The second race of the Shanghai E-Prix held joys and disappointments for the Porscheon one side winner with Antonio Felix da Costa but on the other hand he had to deal with a decidedly important episode for the fate of the Drivers’ world title. Pascal Wehrleinalready the protagonist of a colorless qualification, in fact only crossed the finish line at 20th placeaccomplice one drilling following a contact with Bird which forced him to pit, but above all caused him to lose ground Nick Cassidy in the general classification. The New Zealander from Jaguar, 4th in the race, has in fact consolidated his championship leadership, increasing his advantage over his rival to 23 points four races from the end of the world championship.
Race report
The Shanghai E-Prix opened in the best possible way for Vandoorne, who immediately took the lead of the race by taking advantage of a less than brilliant start by Hughes, who nevertheless defended second position from Da Costa’s attack at the first corner . Nato’s start was exceptional, moving up from seventh on the grid to the Porsche’s Portuguese, unlike Wehrlein, tenth. A race which, like Saturday’s, was concentrated with the activation of the attack mode in the first laps, which generated continuous overtaking in the podium area between Vandoorne, Da Costa and Hughes and Nato. The key episode of the E-Prix, however, occurred on lap 12, with contact between Bird and Wehrlein. It was the German who fared the worst, forced to return to the pits to replace the left rear tire and returned to the track in last place, all with Cassidy present among the top five in the standings, then jumping to 4th place after leading the overtaking on Vandoorne is completed.
The New Zealander, however, also took a big risk in the last ten laps of the race: in an attempt to overtake Hughes for third position, the Jaguar driver came into contact with the McLaren driver, damaging the front wing. Fortunately for the reigning vice-champion, the wing held up until the checkered flag, with Da Costa initially doing well to withstand Nato’s attacks and, subsequently, those of Hughes himself, with the latter two pilots thus achieving their first podium season behind Da Costa, who returned to success after the victory in Race 2 in Berlin.
E-Prix Shanghai 2, order of arrival
POS. | PILOT | TEAM | RPM/GAP |
1 | Antonio Felix da Costa | TAG Heuer Porsche | 28 laps |
2 | Jake Hughes | Neom McLaren | +0.612 |
3 | Norman Born | Andretti Global | +1,122 |
4 | Nick Cassidy | Jaguar TCS | +2,215 |
5 | Mitch Evans | Jaguar TCS | +3,167 |
6 | Stoffel Vandoorne | DS Penske | +3,861 |
7 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Penske | +4,374 |
8 | Maximilian Günther | Maserati MSG | +5,077 |
9 | Robin Frijns | Envision | +7,846 |
10 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan | +8,840 |
11 | Jake Dennis | Andretti Global | +9,634 |
12 | Sébastien Buemi | Envision | +10,143 |
13 | Edoardo Mortara | Mahindra | +11,423 |
14 | Sacha Fenestraz | Nissan | +12,280 |
15 | Nico Müller | ABT Cupra | +12,751 |
16 | Nyck De Vries | Mahindra | +13.102 |
17 | Jehan Daruvala | Maserati MSG | +15,973 |
18 | Sergio Sette Camara | ERT Formula E Team | +16,419 |
19 | Lucas Di Grassi | ABT Cupra | +50.057 |
20 | Pascal Wehrlein | TAG Heuer Porsche | +1:01.675 |
21 | Dan Ticktum | ERT Formula E Team | +1:24.415 |
22 | Sam Bird | Neom McLaren | Withdrawn |
Upcoming events
After the double round in China, Formula E is now taking a month-long break before another double headerexpected from 28 to 30 June on another permanent circuit like that of Portland, Oregon. After the weekend in Shanghai, the championship increasingly enters its decisive phase.
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