Porsche lost the Formula E Manufacturers’ Trophy following a post-race penalty for Antonio Felix da Costa. The German manufacturer – represented by the TAG Heuer Porsche factory team and customer outfit Andretti – clinched the title, which was …
Porsche lost the Formula E Manufacturers’ Trophy following a post-race penalty for Antonio Felix da Costa.
The German manufacturer – represented by the TAG Heuer Porsche factory team and customer outfit Andretti – clinched the title, which was newly-introduced this season, at Sunday’s finale in London.
However, in the hours after the conclusion of the second London E-Prix race, da Costa was handed a 5s penalty for hitting Nick Cassidy. The penalty dropped da Costa from fifth to 13th and out of the points. The collision ultimately cost the New Zealander a chance at winning the Drivers’ championship, but ironically ended up clinching the Manufacturers’ crown for Jaguar. The championship implications of the collision were not considered in the decision making process, though.
“During the hearing, the driver of car No. 13 (da Costa) was very contrite and the driver of car No. 37, was gracious,” read a steward’s statement. “Both the competitors and teams acted in a very professional manner. Both competitors were clear that they wanted the incident decided as a single incident, not taking into account the surrounding context of the final round.”
Factory team Jaguar TCS Racing had already been declared Teams’ champion following the conclusion of Sunday’s race, with Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein claiming the Drivers’ title. The revision means that Jaguar edges Porsche in the Manufacturers’ standings by a slender four points.
Three wins in a row, four from the last five races – it’s quite the contrast for Antonio Felix da Costa who spent the first part of the year struggling for form. After inheriting Saturday’s race victory from a penalized Mitch Evans, the TAG Heuer …
Three wins in a row, four from the last five races – it’s quite the contrast for Antonio Felix da Costa who spent the first part of the year struggling for form.
After inheriting Saturday’s race victory from a penalized Mitch Evans, the TAG Heuer Porsche driver managed a chaotic Sunday race perfectly to win on the road ahead of Robin Frijns and Evans. He’s now firmly in championship contention with two rounds to go, but despite being Formula E’s flavor of the month, he’s not taking anything for granted.
“When I won yesterday it was already impressive in a good way, but these moments don’t last forever,” he said. “I think all three of us (on the podium) have gone through incredible runs of races and we’ve gone through slumps, so I’ll just make sure to enjoy it and never take it for granted, appreciate it. It could be the last podium of my life, we never know. Hopefully not.
“The truth is we’re navigating through these races really, really well, the car is quick and we’re doing it in a smart way – I’m having fun doing them and navigating through these races with my team. [It’s an] impressive run of races, I’m not going to deny it, and considering where we started the season, if you told me four or five months ago that I would have won four or five races this year I would not have believed you. It feels good.”
His tear in the latter part of the season followed a disqualification at Misano that denied da Costa his first win of the year. It would be easy to buy into the theory that the stripped victory has fuelled him since then, but it’s not something he’s buying into himself – at least not wittingly.
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“I hope not, because I don’t ever want to go through a slump like that ever again,” he said. “It’s one thing to be in the middle of the pack, but we were really slow, so that was a serious problem in the beginning of the year.
“Hopefully that’s not… I don’t think when I’m angry I go better, but I will evaluate it, and if that’s the case, then we have a problem, because I’ve got to get angry a lot.”
One motivating factor, however, could be putting himself in motorsport’s shop window. He was denied a shot at the World Endurance Championship this season after driving for Porsche customer Hertz Team Jota last year, and it’s no secret da Costa yearns to be back there in addition to racing in Formula E.
“Obviously that’s the goal for me. I’ve never denied it that I want to be doing the WEC as well,” he said. “I love racing, and if I could race every weekend, I would.
“Last weekend I was racing in Brazilian Porsche Cup – they came to my hometown race and my hometown track and I got permission to do that race and that’s just the way I like to go.
“For now, I’m getting married at the end of the year, maybe some kids hopefully if everything goes well very soon, and maybe that will all change, but as I’m still fit, quick and youngish, I really want to take the opportunity to race as many cars as I can.
“There’s a few of us here that like to do that. It doesn’t make me better, it doesn’t make me worse, it’s just what I want to do and that’s the goal…”
Antonio Felix da Costa’s late season surge continued with a third consecutive Formula E victory and a clean sweep of the Portland E-Prix weekend. In an intense race that saw multiple collisions and damaged front wings due to concertinas into heavy …
Antonio Felix da Costa’s late season surge continued with a third consecutive Formula E victory and a clean sweep of the Portland E-Prix weekend.
In an intense race that saw multiple collisions and damaged front wings due to concertinas into heavy braking zones, it was after a safety car to clear up the debris from those shunts that da Costa came into his own, snatching the lead as the green flag flew on lap 21 of 26 (later extended to 27 as a result of the safety car) and never looking back.
With his title-challenging TAG Heuer Porsche teammate Pascal Wehrlein looming in fourth, da Costa queried if he should assist the German or run his own race. The team responded, “We will not risk the race win,” leading to da Costa dropping the hammer for the final two laps.
Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns closed to within a car length by the final corner of the last lap, but it wasn’t enough to snatch victory.
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans finished third, having tussled with Frijns for second in the final few laps. Before that duel, Wehrlein called for da Costa to let Frijns past to negate a potential race-winning threat from his title rival Evans, but Frijns ultimately managed to keep the Kiwi at bay.
Wehrlein took fourth, despite driving more than 20 laps without a front wing following contact with Edoardo Mortara at the start of lap six.
The TAG Heuer Porsche driver was one of several to complete the race with parts missing from the front of his car, with the race originally slated to be a lap shorter than Saturday’s, leading to more useable energy being on tap, ramping up the speed and intensity of the competition.
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Wehrlein’s wing initially got trapped under his car, signaling a potentially early end to his race, but eventually worked its way free. That came at the expense of NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird who collided with the loose part and had his own race stunted by it. He was joined by teammate Jake Hughes and the Mahindra duo of Mortara and Nyck de Vries in retiring.
Polesitter Jean-Eric Vergne came home fifth, ahead of Nico Mueller, Norman Nato, and Maximilian Guenther. Sebastien Buemi benefitted front the safety car to move up to ninth by race end after serving a drive-through penalty early on for a pre-race MGU change (a penalty which would have been a 20-place grid drop had he qualified further up the field), while Jake Dennis registered the final point with tenth.
Nick Cassidy was a notable absentee from the points positions for the second day in a row. After being caught in a concertina at Turn 1 on lap 13, he pitted – along with Dennis, De Vries, and Caio Collet – to repair the damage, and the safety car that followed at the start of lap 19 ought to have brought him back into contention, but he ultimately couldn’t recover higher than 13th.
He heads to the final two rounds of the season in London still with the championship lead, but only by 12 points over teammate Evans and Wehrlein.
Da Costa is the first driver to win three races in a row since he did it across the Marrakesh and Berlin weekends in the 2019-20 season. With four wins from the last five races, including the three in a row, he has moved into serious championship contention, just 33 points off the lead with 58 still on offer. Had he not been disqualified from the first race of the Misano E-Prix, da Costa would be second in the points, just eight off the lead.
Although he didn’t compete in Portland due to illness, Oliver Rowland also remains in with a credible shout at the championship, sitting just three points back from da Costa.
Antonio Felix da Costa knows a thing or two about losing a clear win because of a stewards’ decision. Only this time around, he was the beneficiary. At the first race of the Misano E-Prix, the TAG Heuer Porsche driver ended a dismal run of form to …
Antonio Felix da Costa knows a thing or two about losing a clear win because of a stewards’ decision. Only this time around, he was the beneficiary.
At the first race of the Misano E-Prix, the TAG Heuer Porsche driver ended a dismal run of form to win on the road, only for an illegal part to disqualify him later on. In Portland, Mitch Evans crossed the line first, but a penalty for contact with NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes dropped him down the order.
Da Costa knows exactly how it feels, but that didn’t stop him enjoying the moment.
“I’ve got to say congrats to Mitch because he did win this one on the track and I know how it feels to have one taken away, so hats off to him,” he conceded. “But we’ll take it; we did everything right today. It’s always hard fighting against two cars of the same team, but we were able to put the Jags under pressure there, and with Nick making a mistake at the end…”
After a relatively anonymous race for his championship-challenging teammate, da Costa was fighting a solo battle for Porsche against the strong Jaguar pairing of Evans and Nick Cassidy, but with Evans’ penalty and a late race spin for Cassidy – which cost him a probable win – the Portuguese driver came out on top.
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“I just really wanted to keep it clean and be there at the end and see how it unfolded,” da Costa said. “It looked like I was going to finish third and then Nick made a mistake, Mitch had a penalty, and we took the win there at the end so it’s an amazing run of races to be honest.”
The win, whatever form it might take, is da Costa’s third of the year and third from the last four races. It’s a remarkable turnaround in form for a driver who not only failed to register a podium in the first nine races of the year (including the stripped win in Italy), but also was the subject of paddock rumors regarding his future within the Porsche team.
“I will never ever, after what I’ve been through this year, take any win or any podium for granted. I got lucky today to get this win so I’ll make sure to enjoy it for sure,” he said of his rebound. “I’ve learnt a lot about myself, I’ve learnt a lot about people, about sports, about everything. I think when you have bad times and you take the good stuff out of it, you become a little bit stronger.
“Everyone here’s been up and down in their life at some point in racing so – today we were lucky – I’ll never take them for granted. I’ll be happy, I’ll celebrate because I know how hard it is to win a race these days, so I’ll definitely take this one.”
Antonio Felix da Costa won for the third time in four races in the first part of the Portland E-Prix as Formula E’s key championship protagonists all faltered. Mitch Evans was the winner on the road, but a 5s penalty after a collision with NEOM …
Antonio Felix da Costa won for the third time in four races in the first part of the Portland E-Prix as Formula E’s key championship protagonists all faltered.
Mitch Evans was the winner on the road, but a 5s penalty after a collision with NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes on lap five dropped him down to eighth. The coming together left Evans with front wing damage and Hughes with a right rear puncture that ended any hope of him challenging for victory.
Evans slammed the penalty as “absolutely disgraceful,” with him insisting that Hughes moved across on him as he held position.
It looked as if Evans’ Jaguar TCS Racing teammate Nick Cassidy was going to be the victor, having taken the approach that paid off in Berlin by conserving energy within the pack before vaulting forward. Having been as low as 12th, it took him just 12 laps to get to the front and was leading on the penultimate lap of the 27 lap race when he lost control through Turn 11, spinning out and handing the advantage to Evans and da Costa.
Polesitter Evans lost the lead early on to Hughes, then kept da Costa and Cassidy in his crosshairs as they swapped the lead after cycling through Attack Mode activations. He got by da Costa on lap 24, and was given the green light to race Cassidy despite his penalty, and it was that pressure that led to Cassidy’s mistake that cost him the win.
With Cassidy and Evans both missing out on the win, it would have been a perfect time for Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein to pounce and make up ground in the championship race, but after a quiet day, in which he was the last to drop into the Attack Mode activation zone, he could only finish 10th.
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Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the bad day for the championship frontrunners was Oliver Rowland, who wasn’t even racing due to illness.
With Cassidy’s non-score and Evans’ and Wehrlein’s lowly points finishes, he hasn’t lost as much to his rivals as he ought to have. Wehrlein’s finishing position could yet drop lower with his race ending under investigation for a collision with Maserati MSG driver Maximilian Guenther.
Robin Frijns was classified second, giving him his first podium since February’s Diriyah E-Prix, with Jean-Eric Vergne third, having shot to the lead on lap 17 after climbing from the seventh row of the grid.
Edoardo Mortara took Mahindra’s best result of the season in fourth, ahead of Abt Cupra’s Nico Mueller and Jake Dennis (Andretti).
Sam Bird was seventh for McLaren, ahead of the penalized Evans, with Stoffel Vandoorne ninth, joining his DS Penske teammate Vergne in converting a poor qualifying performance into a points finish.
Da Costa ends the day as the first three-time winner of the year – an accolade he would have already had were it not for his disqualification in Misano in April – but it’s too little too late with regard to his championship hopes after a poor start to the campaign.
Cassidy maintains the championship lead, albeit with the gap over Wehrlein now at 24 points with three races to go. Evans is a further three points back, with the absent Rowland still remaining in mathematical contention with 131 points.
Antonio Felix da Costa feels he’s “having a run of a championship-contending driver” after winning for the second time in three races. The Portuguese driver began the season with three non-scores and was the subject of speculation that he would be …
Antonio Felix da Costa feels he’s “having a run of a championship-contending driver” after winning for the second time in three races.
The Portuguese driver began the season with three non-scores and was the subject of speculation that he would be replaced at TAG Heuer Porsche by Abt Cupra driver Nico Mueller. The change never happened, however, and after back-to-back to-six finishes in Sao Paulo and Tokyo, da Costa won the first race of the Misano doubleheader. The win was subsequently stripped due to his car’s throttle damper spring not conforming to regulations, although that ruling remains subject to an ongoing appeal. Should it be reinstated, it would be three wins from the last seven races, and make da Costa the only three-time winner this season.
“I’m not doing many things different, to be honest — I think we just understood what works for me, as a team and we diverged a little bit from what works for Pascal and that’s fine,” da Costa said of his turnaround in form. “We just took a little bit of time to understand, mainly for the one-lap performance, and in the races we’ve usually been strong. I’m still super sad that me and Pascal haven’t been able to get on the podium together — we’ve been telling each other that we need to make that happen and it’s either him or me.
“But I’m super happy with the momentum that we’ve been able to build. It’s been a big run of races since Sao Paulo — almost every two weeks we’ve been racing and we’ve been able to crack on and keep building a little bit more every weekend with some sixth places, fifth places, and then eventually we got three wins on the track in the last six or seven races.
“So definitely good momentum. Really a shame how the year started, plus that lost win in Misano, otherwise I think we’ve been having a run of a championship-contending car and driver. It is what it is, we just try to have fun and give good races to the team.”
Shanghai continued the run of strong momentum for da Costa, here running third behind Stoffel Vandoorne and Jake Hughes. Sam Bagnall/Motorsport Images
After his Shanghai victory, da Costa joins teammate Pascal Wehrlein and Jaguar duo Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans as a two-time winner this season, but he admits the lost Misano win and the chance to lead the series in victories has been playing on his mind.
“That is something I’ve thought about,” he said. “Mitch has got two victories, Cass and Pascal as well, so it shows that the Jags and the Porsches, especially in these types of races where efficiency’s key, we have a little bit of an edge on the others I think, and that’s good.
“I’ve been through it all — I’ve been racing for 20-plus years and I don’t want to say that I’m getting old but we just get a little bit more used to difficult moments sometimes and how to deal with them. It’s never nice but it is what it is and we just have to crack on.”
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After six events — nine races — in 11 weeks, Formula E now enters a five-week break before the series returns to Portland International Raceway, and da Costa has high hopes for the races in the U.S.
“That was one of my best weekends last year — I got a podium there as well, and I love racing in the States,” he said. “We always do a little bit of a training camp before. Last year I was with Norman Nato) and Stoff Vandoorne) in LA getting ready for the race and it paid off.
“I do enjoy racing in the States because I think they do it differently there, they do it well, and yeah it’s going to be fun.”
Antonio Felix da Costa secured his second win in three races with a commanding drive in the second race of Formula E’s Shanghai E-Prix. The TAG Heuer Porsche driver held off NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes who got his first Formula E podium after …
Antonio Felix da Costa secured his second win in three races with a commanding drive in the second race of Formula E’s Shanghai E-Prix.
The TAG Heuer Porsche driver held off NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes who got his first Formula E podium after starting from pole position, having led for just under half of the 28-lap contest — one lap shorter than Saturday’s race.
Da Costa started third on the grid, and by waiting late to take his two passes through the longer Attack Mode line, he didn’t lose as much ground compared to others around him. He moved into the lead on lap 16, passing Andretti’s Norman Nato in the first corner.
Nato had been the pacesetter for much of the early stages of the race, having taken the lead himself on lap 4 — his fourth lap also being the fastest lap of the race – when front-row starter Stoffel Vandoorne dipped into the Attack Mode loop. Nato eventually finished third after da Costa and Hughes broke away, while Vandoorne wound up sixth.
All three faced a threat from Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy, who once again had an energy advantage due to the Jaguar’s superior efficiency, but his charge faded after he made contact with Hughes on lap 19 which left him with front wing damage. Cassidy led home teammate Mitch Evans with the DS Penskes of Vandoorne and Saturday polesitter Jean-Eric Vergne next up.
Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther wound up eighth, ahead of Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns who completed a stellar charge through the field from 20th on the grid.
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It was a difficult day for championship challengers Oliver Rowland and Jake Dennis, who wound up 10th and 11th respectively having been unable to complete their customary climbs up the order as has come to be expected this season. They did fare better than fellow title protagonist Pascal Wehrlein, however, who finished a lowly 20th after pitting with a puncture following contact with McLaren’s Sam Bird.
Bird, who was the race’s only retirement, was also involved in a collision with Mahindra’s Nyck de Vries which resulted in a five-place grid penalty which will be served at the first race in Portland in five weeks time.
After both races in Shanghai, Cassidy remains in the lead of the championship with 167 points, 25 clear of Wehrlein, with Evans a further 10 back in third. Da Costa sits seventh, behind Rowland, Dennis, and Vergne, but could be something of a championship dark horse with his exclusion from the first Misano race still pending review. Should that race win be reinstated, he would be the only three-time winner this season and leapfrog Vergne, moving within a point of Dennis.
After having his first win of the season taken away by a post-race ruling, Antonio Felix da Costa finally got a victory for keeps in the second half of the Berlin E-Prix. Although this one, too, came with a post-race scare when the stewards noted an …
After having his first win of the season taken away by a post-race ruling, Antonio Felix da Costa finally got a victory for keeps in the second half of the Berlin E-Prix. Although this one, too, came with a post-race scare when the stewards noted an “error in the identification number of declared equipment” on the winning car.
Thankfully the only penalty this time was a 1,000 Euro fine to be paid within 48 hours, meaning that while da Costa and Porsche’s win absolutely stands this time around, they’ll have a little less to put behind the bar when they celebrate tonight.
The TAG Heuer Porsche driver survived a race where contact was a significant ingredient to win by over six tenths from Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy and he says that it was him choosing his battles wisely that enabled him to emerge not just victorious, but unscathed too.
“I think if you treat the others well, they treat you well back. I see a lot of drivers around me hitting each other and then they get it right back, and rightly so,” he told RACER. “People are trying to stand their ground, but I always try and be fair.
“My car had zero scratches on it, which is quite impressive after a race like that. I’m very lucky to race against very experienced and respectful drivers so I know if you give some you get some.”
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The victory was da Costa’s second for Porsche, and first for over a year and comes after a huge amount of what he says is “hard work” to get him back on track after a tough start to the season where he had three straight races without registering a point while his teammate Pascal Wehrlien started the campaign off as a winner.
“I would say Pascal still has a little edge on me over one lap — he’s driving the package really well,” he said. “I’m still struggling to find the right balance; we want different balances from the race car, and that’s the work that’s been ongoing.
“We have done steps — I think it’s been seven duels this year where I’ve missed out in P5 by a few hundredths, so we have made steps but we do need to still find a bit of pace. Then again, in some of these races it doesn’t really matter where you qualify, but still you want to show the world and your team that you are the quickest driver.”
Case in point, da Costa (like Saturday winner Nick Cassidy) was victorious despite qualifying 10th, and with two of the remaining three doubleheader events being held on tracks expecting to throw up similar “peloton-style” races, he’s optimistic about the rest of the season although he admits that with Wehlein in a better position in the points, he’ll be the focal point for Porsche.
“We seem to do well in these types of races, but (we’ve) still got Pascal up there and I think at the moment that’s the big push from us,” he said. “If we do get the win back from Misano, maybe — that’s being contested — but I’m not really thinking that. I think you could see these guys, how they raced me and how they raced each other, they were kind of happy to let me go and not get involved in the mix.
“I’ve a little bit less to lose right now — wins are more important to me than finishing fifth or sixth. Let’s see, it’s still a long season but to be fully honest the championship’s not really on my mind.”
“I think if you treat the others well, they treat you well back,” says da Costa, here leading TAG Heuer Porsche teammate Pascal Wehrlein. Dom Romney/Motorsport Images
As he alluded to, da Costa’s removed victory from the first Misano race — when his No. 13 Porsche was disqualified for having an “illegal throttle damper spring” fitted — remains subject to appeal, and while recovering that would change his outlook on his own championship hopes, he says he’s willing to play rear-gunner for Wehrlein should he need to.
“At the moment the goal is I’d really like to win the teams’ championship — it’s a tough battle with Jaguar at the moment. Obviously Pascal is still very much up there in the championship so I think that’s our goal as team.
“I’m happy to help, happy to give up places for Pascal to score a few extra points but I still want to race for myself if the opportunity is there. Today, this happened perfectly and I’m happy with that.”
Antonio Felix da Costa prevailed in a bruising second Berlin E-Prix race as Jaguar’s challenge fell apart in the closing stages. TAG Heuer Porsche’s da Costa led 22 of 41 laps – extended from 38 after two safety car periods – but was in an intense …
Antonio Felix da Costa prevailed in a bruising second Berlin E-Prix race as Jaguar’s challenge fell apart in the closing stages.
TAG Heuer Porsche’s da Costa led 22 of 41 laps — extended from 38 after two safety car periods — but was in an intense lead fight with the Jaguars of Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy.
In the final 10 laps da Costa and Evans were trading places at the front, but with Evans leaving it late to take his second Attack Mode, he was holding up Cassidy who’d dropped back to save energy after leading early on.
The Jaguars switched positions on lap 39, but while Cassidy then only had da Costa ahead, it looked to be too late to mount a challenge for the lead. Things got worse a lap later when Evans locked up at Turn 6, opening the door for Pascal Wehrlein and then Jake Dennis.
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Da Costa ultimately had a relatively straightforward final two laps, coming home 0.691s ahead of Cassidy, with Oliver Rowland third after being passed by Cassidy in the late going.
It was another well-managed race for Rowland, the Nissan driver having started 16th on the grid. After conserving for the first five laps, he went on a charge and was up to fifth by the first safety car. The safety car periods proved valuable for him, allowing him to conserve again after his push to the front and keep him in the podium fight until the end.
But it wasn’t a clean climb for him — Rowland was shown a driving standards flag for multiple instances of contact, including one with Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara just before the first safety car — but he wasn’t the only one. Fourth- and fifth-placed Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis traded blows on the first two laps of the second safety car restart — and both of those caution periods came as a direct result of contact.
After being caught up in a Turn 2 concertina on lap 11 where he was tagged by Nato, Maximilian Guenther’s front wing went under his car, sending him into the wall. On lap 25, a disastrous overtake attempt from Nato that was never on sent Sacha Fenestraz into the barrier at Turn 3, resulting in sarcastic applause from the Nissan driver and a 10-second penalty for the Andretti man, who was able to continue.
After his late lock-up, Evans survived to finish sixth ahead of Maserati MSG’s Jehan Daruvala, who took his best-ever Formula E finish with a late pass on NEOM McLaren’s Taylor Barnard.
Joel Eriksson and Jean-Eric Vergne — who dropped to a low of 13th from ninth on the grid early on in a bid to save energy and mirror Cassidy’s winning strategy from Saturday — completed the top 10.
Vergne’s DS Penske teammate finished 20th, one spot behind Nato, with his race being similarly undone by contact.
After both races in Berlin, Cassidy leads the championship with 140 points, 16 ahead of Wehrlein, with Rowland in third a further six points back. Reigning champion Dennis sits fourth on 102 points, five ahead of Evans.
Antonio Felix da Costa topped the opening practice session for the Berlin E-Prix in what was an up and down session for the TAG Heuer Porsche team. While da Costa’s 1m02.289s time on his 20th of 23 laps was enough to put him top by 0.128s, teammate …
Antonio Felix da Costa topped the opening practice session for the Berlin E-Prix in what was an up and down session for the TAG Heuer Porsche team.
While da Costa’s 1m02.289s time on his 20th of 23 laps was enough to put him top by 0.128s, teammate and championship leader Pascal Wehlein stopped on his first lap and didn’t set a time. Porsche has yet to diagnose the issue, which brought out the only red flag of the session in the opening four minutes.
Overall, 18 of the 21 cars to set a time were covered by less than a second, with just 1.167s covering the field.
Sergio Sette Camara was a fine second for the unfancied ERT, with DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne one of three Stellantis-powered cars in the top five in third, the others being the Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximiliam Guenther and Jehan Daruvala.
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Nick Cassidy was the highest-placed Jaguar runner in sixth, Jean-Eric Vergne in the other DS Penske splitting Cassidy and his Jaguar TCS Racing teammate Mitch Evans.
Dan Ticktum made it two ERTs in the top 10 by finishing ninth, ahead of Envision Racing’s Joel Eriksson, who was the highest-placed of five stand-ins necessitated by the clash with the World Endurance Championship race at Spa-Francorchamps.
Title challengers Oliver Rowland and Jake Dennis, the reigning champion, were 11th and 12th for Nissan and Andretti respectively, ahead of Paul Aron, the second stand-in at Envision. Next were the NEOM McLaren duo of Jake Hughes and Taylor Barnard, filling in for the injured Sam Bird.
Norman Nato was 16th for Andretti ahead of Kelvin van der Linde for Abt Cupra, the Mahindras of Jordan King and Edorado Mortara, with Sacha Fenestraz and Lucas di Grassi completing the runners ahead of the stricken Wehrlein for Nissan and Abt Cupra, although neither completed their fastest laps running the full 350kW of power like everyone else.
