Mitch Evans was calm to lead a Jaguar Racing 1-2 in Formula E Monaco EPrix win from Nick Cassidy, with Stoffel Vandoorne in third.
Wehrlein leapt away with a textbook launch to head Vandoorne and Cassidy through Sainte Devote, though by the end of Lap 1 Evans had made it past his Jaguar stablemate for third. Guenther followed in fourth, with Vergne rounding out the top six. Dennis was eager to make progress from a lowly 18th on the grid – squeezing Werhlein at the Nouvelle Chicane before sweeping by at Tabac. Come Lap 2, Andretti’s reigning champion had made it to P14.
On Lap 3, Vergne was able to make a move stick on Wehrlein for fourth, late on the brakes into the Chicane. Meanwhile, on Lap 4, Wehrlein’s teammate da Costa got caught in the melee at the Hairpin with an ERT clattering Buemi, which blocked the Porsche as the pack backed up. Wehrlein had ceded the lead to take his initial ATTACK MODE activation, with Vandoorne, Evans and Cassidy making it by the German.
Edo Mortara hit the wall in a big way a tour later. The Mahindra driver was squeezed out of position at the Chicane, before Ticktum drew alongside through Tabac. The Swiss-French-Italian wouldn’t give the spot up easily, looking to hang on to the ERT around the outside of the entry to Swimming Pool but he caught a bucket of understeer and found the wall with some force. Thankfully, he was able to walk clear with the Virtual Safety Car picking the pack up, and cited technical issues for the shunt once out of the car.
The Green Flag was flown on Lap 8, with Vandoorne leading Evans, Cassidy, Vergne, Wehrlein, Guenther, Frijns, Sette Camara, Rowland and Dennis away. On Lap 10, Rowland made super use of ATTACK MODE – one of two mandatory 50kW boosts to take at a time of the drivers’ choosing in the E-Prix – to jump from ninth to sixth. Out front, more action at the Hairpin saw the Jaguars jump leader Vandoorne – Evans leading from Cassidy.
Reigning champion Dennis was making great ground, ninth on Lap 10. However, his progress would come to a swift end in contact with Frijns in the Tunnel – an unusual accident but that turn tightens deceptively. A broken front wing required a pit-stop, demoting Dennis to the back of the pack.
Jaguar’s strategy looked clear on Lap 11. Evans bolted to a three-second gap, with Cassidy sitting in and backing up the pack, allowing Evans to take ATTACK and extend his advantage to four seconds come Lap 12. On Lap 14, just about the half way stage, Evans took his second 50kW boost, giving up the lead to Cassidy, while holding the pack back for his countryman to take his own ATTACK MODE boost without losing P1. The team’s tactics working, as of then, perfectly.
On Lap 16, Vandoorne and Vergne looked to be up to a similar scheme – the pair working through their ATTACK MODE activations while looking to hold track position – third and fourth as it stood with Werhlein in waiting just behind the black and gold DS pairing. Lap 17 saw Evans retake the lead as Cassidy took ATTACK, on the way down the hill from Casino Square and a lap later, Rowland and Guenther’s squabble for sixth continued – the Yorkshireman taking the spot back at the Chicane with the Maserati MSG Racing driver skipping across the kerbs.
Guenther seemed to be struggling from there, da Costa making it by to take seventh at Portier and Fenestraz following at the Nouvelle Chicane with Guenther again taking to the run off. Da Costa made more progress on Lap 21, aggressively squeezing by Rowland for sixth at Mirabeau. As the laps ticked down, the energy advantage was with the leader – some 0.5% up on Cassidy and a couple of percentage points of usable energy in-hand over the rest of the contenders. It looked serene out-front.
A late shunt for ABT CUPRA’s Nico Mueller at Rascasse saw the Safety Car make an appearance, with a couple of Added Laps to come to take us to a total of 31 and the Green Flag flying again come Lap 27. Jaguar had plenty in their pocket to hold off the DS’ behind as Evans finally made it stick in Monaco, heading Cassidy home from Vandoorne and Vergne.
Results: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1784221969342185760
[Note: The story is as per press release]
