CUPRA KIRO left the Shanghai E-Prix double-header with frustration after a weekend where strong pace, bold strategy calls and encouraging qualifying speed failed to translate into points.
The team looked set for a strong result in the opening race before the Safety Car came out at the worst possible moment. Dan Ticktum and Pepe Martí had both activated their only Attack Mode shortly before Race Control neutralised the race due to the worsening weather conditions. Martí, Edoardo Mortara, Ticktum and Nick Cassidy had all taken Attack Mode when the Safety Car was deployed, costing those drivers the benefit of their extra power. Pascal Wehrlein went on to win the race ahead of António Félix da Costa and Jake Dennis.
CUPRA KIRO had already put itself in position to fight for points by using an energy-saving approach early in the race. Martí rejoined in fifth after his Pit Boost, while Ticktum ran in tenth before both drivers activated Attack Mode on lap 19. However, the Safety Car eliminated their advantage and left them exposed once rivals used their Attack Mode after the restart.
The second race brought more missed opportunities. Martí secured his first Formula E duels appearance in wet qualifying and started sixth, while Ticktum lined up 14th after a grid penalty. The race began behind the Safety Car before Race Control opted for a standing start on lap four. Ticktum later fought his way into the top ten on the road, only to miss out on points after a post-race penalty.
Ticktum rues Safety Car timing after Shanghai Race 1
The Briton believed CUPRA KIRO had executed strongly in the opening race of the Shanghai E-Prix before the Safety Car ended the team’s chance of a major points finish. Ticktum had started eighth after a three-place grid drop carried over from Sanya, but the team’s race plan gave him a route back into contention.
After the Safety Car came out, CUPRA KIRO brought Ticktum in for tyres with wet-weather pressures in an attempt to recover the situation. He made up places after rejoining, but the lost Attack Mode deployment meant the damage had already been done.
“I don’t think we could have done anything more today. I think we got pretty much everything right, but our race was ruined by the Safety Car. We then boxed for high-pressure tyres still behind the Safety Car, and the pace was good in the wet and if we had the Attack Mode available during that phase, I think we could have made some serious progress and be close to the podium. Hopefully we can have a good result before the season ends because we’re overdue some luck.”
Martí says CUPRA KIRO got “absolutely screwed” at Shanghai E-Prix
Martí was even more direct after the race. The Spaniard had been running in a strong position after the Pit Boost cycle and looked set to use his six-minute Attack Mode to fight near the front. Instead, the Safety Car came out with the full deployment still available, leaving him unable to use the advantage when it mattered most.
The timing proved costly. Once the race resumed, drivers who had not yet activated Attack Mode could attack with extra power, while Martí and Ticktum had already lost their only deployment behind the Safety Car.
“To put it politely, we got absolutely screwed today. There was a decision made by race direction – according to information that they must have had which was not available to teams – which prompted them to make the decision to throw a Safety Car. It came out with six minutes of my six-minute Attack Mode remaining – so all of it – and both Dan and I lost the full deployment.”
Martí left frustrated despite strong pace
Although Martí accepted that Race Control may have made the right call from a safety perspective, he stressed that CUPRA KIRO had ended up on the wrong side of the situation at the Shanghai E-Prix. The team had put both cars in contention, but the Safety Car completely changed the race picture.
For Martí, the frustration came from knowing that the pace and strategy had been good enough to deliver a much stronger result. Instead, he dropped down the order and finished outside the points.
“It put us completely out of contention for any kind of decent result, and I dropped from fifth to 15th. Safety-wise, it was probably a good decision, but there were three cars on track who had taken Attack Mode and Dan and I were two of them, so it sucks to be on the wrong side of the coin. Overall, the pace was good today, and the strategy was on point – it was just the circumstances that put us at a disadvantage. We’ll come back stronger tomorrow and hopefully, we can have much better luck.”
O’Hagan says points were on the table
Team Principal Russell O’Hagan shared the drivers’ frustration after a race that had been unfolding in CUPRA KIRO’s favour. The team had managed the early phase well, used the Pit Boost window effectively and positioned both drivers for a potential points finish before the Safety Car changed everything.
O’Hagan did not call the Safety Car decision incorrect, but he said it did not match what the team would usually expect in that scenario. With both Pit Boost stops already completed and the only Attack Mode activation lost, CUPRA KIRO had little left to use once the race restarted.
“Today’s result is incredibly frustrating because we had called the race well, it was going to plan, and a lot of solid points were on the table. For us, the Safety Car deployment was unusual, that’s not to say incorrect, but it was not in keeping with what we would expect. As a team, it’s our job to try and manage variables and optimise probability. A big part of that is predicting how scenarios unfold, so it’s naturally very frustrating when something atypical has such a big consequence, as it did today. From that point on, with the Pit Boosts taken, and just a single Attack Mode activation available, and already lost, our race was over.”
CUPRA KIRO searches for answers after Race 1 setback at Shanghai E-Prix
CUPRA KIRO still tried to react. The team pitted Ticktum for wet-weather tyre pressures while the Safety Car remained on track, hoping that the change would help him recover positions once racing resumed. It did help him move forward, but it could not fully rescue the result.
O’Hagan said the team now needed to understand whether the Safety Car call reflected a change in how Race Control may handle similar situations in the future, or whether Shanghai had been a unique case. However, he still took encouragement from the competitiveness CUPRA KIRO had shown before the race slipped away.
“As an attempt to rescue some points we elected to pit Dan to fit tyres with wet-weather pressures to offset the conditions, and while he did make up six places after rejoining, it ultimately didn’t alter the outcome and overall, there was very little we could do to recover the situation. Motorsport can be unpredictable, and sometimes luck simply isn’t on your side, but we need to understand the rationale behind the Safety Car deployment and if the decisions made today are what we should expect moving forward, or if they were unique. The encouraging takeaway is that we’ve shown that we have a competitive package this weekend. We can come back tomorrow to achieve the result we know we’re capable of.”
Ticktum targets Tokyo and London after tough Shanghai weekend
Race 2 at the Shanghai E-Prix offered CUPRA KIRO another chance to recover something from the weekend, but the team again left without points. Ticktum started 14th after a grid penalty and lost further ground with an off-track moment at Turn 6 on lap four. He later fought back through the field, used Attack Mode to climb as high as seventh, and finished tenth on the road before a post-race penalty dropped him out of the points.
Although the result hurt, Ticktum felt CUPRA KIRO had made progress with its approach across the weekend. The Briton believed the team had taken a step forward strategically, even if the changing conditions and race development did not fall its way.
“A pretty tough weekend overall. Strategy-wise, we’ve taken a step forward but today, we didn’t predict the outcome of the race correctly. I think we could have had some good results here in Shanghai, but I’m hopeful we can do better in Tokyo and London – both tracks where I think we’ll be fast.”
Martí frustrated after one of his strongest Formula E weekends
Martí also left Shanghai with mixed emotions. On one hand, he showed clear pace in the wet and reached the duels for the first time in Formula E. On the other, he could not convert that promise into points after another race shaped by the Safety Car, weather and energy demands.
The race started behind the Safety Car because of the wet conditions, and that early phase immediately affected Martí’s afternoon. He used more energy than planned before the race properly got underway, leaving him with fewer options once he activated his first Attack Mode. CUPRA KIRO then had to run aggressive energy-saving targets, which made overtaking even harder.
“Unbeknownst that there was ever a possibility of having worse luck than we did yesterday, today happened. During the Safety Car start we burned through a lot of energy which resulted in me not really being able to overtake with my first Attack Mode. We then had to run to high energy-saving targets which meant that, instead of having to do the race with one hand tied behind my back, I had to do it with both tied. There wasn’t much we could do to move forward.”
“Looking back, there was an opportunity with the track conditions but understanding the weather at a circuit where the humidity is so high can be difficult and we just went the wrong way. In terms of pace, I think this was one of my best weekends in Formula E so far, so it really sucks to not get any points out of the weekend. We have Tokyo coming up, which looks like a good track, and I’m hoping for a good result there.”
O’Hagan takes positives despite scoreless Shanghai E-Prix for CUPRA KIRO
O’Hagan felt the final results did not reflect CUPRA KIRO’s level across the weekend. The team showed pace in qualifying, particularly in the wet, and Martí’s first appearance in the duels marked another step forward in his rookie Formula E campaign.
However, the second race once again became a question of predicting how the weather and track conditions would develop. Some teams and drivers went different ways with strategy and setup, depending on how quickly they expected the circuit to dry. O’Hagan admitted CUPRA KIRO ended up slightly on the wrong side of that call.
“We started the day well with strong Qualifying pace in the wet conditions with both cars with a great first duels appearance for Pepe, and frustration for Dan who was compromised by traffic on his critical final lap. Ultimately, it was the weather that became the defining factor in the race, with a real mix of strategies and setups being used relative to how each team and driver expected the weather to play out, and in how quickly the track could dry in the absence of rain.”
“We got slightly on the wrong side of the predictions, and although we adapted, maybe it just wasn’t quickly enough. Coming away without any points is frustrating and doesn’t reflect a lot of the positives we had across the weekend. A big thank you to the team and drivers for the hard work across the full weekend and we look forward to better results in Tokyo in a few weeks. We head there with confidence and clear ambition – we want to finish the season strongly.”
CUPRA KIRO left to rue missed Shanghai opportunity
Shanghai therefore became a weekend of what might have been for CUPRA KIRO. The pace was there, the strategy in Race 1 had put both drivers in the fight, and Martí’s qualifying performance on the second day showed further progress. However, Safety Car timing, changing weather and penalties kept the team outside the points.
With Tokyo and London still to come, CUPRA KIRO will hope that its improved pace and stronger strategic execution finally bring the result it has been chasing.
