehrlein.
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans produced a storming switchback move to take the race lead and drive away to the win in difficult conditions in Miami, as the Kiwi took to the top step – heading Porsche’s Nico Mueller and Pascal Wehrlein home.
With wet weather about in Miami and no wet track-time so far, the race got underway behind the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT Safety Car. The pack formed up after five laps under caution for a standing start, with the leaders scrabbling through Turn 1. Mueller led away with Drugovich immediately jumping for the first of his two 50kW, all-wheel drive ATTACK MODE boosts and back into P1 just a few corners later in tricky, damp conditions.
Mueller and de Vries followed suit with ATTACK a lap later and Eriksson and Wehrlein on Lap 8. The former pair hit the front on Lap 9 with their ATTACK MODE spells overlapping Drugovich’s. The lead changed hands again on Lap 11, with Andretti’s Brazilian driver slicing by de Vries’ Mahindra for P2 with Porsche’s Nico Mueller still out-front. A couple of laps later and Drugovich hit P1, moving by Mueller through Sector 1.
Conditions were super tough and slick, with grip hard to come by. Da Costa was next of the leaders to jump for ATTACK – and quickly set about moving his Jaguar into the top three on Lap 17 in all-wheel drive. Second became first out of the final turn for the Portuguese with a minute of his first ATTACK MODE remaining.
Evans followed his teammate’s lead and took his first dose of ATTACK MODE to clamber into third from the back end of the top 10 – all-wheel drive proving extremely valuable with the conditions still tricky. Da Costa narrowly led Mueller, Evans, Drugovich, de Vries, Wehrlein, Eriksson, Mortara, Marti and Maloney on Lap 24.
At the Hairpin, Mueller moved back into the lead of the race and held track position through Turn 1 of the next lap to keep da Costa at bay as the Portuguese battled his teammate for second. Evans managed to sweep around the outside of Turn 1 on Lap 26 to take P2 and set about Mueller. That wouldn’t last, though as Drugovich clipped and spun da Costa as the rain began to fall more heavily – tumbling the Portuguese down to sixth and Drugovich into the pits for repairs and entirely out of contention.
At the end of Lap 27, Evans then sold Mueller the dummy to steal the race lead through the final couple of corners – some move – with de Vries now sitting third. Evans had pulled a 1.5 second lead come lap 30 over Mueller and de Vries. The whole pack were yet to take their second ATTACK MODE activation, though, so all was liable to change.
Wehrlein was the first of the top 10 to leap through the activation loop for his second ATTACK. Four minutes of that 50kW, all-wheel drive surge. Mueller countered on lap 34 to cover him off as Wehrlein took P3 with Mueller moving into second as leader Evans then jumped for ATTACK; sprint finish incoming.
Evans had the overlap on ATTACK and made it count – extending his lead to 2.5 seconds with two laps left. He and Mueller had dropped Wehrlein by six seconds and it looked like being a perfectly measured drive from the Kiwi. Indeed he held fast to head home Mueller and Wehrlein at the flag.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/2017688097153012137?s=20
[The story is as per press release]
