Jaguar celebrates double victory at Formula E races in Monaco

Although the Formula E racing cars are developed for city circuits and are significantly more compact than those in Formula 1, the race track in Monaco is still considered a challenge – Formula E has also been using the iconic Formula 1 race track for several years, previously only a short circuit was used without the world-famous passages such as the Casino, the Fairmont hairpin or the tunnel.

Overtaking manoeuvres are somewhat easier in Formula E thanks to the smaller cars, but they are still no easy feat in Monaco. In Formula 1, the starting grid is hugely important in Monaco, as gaining positions in the race is often only possible with risky manoeuvres or through the race strategy with the pit stops. Not so in Formula E: the top five of the race also started in the first five places, but in a completely different order.

In qualifying, Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein won the duel phase and put his 99X Electric in first place on the grid thanks to his final victory over former world champion Stoffel Vandoorne. In Formula E, however, pole position in Monaco is no guarantee of a podium finish: the German driver “only” brought his Porsche home in fifth place – Jaguar and DS Penske were better at energy management and the strategic use of ‘Attack Mode’ on Saturday.

The race win went to Evans, who started from fourth on the grid, ahead of his team-mate Nick Cassidy (grid position 3). The podium was completed by Vandoorne, who was able to keep his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne (5th on the grid) behind him. However, the two Jaguar race cars were uncatchable and crossed the finish line with a lead of several seconds. Nick Cassidy was even able to drop back a little on the penultimate lap to save energy – so that he could secure the extra point for the fastest race lap with a little more energy on the final lap.

Oliver Rowland in the Nissan and Antonio Felix da Costa in the second works Porsche showed how it is possible to overtake even on the narrow track in Monaco: Rowland had only started in 15th place after a poor qualifying round, but finished sixth. In da Costa’s case, you might think that seventh place after starting seventh on the grid was an uneventful race – but the Portuguese driver was involved in a collision through no fault of his own and dropped back a long way. So seventh place here is the result of strong overtaking manoeuvres.

With his victory on the Formula 1 circuit in the Principality, New Zealander Evans has won a race for the first time this year – although he started the season as one of the favourites for the championship. However, he has not managed more than a second place in Brazil and three fifth places so far, partly due to a lack of racing luck. His team-mate Nick Cassidy, who is contesting his first season for the Jaguar works team, currently has Evans under control – Cassidy has already stood on the podium five times in eight races this season, including once at the top.

With fifth place (and the extra point for pole position), Porsche driver Wehrlein goes into the upcoming two Formula E races in Berlin in mid-May as the championship leader. Wehrlein leads with 102 points ahead of Cassidy (95 points) and world champion Jake Dennis in the Andretti team’s customer Porsche (89 points). Dennis had problems with the set-up of his race car right from the start in Monaco and finished 19th with no championship points.

Jaguar significantly extended its lead in the team standings with the one-two victory and 44 points. The British manufacturer now has 172 points, while the Porsche Works team scored 19 points in Monaco and now has 128 points to its name. Behind them, Andretti-Porsche (113 points), Nissan (112 points) and DS Penske (102 points) are close, before a large gap has already opened up between them and Maserati (67) and McLaren-Nissan (63 points). The Jaguar customer team Envision, the 2023 Team World Champions, has now had to record three consecutive zero results – and is in eighth place with 41 points.

Even before the race in Monaco, Jaguar TCS Racing, as the Formula E works team is officially known, had confirmed its long-term works commitment to the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship by committing to participate in the Gen4 era. Gen4 of the electric racing car series will start in the 2026/27 season and is designed to run for four years (until 2030).

Ahead of the Monaco ePrix, Formula E has also unveiled the evolutionary stage of the current Gen3 racing cars. The cars, called Gen3 Evo, have undergone slight changes to their design (the front wing in particular, which was much criticised in Misano, is to be made more stable), but also to the technology: the electric motor on the front axle (from standard supplier Lucid Motors), which was previously only used for recuperation, is also being used for propulsion for the first time. This not only noticeably increases the performance of the racing cars, but thanks to the all-wheel drive, the Gen3-Evo Formula E racing cars will also accelerate faster than Formula 1 racing cars from next season.

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