Formula E: De Vries won the race, Evans took the lead

      While discussing Dan Ticktum's performance in Monaco, we mentioned that overtaking is quite possible in Formula E cars even on the narrow streets of Monaco, which certainly does not mean that it is an easy task, and we will return to this topic later.

      The Saturday race of the double-header in the Mediterranean principality was won by Nyck de Vries, who claimed the title in the electric series in 2021 but had not been on the top step of the podium in Formula E since then. For Mahindra, this is also their first victory in almost five years, so the joy of the Indian team was sincere and truly boundless.

      The Dutchman set the second-fastest time in qualifying but clearly executed the strategy proposed by his team, correctly timing his pit stop, which allowed him to return to the track in a very advantageous position after a quick battery recharge on lap 16. On lap 20, he overtook António Félix da Costa, the Jaguar driver, using the Attack Mode power boost and took the lead in the race.

      There were more than enough incidents today, including one on lap 4 when Jake Cassidy (Andretti) and Nick Cassidy (Citroen) collided after exiting the tunnel before the chicane – they were once teammates in the American Andretti team. Soon after, another crash occurred, this time at the Rascasse corner and between current teammates, the Porsche drivers: Nico Müller collided with Pascal Wehrlein's car from behind, who was still leading the championship at that moment.

      Müller's electric car suffered damage to the front wing, and Wehrlein had to go to the pits to replace a punctured tire. Naturally, this deprived both of them of a chance for a good result.

      However, de Vries managed to avoid such troubles and confidently brought the race to victory. Mitch Evans, the Jaguar driver, finished second, allowing him to take the lead in the individual standings since Wehrlein did not score any points today. For the New Zealander, this is already his fifth podium in Monaco.

      For quite a while, it seemed that Ticktum would take 3rd place; in any case, he had every chance of doing so, and he indeed crossed the finish line third. However, it soon became known that the stewards had issued him a 33-second penalty for colliding with da Costa's Jaguar. As a result, his Cupra teammate Kiro, rookie of the electric series Pepe Martí, climbed to the podium for the first time in his career.

      The incident, for which Ticktum was deemed responsible, occurred at the exit of the tunnel. Dan was ahead, António was catching up to him, and at that moment the Brit made a clear mistake: he first moved to the right, and the Portuguese saw that a gap had opened up in front of him, which he, of course, immediately took advantage of.

      It was at that moment that Ticktum saw his opponent's car in his left mirror, realized it, and turned the steering wheel to the left. Since everything was happening in the braking zone, and da Costa was planning to brake as late as possible, he could do nothing in that situation and crashed into the rear wheel of the Brit's electric car.

      The front suspension of the Jaguar was broken, the wheel detached from the car and went into free flight, while Ticktum continued moving, but the stewards rightly deemed him the cause of the accident and issued him a penalty for a drive-through in the pit lane. Since this occurred on lap 28, he did not have time to serve the penalty, and seconds were added to his result.

      In the second race of the weekend, which will take place tomorrow, Mitch Evans will start as the championship leader – his advantage over Wehrlein is 15 points, and considering the capabilities of the New Zealand Jaguar driver, it is quite possible to assume that with a favorable turn of events and a bit of luck, Mitch could strengthen his position and increase his chances for the title as early as Sunday. Especially since there are not many races left until the end of the championship.