The Hankook Mexico City E-Prix brought mixed fortunes for CUPRA KIRO as Pepe Martí claimed the team’s first points of the season while Dan Ticktum suffered another retirement.
Held at the demanding Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the race offered a crucial breakthrough for the team after a double DNF opening round in São Paulo. Martí’s six points lifted CUPRA KIRO to eighth in the Season 12 Teams’ Standings.
Martí’s maiden FE points
Rookie driver Pepe Martí’s race started in P20 after picking up a back-of-the-grid penalty in São Paulo, where he suffered an intense crash. Adding to the pressure, he received another grid penalty during Mexico City’s FP2 for an inverter, MGU, and gearbox change, which the stewards later converted into a 10-second stop-go penalty.
Despite these challenges, Martí turned his P20 start into an impressive P7 finish, earning his first-ever Formula E points. The Spaniard achieved this result by serving his stop-go penalty on Lap 1, saving energy, and later using it, along with both Attack Modes, to move up the field.
“I’m obviously very happy with the end result today,” he said. “Finishing seventh after starting from the very back with a 10-second stop go penalty, you can’t really ask for any more. From within the car, I think there are some things I could have done better throughout the race, but nonetheless, we can be very proud of how it all went. It’s a good feeling to get my first points in Formula E here in Mexico and I’m very excited for the team’s home race in Miami.”
Ticktum: “The race was just carnage”
Dan Ticktum looked strong after advancing to dual qualifying stages, ultimately securing P6. Later, the first half of the race saw Ticktum use Attack Mode to move into P3 before dropping back, but still running consistently inside the top ten.
Unfortunately, difficulty came on Lap 25 during an incident involving António Félix Da Costa, Maximilian Günther, and Jean-Éric Vergne. Despite attempting to avoid collisions and debris, Ticktum sustained damage that forced him to retire from the race.
“A pretty tough end to the weekend again this week,” he shared, having retired during Round 1 in São Paulo as well. “We struggled for pace across practice and made some educated guesses, trusted our processes, and changed the car to what we believed would be quick for Qualifying. We were fast straight away but, in the duels, I didn’t quite get the most out of the car and started from sixth.”
“The race was just carnage. We had drivers going for half moves and big lunges, and in the end, I was caught out on the receiving end of someone else’s mistake yet again. In both races this year I’ve been in the duels, qualifying second and sixth, but have no points. I’m hoping that our luck will turn around in Miami,” he concluded, looking ahead to the Miami E-Prix on January 31st.
Progress and missed potential
CUPRA KIRO’s Team Principal, Russell O’Hagan, offered a broader perspective of the team’s Mexico City E-Prix, acknowledging the challenges and important steps forward. “It’s been a challenging weekend here in Mexico City, but it feels good to properly get our season underway by scoring our first points of the year,” he shared before reflecting on their drivers’ contrasting fortunes.
“We had two very different outcomes for our drivers today, and Dan deserved so much more, just as he did in São Paulo. For him to come away from the first two races of the season without points is very misrepresentative of his pace, but he’s shown in the past that he can come back from a challenging start and I’m very confident that he will again.”
“For Pepe, today’s race was a landmark moment, with him scoring his first points in Formula E. It was incredibly well deserved, not just in terms of the race he executed, but in how he navigated setbacks across the weekend, missing valuable track time and taking penalties in his stride.”
Beyond the drivers, O’Hagan highlighted the importance of the team’s powertrain partner, Porsche, noting the effort required to deliver Martí’s new car.
“I want to say a big thank you to the whole team, and our powertrain partner, Porsche, for all of the hard work that went into delivering a new car for Pepe in Mexico,” he said. “Getting our first points on the board is a big boost for the whole team and a great source of motivation heading into our home race in Miami, where I’m sure we can achieve even better results.”
