Nearly perfect weekend for António Félix da Costa at the Portland Formula E ePrix. The Portuguese driver won again in the second American round, which took place this Sunday at the Portland International Raceway. Including his victory in the second race in Shanghai, Félix da Costa is the first to win three consecutive times since he last did so himself in 2020.
Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske) started from pole position, with Félix da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche) in second place, taking the lead right at the first corner. In the early stages, energy saving was the biggest concern, but some drivers stood out in front besides the two at the top of the grid: such as Jake Hughes (NEOM McLaren/Nissan), Nyck de Vries (Mahindra), or Robin Frijns (Envision Racing/Jaguar).
The Attack Mode was activated on the third lap and, on the sixth lap, Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche) fell behind: he collided with Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra) and damaged his front wing, dropping out of the top ten. Sam Bird (NEOM McLaren/Nissan) hit the piece and ended up at the back of the pack, while Hughes made a mistake on the 13th lap and also dropped out of the top positions.
Nightmare for Wehrlein! 🫣
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
The @PorscheFormulaE driver's front wing lodges itself under the car, slowing his progress massively.@Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/cB8ccKdpaG
After the incident, Wehrlein managed to return to the top positions and even reached second place behind Félix da Costa. The safety car was called to intervene on the 18th lap, which brought the pack closer together and gave some recovery chances to drivers further behind. The neutralization ended after two laps, and on the restart, Frijns was leading ahead of Félix da Costa.
🟢 We are racing once again in Portland! 🟢
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 30, 2024
The @PorscheRaces Safety Car is in and Frijns leads the grid at the restart, but da Costa quickly poaches the race lead! @Hankook_Sport #PortlandEPrix pic.twitter.com/pecRpQjyuu
The Portuguese wasted no time in attacking and overtaking the Dutchman, and in a better situation in terms of available energy, he was able to attack and build a margin. He won with a 0.332s advantage over Frijns. The Dutchman set the fastest lap.
The battle for the final spot on the podium lasted until the finish line, with Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) coming out on top against Wehrlein by just 0.068s. Vergne completed the top five. Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing/Jaguar) finished 13th, leaving Portland without any points. However, he still leads the championship, now 12 points ahead of Evans with the double-header in London remaining. With 50 points up for grabs, seven drivers can still fight for the title, including the double winner in Portland: Félix da Costa moved up to fourth with these results and is 34 points behind the leader.
Results:
