FE | Sao Paulo: Bird mocks Evans and scores the first McLaren triumph

Formula E is often as unpredictable as it is exciting. The race in Sao Paulo demonstrated this once again, offering an extremely tactical but very entertaining race, decided in the last three corners with some magic from Sam Bird. A decisive overtaking on the outside on Mitch Evans, the one who instead seemed destined to take home the victory: on the contrary, the stage success took a different direction, thanks to that magic in the last corners which gave McLaren the first triumph in Formula E.

Curiously, the Briton's race did not follow the classic path one might think for such a demanding ePrix in terms of temperatures and energy. From the start, in fact, Bird took the lead of the race and, beyond the Attack Mode periods, the McLaren driver remained in front of everyone for a long time, managing the race, although this clearly meant not being able to exploit the trail of rivals to save on battery.

It is no coincidence, in fact, that with a few laps to go Bird was the driver with the least energy in the leading group, but this did not slow him down, managing to maintain enough energy to exploit the derating problems suffered by Evans in the final corners. In the final lap, Bird made his move by moving to the outside of the fast turn ten, while Evans tried to defend the inside: the Englishman completed the overtaking and extended the following braking, thus managing to take the lead of the race at the penultimate corner, which he then defended until the checkered flag.

This is Bird's first Formula E victory since 2021, when he won in New York with Jaguar, but it also represents the first ever success for McLaren in the electric category, which entered last year after taking over the Mercedes structure.

Evans took his first podium of the season in second place, although there is clearly some regret. The Jaguar driver chose the right moment in which to try to make the decisive breakthrough, attempting to take the lead: what deprived him of the triumph were the difficulties experienced in the last lap, when the race seemed almost decided, also because Bird had experienced problems managing temperatures, so much so that he had to move on the straights. The New Zealander's bitterness is therefore understandable, but after a difficult start to the championship, for Evans it is still a good result.

The fight for the last step of the podium was much more intense, which was resolved in the sprint. After losing contact with the leading duo, Jake Dennis, recovering from mid-pack, and Pascal Wehrlein, who started from pole, began to duel and annoy each other. Oliver Rowland took advantage of this duel, managing to slip inside the last corner, stealing the position from his rivals and giving Nissan another good podium.

Even at Porsche something didn't work, especially from a strategic point of view. Wehrlein was the rider with the most energy together with Dennis a few laps from the finish line, so much so that while he was behind Evans he also attempted an attack to take the lead and try to break away. After not being able to complete the overtaking, the German threw himself into the straight behind Dennis: from that moment on his race was “virtually” over, because the Porsche driver lost the train of the leading duo , getting stuck right behind the Andretti Briton.

Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

A missed opportunity for Porsche, which had started in the lead and had followed a strategy aimed precisely at saving as much energy as possible, i.e. in the slipstream but always in the leading group. What was missing was precisely the inspiration at the end, but it is possible that his 99X Electric also suffered from the temperatures.

Behind the top five, da Costa scored his first points of the year in sixth position ahead of the two DSs of Vergne and Vandoorne, who probably expected something more after having hit the first and second rows. For the Portuguese driver from Porsche, however, it was a positive weekend as hasn't happened for some time, which is why he can undoubtedly be considered overall satisfied with the points he brought home.

Great comeback from the bottom for Maximilian Guenther with his Maserati. After serving the 40-place penalty caused by the replacement of the gearbox and inverter on his car, to which were then added 10 seconds of stop&go, taking advantage of an excellent pace and the various Safety Cars, the German managed to recover up to to get into the points.

The bearer of the Trident brand finished in ninth place, with Sebastien Buemi completing the points with another good comeback. For both the German and the Swiss, it wasn't just the pace that made the difference, but also the good tire management, so much so that towards the halfway point of the race Buemi was among the riders with the most remaining energy.

Maximilian Gunther, Maserati Racing, Maserati Tipo Folgore

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

Sacha Fenestraz is out of the points with Nissan, ahead of Mortara, who was unable to turn his good qualifying into a top ten, also thanks to the obvious shortcomings of the Mahindra package. Thirteenth Di Grassi with the first of the two ABT Cupras, rammed by Nato in the early stages of the race. Frijns and Hughes disappoint and finish in the top half of the standings.

The leader of the standings on the eve of the weekend, Nick Cassidy, withdrew. The Jaguar driver had damaged his front wing earlier in the race, but a technical problem in the fast turn ten ended his run. After losing control, the New Zealander hit the wall, causing the Safety Car to come out.