FE | Shanghai 2: da Costa wins, Cassidy extends his lead in the standings

Formula E never stops offering uncertain races until the last lap. This was also the case in the second round of the weekend in Shanghai, even if, compared to yesterday’s race, the finish was more linear, without overtaking at the last minute.

The winner was Antonio Felix da Costa, who thus achieved his second success of the season after the triumph in Berlin, third if we consider the victory later canceled at Misano due to a sanction for a technical infringement linked to the spring that manages the pedal of the accelerator.

If Saturday’s race had been much more chaotic, also given the greater number of laps which required more careful energy management, pushing the riders to continuously exchange positions to exploit the slipstream and save on the battery, today’s race was played on the rhythm and speed. After starting in the top positions thanks to a good qualifying which saw him achieve third place, the Porsche driver remained in the leading group for the entire first qualifying, without ever slipping back in the standings.

This very careful first part of the ePrix, without exaggeration, led him to be able to rely on a greater amount of energy than his direct rivals, specifically Jake Hughes, Norman Nato and the two DSs. This allowed him to take the lead shortly after halfway through the race with an overtake in Turn 1 on the Frenchman from Andretti, who he then did not abandon until the checkered flag.

Thanks to what we understood the previous day in terms of energy management, the pace was much faster despite the higher temperatures. Da Costa immediately tried to push forward, also taking advantage of the various battles behind him between Hughes, Nato and the two Jaguars, which in the meantime had returned to the top 5. The pace was so high, clearly in relation to the classic strategies for save energy, that the top ten remained almost substantially unchanged, except for some overtaking right at the end.

This extension was fundamental for Da Costa, who was able to manage Hughes’ return in the last two stages of the race with a certain calm, making the most of that small remaining battery advantage. A significant success for the Portuguese driver from Porsche who, beyond yesterday’s zero due to a penalty for a contact which excluded him from the top ten, over the last month has put on track not only good performances, but also a better performance consistency.

Jake Hughes, McLaren, e-4ORCE 04

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Behind him, Jake Hughes achieved his first podium in Formula E after starting from the pole position obtained in the morning. The Briton was the author of an excellent race, especially bearing in mind that he had to deal with the fact that he had 1% less energy than his opponents for a long time. The McLaren driver took second place with an aggressive move on Norman Nato in turns 7/8: having managed to get ahead of Nato, Hughes was then able to comfortably manage the second step of the podium at the end.

Third, precisely, Norman Nato with Andretti, which brings a total of two cars powered by Porsche engines on the podium. Without Jake Dennis to lend support to, stuck at the back, the Frenchman was able to race independently, thinking only of his own race, thus achieving a podium that had been missing since the Rome stage last year, when he was still racing for Nissan.

Fourth and fifth were the two Jaguars, with the Jaguar brand struggling to exploit that extra percentage of energy available compared to its opponents. If the first three finished at the limit, especially Costa who used every last kW on the last lap to take home the win, the two Jaguar cars finished with still 1% of energy available. Even if he didn’t reach the podium, Cassidy can still be satisfied: the New Zealander had to deal with a front wing damaged in a contact with Hughes in turn 1, not so much from a performance point of view, but with the risk that it came loose and ended up under the car.

Nick Cassidy, Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

Fortunately for Jaguar, the wing remained attached, allowing Cassidy to take fourth place ahead of Evans which, among other things, allows him to move ahead of Pascal Wehrlein in the standings, who is out of the points today due to a puncture after a contact with the other McLaren, that of Sam Bird. Also outside the top ten was the reigning world champion, Jake Dennis, only eleventh at the finish line with a race without any flashes, also thanks to an uninspiring qualifying: if yesterday’s race, more chaotic, allowed the riders to catch up, the pace imposed today, faster, did not allow the same opportunities.

The two DS Penske finished in good sixth and seventh place, around 4 seconds behind the winner Da Costa, with Vandoorne having actually taken the lead of the race on the first lap after starting from the second position he had achieved in the morning. The two black and gold cars preceded Max Gunther’s Maserati, Robin Frijns’ Envision and Oliver Rowland’s Nissan, with the latter completing the top ten. The Briton was the author of an initial part of the race away from the spotlight, saving energy, and then came out over the long distance: even if a great comeback did not materialise, he was still able to snatch tenth place from Dennis and the last point of the day.

Edoardo Mortara was twelfth with the Mahindra ahead of Sacha Fenestraz with the other Nissan and Nico Mueller with the Abt Cupra, while Nyck de Vries finished sixteenth. The Dutchman had achieved a good qualifying, but during the race he was hit by Sam Bird, who then spun: in general, however, both the Mahindras and the Abt customer team, as well as the ERTs, in a race with a higher pace they suffered from the efficiency limits of the relevant Powertrains. Regardless of the final result, it was still a good weekend for De Vries, undoubtedly his best weekend since his return to Formula E.