In Citroën Racing’s first ever Formula E season, it’s finally time for their first ever home round at the Monaco E-Prix double header. Berlin had mixed emotions in store for driver duo Nick Cassidy and Jean-Eric Vergne.
In fact, the former snatched a second place on Saturday ahead of a challenging Sunday ended out of the points and with a penalty to his name. Ultimately, after the double header Cassidy fell outside of the top 5 championship standings.
Mixed sensations for Citroën Formula E ahead of Monaco double header
At the other side of the garage, Vergne secured the best result of his season up to now in Germany. However, the coveted position he obtained was only a P8. While its definitely a positive and encouraging sign, it is definitely not the performance he expected ahead of his first season with the French outlet.
Citroën Racing Team Principal Cyril Blais hopes that this dilemma of having one car regularly among the top contenders and the other fighting and failing to secure points can be solved in the upcoming Formula E rounds, maybe even in Monaco already.
The Frenchman explained during the TP Press Conference attended by Pit Debrief his expectations and goals for the upcoming second leg of the 2025/2026 Formula E season.
“Like I said, we had some great targets at the beginning of the season. And we tick quite a few boxes, you know. Citroën first year in the championship, first pole, first victory and every step of the podium.So obviously that’s great, but you always want more as well.”
“We’re fighting against a great team and competitors, so you always want to achieve more. One of the targets as well for us is consistency, cleanliness in execution and the ability to score with both cars. I think this is something that we haven’t maximised so far and that will be one of the targets for the rest of the season.”
A very special weekend
Blais then expressed his joy and high emotions representing Citroën on the Monegasque soil, with the additional mental load and spirit of being as close as possible to the team’s home country.
“Yes, very exciting obviously. Your race is regularly of extra pressure, but it’s positive pressure. We’ve got a lot of attention on the team, we’ve got a lot of guests and partners here.So yes, very exciting. The weather looks like it’s going to turn for the best as well. So, the performance will follow and we can have a great show and a great result for the team.”
According to the Citroën Racing TP , Qualifying in Monaco will hold much more weight compared to the latest previous Formula E round in Berlin. In fact, while at the time they had managed to put Cassidy on the second row, eventually he made contact with Buemi and failed to convert the positive starting position.
“Hopefully we can have the same level of performance that we had in Berlin, even though it was meaningless qualifying at the front. Like you mentioned, everybody knows this track extremely well. We know it’s a track position, orientated track, so qualifying will be extremely important.”
Qualifying will be pivotal
The quite strict schedule won’t be an advantage for the team latest to join the Formula E grid, although both drivers hold plenty of track knowledge and experience.
“Especially on Saturday, probably a bit more than Sunday. I think it’s just about building the momentum. What’s a bit special as well for Monaco is that FP1 and FP2 are the same day.So you don’t have real time to turn things around if you don’t start on the right foot. So hopefully we’ve done the work in the background and become as prepared as we can.”
“We can start on the wrong foot and on the right foot, but we can start on the right foot. And, obviously qualifying well would be extremely important.” He summed up, highlighting the importance of a good Qualifying result at a track famously know for the challenges he poses in overtaking.
