It’s time to go green for the Formula E race in Shanghai! After dominating all practice sessions so far, Antonio Felix Da Costa suffered during Qualifying, not even advancing to the Duels stage, whereas Maxi Gunther took his second seasonal pole.
Championhsip leader and latest race winner Oliver Rowland will depart from the top ten, struggling as well in China so far, whereas young talent Taylor Barnard is starting from the first row for the first time since
Race start
At the start Wehrlein takes the lead with Cassidy in P3, who then gets shuffled back. Rowland is another greayt improver moving up to P3, but then getting shuffled back to P5.
The nature of the wider track allows for more overtaking room, and as such much people took futher opportunity. Evans serves a 80 places grid penalty as well as a stop and go whihc he took up on the first lap for talking up new engine components.
On lap 2 a three car collision foced Cassidy back down the standings and then into the pits, meaning yet another weekend ruined for Jaguar as a whole. The replays shows Vergne overtaking Mortara on the inside and Cassidy trying to slither in from the outside, but only encountering the Mahindra car.
No further action was taken, but Cassidy picked up rear suspension damage.
Drama begins
Gunther Rowland Hughes De Vries Bird Wehrlein Dennis Frijns Mueller Vergne were the standings on Lap 3. Stoffel Vandoorne is the first driver to take up Attack Mode, moving up to P7. He is followed shortly after by Di Grassi.
Rowland and Vandoorne make contact at the beginning of Lap 6, with the champiosnhip leader not leaving him too much space but also not fighting the move too hard, leaving the former FE champion in the lead. The incident was noted by the stewards.
Front row starters Barnard and Gunther came into contact, with the younger Brit sustaining the most of the damage and hiving to pit to get work done on his car.
On Lap 8 of the Formula E race in Shanghai Buemi, Frijns, Wehrlein, Da Costa and Muller all have taken up their first Attack modes. De Vries, Di Grassi following his first Attack Mode, Rowland, Buemi, Gunther, Frijns, Vandoorne Muller, Bird and Wehrlein are the top 10 on Lap 10.
Strategy time
The Energy reveal on Lap 8 showed that Gunther is among the drivers at the front of the grid with the highest reserve. Wehrlein with the added power has moved up to the Top 5, whereas Da Costa starting from P17 ends up in P7. Muller and Frijns have instead found their way up to the provisional podium.
Dennis drops to P15 to take up his first Attack Mode. His teammate Nico Muller for Andretti is the first driver to take advantage of the Pit Boost opening window. At the front De Vries and Rowland have opted for their first Attack Mode, as well as Beckmann towards the end of the grid.
Evans, Gunther, Da Costa, Vandoorne, Buemi,Vandoorne, Buemi, Bird, Maloney and Cassidy all dive into the pits on Lap 14, whereas the remaining drivers go for a first Attack Mode (or second for Dennis).
On Lap 15, in the middle pf the strategic battle for the lead, Rowland leads from De Vries, Frijns, Wehrlein, Frijns, Di Grassi, Dennis, Hughes, Barnard, Beckmann, Ticktum. Muller, Gunther and Da Costa are the top three on the alternative strategy.
Rowland iss displeaseds with his team telling him on the radio he has a smaller advanatge over Gunther follwoing his earlier undercut Pit Boost.
Rowland, De Vries and Beckman take up their Pit Boost on Lap 17. As a consequence, Wehrlein, Di Grassi and Barnard are left on the provisional podium.
Latest pit fights
Rowland has managed to make it work and rejoin the track ahead of Gunther. However, the German still has his Attack Mode to take up.
On Lap 18 the latest drivers pit. Thus, the standings are Gunther, Wehrlein, Rowland, Frijna, Di Grassi, Barnard, Da Costa, Buemi, Vergne and De Vries. Rowland is cycled back in spite of his previous strong pit exit.
On Lap 20 Barnard, De Vries, Nato and Maloney take up Attack Modes as Wehrlein is repeated to save energy. In fcat, the Porsche driver has 0.5 to 2% less energy compared to the drivers surrounding him.
With an impressive double whammy Barnard overtakes Wehrlein and Gunther to get into the lead. The former Formula 2 driver immediately goes on to develop a strong 1.3s lead. The rookie driver is strategically using his added power to build a lead cushion.
Rowland takes up his second Attack Mode on Lap 22 from P8. His intention will definitely be to move up just like his teammate Nato did. In fact, the Frenchman has improved up to P3!
Gunther takes up his second Attack Mode on the following lap, after being passed by Nato. Buemi is shown a black and white flag for forcing a driver off track.
Late upset!
Rowland overtakes Barnard in the lead with 1:15s left of power left to try and build a gap. If 2 minutes and 43 seconds were not enough for the Brit to secure a win, will that be enough for the championship leader?
Gunther moves up to P2, but has 2% of energy less compared to the race leader. Who will take that coveted top spot? Gunther smoothly overtakes Rowland on Lap 26 with 20s left of attack mode. The German driver is pdefinitely in a prime position for the maximum points of the day.
Nato forces Barnard wide while trying to pass him and defend against Ticktum in P5. Luckily the McLaren driver manages to hold on to his position, even overtaking Rowland for P2. Gunther at the front has 4.24s of advanatge over the battle, whereas Ticktum overtakes Rowland as well.
It’ll be a final heated last lap duel between the two talented Brits, who are par on energy. In a great day for DS PENSKE Vergne moves up to P4 at the damage of Rowland. Ticktum strongly passes Barnard for P2.
In a rather surprising twist of fate, Vergne overtakes both Ticktum and Barnard at the final sector of the race. Thus it’ll be an amazing 1-2 for DS PENSKE! Barnard goes from having led several laps to having to make do with P3. On the other side of the emotion spectrum, Ticktum is forced out of the podium.
No points will be in the cards for neither Porsche driver., aiding Barnard’s quest for P2 in the standings overall.
