Formula E: Da Costa clinches second consecutive victory

      The fact that Nick Cassidy started from pole position in the first Formula E race at the Madrid track in Jarama had its logic. It has long been known that the 31-year-old New Zealander, who is racing for Citroen Racing this season, is distinguished by speed, the ability to navigate the chaos that often reigns on the track during electric series races, and, of course, a very sensible approach to energy consumption. In Formula E, this is one of the most important qualities that can be considered a key to victory.

      Cassidy has already secured one victory this year, which was in early January in Mexico, and today, of course, he wanted to stand out as well. In the personal standings of the series before the race, he occupied the 3rd position, trailing the leader, Pascal Wehrlein, who races for Porsche, by 17 points. With a favorable turn of events, Nick could have improved his tournament standing, but, jumping ahead, let's say that he did not succeed. However, let's go in order.

      The race took place on a track that was not fully dry after the rain, which required a certain caution from the drivers, but when the lights of the starting traffic light went out, the red Citroen with number 37 took off perfectly from the line, and Cassidy entered the first turn in first place. A battle for second position unfolded between Nyck de Vries and António Félix da Costa, but the Dutchman held his ground.

      On the third lap, Nyck de Vries' Mahindra electric car lost its front wing – during a battle with Pascal Wehrlein, the Dutchman made a mistake on braking before the 10th turn and crashed into the back of the former world champion's Porsche.

      On the 4th lap, Cassidy continued to lead, while Dan Ticktum, the Cupra Kiro driver, had already moved up to second position, known for his cavalry-like daring on the track. The team understood this, so they warned him over the radio just in case not to forget to monitor energy consumption, especially since they were quite satisfied with second position.

      Almost immediately after this, Wehrlein overtook Ticktum. Soon it became known that de Vries received a 5-second penalty for the collision with Pascal.

      On the 8th lap, the leader of the race changed – Felipe Drugovich, the Brazilian driver for Andretti, who started from a distant 20th position, moved ahead! In Formula E, this is possible due to the Attack Mode power boost, which Felipe was one of the first to use. This same mode soon helped Spanish driver Pepe Marti to take over from Drugovich in first position – when Ticktum's teammate moved ahead, the crowd of fans in the stands reacted with genuine enthusiasm!

      However, this situation was only temporary. On the 12th lap, a wave of Pit Boost began – this is what pit stops are called in Formula E, where an express battery recharge is performed. Many, but not all, turned onto the pit lane, which, of course, led to a change in the battle formations on the track, but Marti and Cassidy preferred to stay on the track for now. They only went for a pit stop a lap later, and as subsequent events showed, this was far from the best decision.

      Among those who had already recharged, da Costa had the best chances for leadership, but on the 16th lap, it was not him who moved into first position, but Max Günther. The German driver for DS Penske managed to challenge the experienced Portuguese, and Max emerged victorious from the duel. But da Costa was less than a second behind him, and then successfully used Attack Mode to become the next leader on the 18th lap.

      At the same time, the battery charge on Günther's car was noticeably lower, and he had to conserve energy, so Max was overtaken by another ten drivers without much difficulty, and he could do nothing about it.

      A couple of laps before the finish, da Costa was leading, with Wehrlein holding less than four-tenths behind him, but he couldn't catch up since he had to fend off attacks from Ticktum, who made a daring maneuver to overtake the German driver on the penultimate lap. Then Mitch Evans, da Costa's teammate, who started 16th, did the same, using all his experience to gradually make up ground and get chances for at least a podium.

      Soon Mitch overtook Ticktum as well, but that wasn't enough for him, and he launched an attack on his teammate, but da Costa was not lacking in experience either, and he successfully defended himself.

      When there was no more than one percent energy left in the batteries, the leading group of drivers began the final lap, and the stands were literally filled with excitement as they watched the battle between the two Jaguar drivers. Ultimately, António managed to stay ahead, and he secured his second consecutive victory – in mid-February, he won the Sunday race in Saudi Arabia.

      Mitch Evans finished second. He crossed the finish line just 0.386 seconds later than his teammate, securing a winning double for the Jaguar factory team – the first since the race in Monaco in 2024.

      But after the finish, Mitch was clearly dissatisfied with something and expressed his grievances to António, but the Portuguese merely brushed it off. Moreover, commenting on the race results, he called it almost his home race, after all, his native Portugal borders Spain. Evans, for his part, stated that he was upset because he should have won, but on one hand, his teammate acted overly aggressively, and on the other, the team achieved the result they dreamed of anyway.

      Pascal Wehrlein took third place, managing to overtake Ticktum literally in the last meters of the race – this is already the 21st podium for the German Porsche driver in Formula E. Of course, he is only happy about this, as the points earned today allowed him to increase his lead in the personal standings – now he is ahead of Edoardo Mortara by 11 points. Evans, thanks to his second place, climbed to third position, while da Costa, although he secured his second victory of the season, is currently only fourth.

      And what about Nick Cassidy, the compatriot and former teammate of Evans? A mistake in tactical choice cost him and Citroen dearly: he finished only 17th.

      However, these are just preliminary results, because during the awards ceremony, it became known that an investigation is underway regarding Mitch Evans – it seems he is suspected of energy overconsumption, so the race results may still be revised.