In a thrilling weekend of racing, António Félix da Costa delivered a spectacular double victory for TAG Heuer Porsche in Portland, marking his third consecutive win amidst a sea of enthusiastic fans at the Hankook Portland E-Prix.
This triumph came amid high drama on-track, once again showcasing da Costa and TAG Heuer Porsche’s masterful race management. This third-in-a-row win means that da Costa equals his record from 2019 of the longest win streak in Formula E history.
Round 14 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship arguably saw one of the most defining moments of the championship so far. Nick Cassidy, the current World Championship standings leader from Jaguar TCS Racing, faced another devastating blow by failing to score points for the second consecutive race. As a result, Mitch Evans and Pascal Wehrlein now sit neck-and-neck in second place, setting the stage for an intense showdown at the upcoming London finale.
“It’s nice after what happened yesterday, I’m finding it hard to get over it, I think it was still a ludicrous decision,” commented Evans. “It was hard to take so it’s nice to come back and get something today.
“We didn’t optimise qualifying on my side and the starting position wasn’t optimal for the second race, but it was a really hard-fought race. To get myself to the front I again had to do my attack quite late just because of the way the race was playing out, and I had to consume a lot of energy to make those overtakes with the high targets. I was a sitting duck at the end, but it gave me track position so good points. Obviously I would have loved to win, but after the Safety Car things really sped up, and third was the best we could do.
“Obviously it’s unfortunate what happened to Nick [Cassidy] but I came into this weekend just wanting to do my thing and see what happened. We’ll go into London close to Pascal [Wehrlein] and it’s going to be tight between us. António [Felix da Costa] must be close as well, he’s won every race – at least it feels like it – in the past half a season. It’s going to be a big fight between us and Porsche, for sure.”
Also joining da Costa on the podium for the second time this weekend was Robin Frijns, who celebrated his 100th Formula E race with back-to-back podium finishes for Envision Racing. Mitch Evans, representing Jaguar TCS Racing, claimed the third podium spot. The race was rife with pivotal moments, including Pascal Wehrlein’s dramatic loss of his front wing early on. Despite this setback, Wehrlein finished fourth, keeping his championship hopes alive.
The race was less fortunate for NEOM McLaren and Mahindra Racing, with both teams experiencing a series of retirements due to errors, punctures and on-track collisions.
Jean-Éric Vergne, who started on pole, secured a solid fifth-place finish for DS PENSKE. ABT CUPRA’s Nico Müller delivered an impressive sixth place, earning valuable points for his team.
Norman Nato finished seventh for Andretti, followed by Maximilian Guenther for Maserati MSG Racing in eighth. Sébastien Buemi, despite receiving a penalty, managed to claim ninth place for Envision Racing, ahead of reigning World Champion Jake Dennis, who rounded out the top ten for Andretti Formula E.
As the championship heads to London, the battle for the top spot is more intense than ever, promising fans a thrilling conclusion to the season. The Hankook London E-Prix double-header season finale will take place July 20-21
Formula E Points after Round 14
1/ Nick Cassidy 167
2/ Mitch Evans 155
3/ Pascal Wehrlein 155
4/ Antonio Felix Costa 134
5/ Oliver Rowland 131
Comments