Formula E | Miami E-Prix | Race | Evans takes strategical win in the wet ahead of the Porsches - Motorsport

Spread the love

The third race of the Formula E Season is about to begin in Miami. Following a fought Qualifying session, Mueller will start from P1, whereas Buemi has earned a three place grid penalty for colliding with Mortara. Latest race winner Cassidy starts from the top ten, whereas latest champions Wehrlein and Rowland will have to recover from outside the top 10.

Let’s go green in Miami!

The race began under a Full Course Yellow flag due to the weather conditions, as after an entire day of strong clouds and grey skys it has finally started to rain. Due to the slipperiness of the track and the lack of ad hoc wet tyres, the drivers completed four laps behind the Safety Car, with everyone mentioning the challenging conditions.

The Safety Car almost slipped and spun around, with all the drivers preparing for a standing start on lap 5. At the start Drugovich overtook Da Costa, taking immediately up an Attack Mode, with Rowland falling behind at the back of the grid.

De Vries overtook Da Costa for the final podium position, as him alongside Mueller and Wehrlein immediately go in for an Attack Mode too. By the beginning of Lap 6, the Brazilian is leading his first ever Formula E race.

Marti attended a rather aggressive move on Nato for P11 on the outside and after a couple of attempts he was succesful, while Mueller returned in the lead.

Eriksson on a very positive run powered by the shorter Attack Mode overtook Da Costa, while De Vries moves into P1.

On Lap 10 this was the top 10: De Vries, Mueller, Drugovich, Eriksson, Da Costa. Evans, Barnard, Cassidy and JEV.

Attack Mode time!

The French took up his first Attack Mode, overtaking his Citroen teammate for P9. Far at the back, Dennis, Nato and Rowland are focusing on energy saving for the later stages of the race. After the end of his attack mode, Mueller returns in the lead, with Drugovich overtaking the Mahindra driver too.

Mueller is told to expect rain in thirteen minutes as Günther, sporting a dry setup, struggles to keep his DS Penske on track. Drugovich, back in the lead, holds the lowest percentage of energy at the moment on Lap 14, 70%.

Eriksson is noted for cutting through the Turn 7 chicane as Mortara overtakes Barnard for P10. Da Costa takes up his 4 minutes Attack Mode to try and take the lead of the race. Evans is told to let his teammate by, with plans for the Kiwi himself to take up his own Attack Mode and spotlight later.

Da Costa passes his former teammate Wehrlein, as well as De Vries and Drugovich, ultimately contending with Mueller and snatching the top spot on Lap 18 with few seconds of extra power left and him almost colliding with the Porsche driver. Da Costa is shown a black and white flag for “driving standards”.

Evans takes up his first shorter Attack Mode next, plunging through the grid just like his teammate had done before. He settles for thrid, behind Mueller. Ticktum goes wide at the back of the grid at Turn 1, while Günther is almost being lapped.

On Lap 20 this was the top 10: Da Costa, Mueller, Drugovich, Evans, De Vries, Wehrlein, Eriksson, Mortara, Barnard, Marti.

Pivotal overtakes

Wehrlein attempted a last minute move on De Vries, almost touching the Dutchman, whereas Martì overtakes Barnard for P9, with the British overtaken by Maloney too. The Cupra Kiro driver sets his sights on Mortara in P8 next. On Lap 25 Mueller returns in the lead overtaking Da Costa

Ticktum, on the wrong dry setup for this race, pits and retires from the Formula E Miami Race after some very pitiful laps.

Evans completes a very bold outside mode on his new Jaguar teammate Da Costa, who appears to be struggling as the rain begins to pour again.

His luck gets even worse shortly after. In fact, on Lap 27 Drugovich slams into Da Costa at the beginning of the lap, with the Portuguese spinning out. Drugovich from the replay significantly misses the apex, with the Jaguar driver unable to do anything to protect himself from the assault.

It’s a pity for the Andretti driver too, who was almost on pole today and on the right track for a positive Top 5 finish. Drugovich pits to fix his front wing damage. On the following lap Evans almost hit Mueller, but he managed to keep control of his car in the extremely perilous conditions, ultimately ending up overtaking the Porsche man.

Ticktum returns in the race on new tyres a lap behind his colleagues, trying to recover a bit out of the challenging day.

On Lap 30 this was the top ten: Evans, Mueller, De Vries, Wehlein, Eriksson, Da Costa, Mortara, Martì, Buemi, Barnard.

The rain picks up in the end

Many drivers at the back take up Attack Modes: Mortara, Barnard, Di Grassi, who just overtook Dennis, and Maloney. The Italian Swiss driver passes Martì for P7.

Evans has built a considerable 2 seconds gap to Mueller in P2 as De Vries strongly defends from Wehrlein. The German attempts multiple times and is joined by Envision’s Eriksson.

Mortara sets the fastest race lap as both Lola Yamaha drivers get by Barnard. Wehrlein is the first driver at the front to pick up his final Attack Mode, joined by Guenther at the back of the grid. The Porsche driver manages to get by De Vries, with his teammate Mueller opting for the extra power too to try and close the gap to Evans.

Mueller mentions issues with traction and his rear, while Buemi and Martì take up Attack Modes as well.

Drugovich gets a 10 seconds time penalty for hitting Da Costa. Eriksson passes De Vries. Two laps are added to the race total length, growing to 41. At the back of the grid, Drugovich lowers the best lap of the race.

On Lap 38 top 10 features Evans, Mueller, Wehrlein, Eriksson, De Vries, Da Costa, Mortara, Martì, Buemi, Dennis.

Final laps

Mueller reduces his gap to the Jaguar driver in the lead to less than a second. What an impressive race for Sebastien Buemi, going from last, following his penalty for his Qualifying collision with Mortara, to P9.

Championship leader Cassidy in P16 gets lapped by the top three drivers in a truly awful day for the Kiwi. Ultimately Ticktum retires again, for a third unlucky consecutive DNF for the British driver.

On Lap 40 Mortara overtakes Da Costa for P6, whereas Evans’s gap is the greatest it has ever been, up to 3.5 s.

Evans takes the win of the Miami E-Prix race ahead of the two Porsche drivers, who put up a very strong fight. It’s the first race win of formerly Neom McLaren Ian James as Jaguar Team Principal, while Eriksson secures a rather impressive top 5 finish as rookie.

See you in Jeddah for a double header on the 13th and 14th of February!