Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans blew the title race wide open in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with victory in the first of the 2023 Hankook Rome E-Prix double-header.
Evans broke Formula E records by securing his fourth victory ever and third in a row at the Circuito Cittadino dell’EUR. No driver has won more often, nor won as many on the trot on a single track.
The Kiwi is also the first driver in Formula E history to win from lights-to-flag in Rome after he secured Julius Bär Pole Position earlier in the day.
Round 13 was literally a race of two halves following a lengthy stoppage after a massive multi-car shunt on Lap 9 involving Evans’ teammate Sam Bird and several others. In total, six drivers were forced out of the race but fortunately all escaped without serious injury despite the high-speed collisions.
The interruption could have set Evans back but the 29-year-old used all his guile and experience on the track to take victory and move up into third place in the Drivers’ World Championship with three races to go this season.
“It was almost two races that we had today”, he said speaking afterwards. “First of all it was good to see everyone was fine after that shunt, it was pretty big and obviously Sam had a pretty scary moment, so good to see everyone is fine. After that I was a little bit down on energy compared to Nick and Jake, so I had to try and equalise that, the energy targets dropped a lot after the safety car, so it became much more of an energy race than we were expecting. But I managed it well, and the team helped guide me through like always, and then leave the rest for me.
“One little scare was missing the ATTACK, I missed it at the last loop, I was going through super slow and I still missed it! I need to practice that tomorrow. But a huge result today, maximum points, which was what I needed. Only a small dent into Nick’s lead, but it’s better than nothing.
“We were hoping to break that curse [becoming the first driver to win from pole in Rome]. Four wins here is amazing, not sure what it is about this place, but I love the track. We obviously have another day tomorrow, and I think people will make another big step, Nick was quick in the race as well. It is there for the taking tomorrow but we need to take the right steps, and hopefully we have got a good balance like we had today.”
High drama unfolded on Lap 9 at the quickest part of the track where multiple cars were caught up in a shunt, which began with Bird losing the rear of his Jaguar over the tricky, rapid and undulating section between Turns 6 and 7.
Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing) clipped back end of the Jaguar on his way through as the Swiss narrowly missed a square-on impact, though Buemi still suffered severe and race-ending damage to his car.
Mitch Evans won the first of two races in Rome— (Formula E )
Edoardo Mortara (Maserati MSG Racing) flew into the side of Bird’s I-TYPE 6 as it sat stricken in the middle of the circuit while several other drivers picked their way through and escaped with minor damage including championship contender Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team).
That meant big ramifications for the teams and drivers as well as the potential final destination of the title even though standings leader Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) himself avoided a race-ending smash by inches.
Fourteen cars made the restart, with Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan Formula E Team) leading the pack away with Evans in tow. From there, Dennis seized the initiative, passing Evans with a sweeping move around the outside of the Jaguar driver through Turn 5 before slicing by Fenestraz for the lead on Lap 13.
Evans and Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing) followed by the Nissan in quick succession and after Evans missed his second ATTACK MODE activation, it looked like Dennis’ race to lose.
However, Evans put in the TAG Heuer Fastest Lap of the race twice in a row to pass Dennis for the lead on Lap 22. Down on energy, Dennis exclaimed he was a “sitting duck” to those around him, and the ease at which Cassidy pinched second from him confirmed his fears.
Having started in Julius Bär Pole Position, Evans comfortably made it to the flag to lead home Cassidy while Maximilian Günther (Maserati MSG Racing) was able to despatch Dennis to finish third. Günther was cheered to the podium by fans as the legendary Italian automaker raced at home for the first time since 1957.
Dennis had to use every ounce of defensive driving skills to hold off Jean-Éric Vergne (DS PENSKE) who scented blood but was unable to pass the Andretti to finish fifth. JEV himself was under severe pressure from Nico Müller in the closing stages who achieved his and ABT CUPRA’s best result of the season with sixth place.
Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche) was able to recover to seventh in the end, despite a pit-stop pre-restart and additional damage during that mid-race crash with a drive that could prove key in the title battle.
All that drama on day one of the double-header leaves Cassidy as the new leader of the Drivers’ World Championship on 171 points, five clear of previous table-topper Dennis. Evans gained ground to go 20 points shy of the lead, while Wehrlein is now 27 points back. Envision Racing heads the way in the Teams’ running on 243 points.
Sérgio Sette Câmara (NIO 333 Racing) earned the ABB Driver of Progress award for achieving the most places gained in the race, having climbed 12 places to finish in ninth after starting in last place on the grid in 21st.
