Formula E: Jaguar reigned supreme in Mexico

Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans dominated a crash-filled race this weekend and took P1 from Porsche’s André Lotterer on the first corner, which he held to the very end to secure the win at the Mexico City E-Prix. Four seconds behind him followed DS Techeetah’s António Félix da Costa, while Nissan e.dams’ Sébastien Buemi rounded off the podium.

“It feels really sweet because Santiago was a tough one for us in terms of our race management, but today we obviously showed we fixed all the problems. I just want to thank the team for their work in between all the races,” said Mitch Evans after his dominant performance.

The two new German powerhouses Mercedes-Benz EQ and Porsche experienced a challenging race on Saturday. Nyck de Vries had to retire early after dealing with a technical issue that made him a passenger in the car. Stoffel Vandoorne finished P17 after a last-minute incident. “We leave here with no points. That’s tough for us,” said Mercedes-Benz EQ team principal Ian James. Pole sitter André Lotterer (TAG Heuer Porsche) had to surrender the lead in Turn 1 to Mitch Evans next to him. After a couple of track incidents, the German did not finish. His teammate Neel Jani crossed the finish line 16th.

CRAZY DRAMA FROM START TO FINISH! Highlights – 2020 CBMM Niobium #MexicoCityEPrix ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/VobLfdqrek

— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) February 16, 2020

30.000 fans at Foro Sol Stadium witnessed a spectacular, but crash-filled race. In total, eight of the 24 drivers didn’t go the full 45 minutes. During the first free practice, Audi’s Daniel Abt crashed straight into a wall due to a software communication problem. Although he was braking hard, the car didn’t decelerate as it should. Abt had to be taken to hospital for further examination. He returned 7 hours and 20 minutes after his accident back in his Audi e-tron FE06 to start the race from the last spot on the grid. With just minutes left on the clock he had to retire. After a disappointing qualifying BMW’s Alexander Sims (P18 to P5) and Audi’s Lucas Di Grassi (P15 to P6) finished strong.

Reigning champion and DS Techeetah driver Jean-Eric Vergne was non-stop battling back and forth with his teammate Da Costa. Team management didn’t look very professional, unable to decide on a concrete strategy between their two alpha males. Having two per cent more energy than his counterpart, Da Costa broke out of his long-held position behind Vergne and climbed up the ranking. With 10 minutes left the Portuguese overtook Buemi. Evans, now leading the driver’s standings by one point ahead of BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Alexander Sims said: “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to be at the front, but I’m not going to get too excited yet […] it’s still way too early – things can change pretty quick.”

In two weeks the Formula E will resume in Marrakesh, Marocco.