The Shanghai ePrix of Formula E took place this weekend, marking the return to China with a double-header. Mitch Evans and António Félix da Costa took the victories.
On Saturday’s race, Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske) took pole position, but Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) and Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche) dominated most of the race, taking turns in the lead. The New Zealander made the decisive overtake on the last lap, beating the German by 0.796s. Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing) finished third.
The top five was completed by Oliver Rowland (Nissan) and Jake Dennis (Andretti/Porsche) with the fastest lap. Vergne crossed the finish line in seventh, but was promoted to sixth… due to a penalty imposed on Félix da Costa. The TAG Heuer Porsche driver was penalized five seconds for pushing a driver off track and ended up classified in 18th place.
In Sunday’s race, Jake Hughes (NEOM McLaren/Nissan) started from pole position and led at the end of the first lap, but after being overtaken by Stoffel Vandoorne (DS Penske) on the second lap, he never regained the lead. Norman Nato (Andretti/Porsche) and Félix da Costa were the drivers who led the most.
It was on lap 16 that the Portuguese driver made the overtake to secure the lead, leaving Nato behind. In the remaining 12 laps, Félix da Costa never had a considerable margin, but he managed to secure the victory 0.612s ahead of Hughes – who also managed to pass Nato. Cassidy and Evans finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
With two double rounds to go, Cassidy strengthened his championship lead, with a 25-point margin over Wehrlein. Evans is in third, 35 points behind. As for Félix da Costa, he climbed to seventh and is 83 points away from the top.
