Mexico City E-Prix – Syndication Server

Mahindra progress backed up with further points in Mexico City

Mahindra’s Formula E resurgence continued in Mexico City with another points finish for Nyck de Vries. The team endured a difficult 2023-24 season with five points finishes across its two cars over the 16 race season, but a busy off-season which …

Mahindra’s Formula E resurgence continued in Mexico City with another points finish for Nyck de Vries.

The team endured a difficult 2023-24 season with five points finishes across its two cars over the 16 race season, but a busy off-season which included a raft of staffing changes on the technical side and the development of an all-new powertrain is already paying dividends.

“Overall, it’s been a solid weekend, and it’s good for the team to come away with another points finish,” said de Vries. “Of course, there are areas we still need to keep improving and developing in, but compared to 12 months ago, to start the season with two decent points finishes is a good step forward.

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“We have a month until the next two races in Jeddah, which is a good opportunity for us to keep working and continue the positive trend in results we have had so far.”

The race result wasn’t the only high point for the team, with team principal Frederic Bertrand also pointing to Edoardo Mortara’s qualifying performance, where he made it into the duels for the second race in a row and qualified eighth. Ultimately, Mortara wasn’t able to back that up with a strong race result, a puncture ending his hopes of adding to the team’s points haul.

“Consistent points has always been the team’s ambition this season, so it’s satisfying to demonstrate the step forward we have taken again in Mexico City this weekend,” said Bertrand. “That was clear from qualifying, where Edo had decent one-lap pace and put us into the Duels again.

“Nyck drove a strong race to bring the car home in eighth, and without the puncture, there’s no doubt Edo would have been up there in the mix with him – it could very easily have been double points again, like in Sao Paulo.

“We have a month now to go back, analyse where we can continue to keep improving and then arrive in Jeddah ready to keep this run going.”

Mortara insisted that another points finish was on the cards, and despite his own difficult race, was buoyed by de Vries’ performance.

“We made a good start to the race and it’s clear that points were possible, but I was hit from behind and that caused a puncture,” he said. “At that point, it’s very difficult to recover without a lot of luck, so unfortunately, we have to put it down as one of those days.

“There are definitely some positives – Nyck has gone on to show what was possible, and now we have a month to analyze these first two races of the season and see where we can go from here in Jeddah.”

Vergne left ruing safety car intervention once again

Jean-Eric Vergne once again rued the safety car’s intervention as he came up short in the Mexico City E-Prix. The Frenchman finished fifth at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, improving on his ninth place at the season opener in Sao Paulo, but as with …

Jean-Eric Vergne once again rued the safety car’s intervention as he came up short in the Mexico City E-Prix.

The Frenchman finished fifth at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, improving on his ninth place at the season opener in Sao Paulo, but as with Round 1, the safety car was deployed as Vergne deployed his final Attack Mode, leaving him at a disadvantage when the race resumed.

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“On the whole it was a good weekend, for both me and the team,” said Vergne. “But I‘m still feeling a bit frustrated as it’s the second time in two races that the safety car has come out just when I’ve activated my Attack Mode. Without that, I really think we had the potential to finish on the podium.

“The positive side is clearly finishing in the points for the second consecutive occasion, having a competitive car, and that we’ve all worked well. We need to keep pushing to do even better next time.”

Like Vergne, DS Performance director Eugenio Franzetti was able to look past the poorly-timed safety car to see the positives, noting that an even stronger result had been on the cards.

“Both in terms of our performance and the points we collected, it was a positive weekend,” he said. “Nonetheless, it was a shame that the safety car came out just when our two drivers had activated their Attack Modes. Without that bit of bad luck, we could probably had done even better … but we need to focus on the positive.

“Our drivers were third and sixth at the end of qualifying, and ended up with fifth and sixth places in the race, scoring plenty of points for the team. We’re not far off the podium but we’ve still got lots of work to do in the coming month to prepare for the races in Jeddah.”

Vergne’s teammate Maximilian Guenther finished one spot behind in sixth, notching up his first points finish since he joined the team from Maserati MSG Racing in the off-season, and had a more positive outlook on the race, seeing it as the basis for building upon going forwards.

“Sixth place for me and two cars in the top six is a solid team result after a very positive weekend,” said the German. “We suffered a bit with tyre degradation, but we delivered a good all-round performance and scored some important points.

“I‘m happy with our speed in qualifying but also with the way that the relationship has developed between myself and the team. This was only my second race with DS Penske, but I have the feeling that things are going well and everything is getting more natural.

“I’m feeling better and better in the car and the goal is now to continue on this trajectory to move further up the order.”

Wehrlein still wary of opposition despite Porsche’s strong start

Pascal Wehrlein isn’t letting Porsche’s early season advantage go to his head as the team looks to build on his Formula E title win last season. The factory TAG Heuer Porsche outfit currently leads the teams’ championship with twice the number of …

Pascal Wehrlein isn’t letting Porsche’s early season advantage go to his head as the team looks to build on his Formula E title win last season.

The factory TAG Heuer Porsche outfit currently leads the teams’ championship with twice the number of points as closest challenger NEOM McLaren with two poles from two for Wehrlein and a brace of second places for teammate Antonio Felix da Costa. But while Porsche clearly has the strongest package so far this season, Wehrlein knows all to well that Formula E’s competitive nature means that the manufacturer can’t afford to get too comfortable.

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“I think there are a couple of good guys here and good teams, and definitely we have a super-strong package,” he said. “Every weekend we just have to deliver. In Sao Paulo, it looked like Oli (Rowland), for example, had a pretty strong race. We know that Mexico somehow suits us every year.

“Certainly, I feel like there will be more teams and more drivers involved. Last year, Oli also missed two races, so I feel like it’s a bit unfair to take him out of (contention in) the last weekend, in terms of a real go at the championship. But I feel like last year the last weekend was between Jaguar and us, and I definitely feel like this year there will be more teams and more drivers involved until the last weekend.”

Wehrlein came to Mexico City having suffered a huge crash in the season opener that necessitated an entire rebuild. Despite the crash robbing him of a shot of victory in Brazil and a chance to get a hefty haul of points on the board early int he season, it’s not something he’s dwelling on.

“On my side, I have to say, I’m just happy that, (after), rebuilding a completely new car here in Mexico, feels normal, and I can fight with it again,” he said. “There’s always small doubts, when you have to rebuild a completely new car – if it works, or if something feels different. And definitely, I have to say a big congrats and and thank you to my mechanics and to my team for an awesome job and faultless rebuild.

“I’ve forgotten it already,” he said of the crash. “I don’t mind crashing. I don’t mind if it hurts for a couple of days — I’m always looking forward to the comeback. Obviously this one was a bit tough, because I suffered a little for two weeks, but it was a perfect time to recover from it as well over Christmas, a quiet time and no regrets on missing something.”

Consistency paying off for da Costa early on as he looks to right Season 10 wrongs

The 2023-24 Formula E season was a tale of two halves for Antonio Felix da Costa. In the first half of the season he was inconsistent and nowhere near the podium, leading to speculation he could be dropped from the TAG Heuer Porsche line-up. But in the second a run of four wins in five races – giving him the highest victory tally of anyone over the season – propelled him into championship contention.

Ultimately he came up short in the title race, but it gave him enough of a picture of what needed to be done this time around. And so far it’s paying off, with the Portuguese driver leading the championship after two second places from two starts so far.

“I told myself after last year that consistency is key to try and have a crack at this championship,” he said. “We’re trying to do just that. Of course. I wanted to win today, but we have to be happy with those 18 points.”

Da Costa finished behind Oliver Rowland in Mexico City after the Nissan driver capitalized on what he had left of Attack Mode following a safety car restart to vault to the front. Rowland says that safety car intervention aided his energy saving, ultimately allowing him to consolidate the win, and it’s a point da Costa concurs with, feeling that Porsche would have been able to back up its front row lockout in qualifying with a one-two in the race had that not happened.

Oliver was very decisive. I defended hard, and I think there wasn’t much space left, and it’s always good to race him when it’s hard and fair like that,” he said. “I thought we had the one-two today for the team, and then that safety car … I don’t know, maybe Oliver would have had enough to come back to the front. It ruined our party a little bit, and our plan, (of) what we were doing up to that point.”

Rowland and Sao Paulo winner Mitch Evans – who ultimately retired, causing a second safety car in quick succession – both had Attack Mode left at the point the safety car got involved, and da Costa was wary of both, but was confident both he and teammate Pascal Wehrlein had enough to put up a fight.

“We were keeping an eye on the guys that had attack mode left, so it was Oliver and Mitch, and we were just trying to manage that and trying to build that gap, because we knew he would be coming at some point, and then we would have to see what will happen with energy,” he said. “At the time, I think both myself and Pascal were good on energy, so it would have been a nice fight either way, with Oliver at the end, had that safety car not come out.”

Safety car intervention crucial to Rowland’s storm to the front in Mexico City

Oliver Rowland admitted that he would have found it hard to win the Mexico City E-Prix without safety car intervention. The Nissan driver began the restart front the first of two safety car periods in fourth, and used his Attack Mode power advantage …

Oliver Rowland admitted that he would have found it hard to win the Mexico City E-Prix without safety car intervention.

The Nissan driver began the restart front the first of two safety car periods in fourth, and used his Attack Mode power advantage to shoot past Jake Dennis, Pascal Wehrlein, and Antonio Felix da Costa in a single lap before the race was neutralized once again. Rowland says it was that safety car intervention that proved crucial to him having the pace to hold off the Porsche-powered cars, having been in energy conservation mode earlier on.

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“I think the race was a good one,” he said. “In the beginning, we we’re trying to kind of save a bit of energy and stay calm. I think in terms of the safety car in the end, there was an element of luck, but I also lost nearly six minutes of attack mode.

“But I do honestly think I would have found it hard to win without that safety car, because I was struggling a little bit to be efficient after 10 laps.”

Rowland says that he likely would’ve caught up to the lead trio – having been around two second off then-third placed Dennis before the first safety car – but advancing further, and ultimately remaining in front, would have been less certain.

“I think it’s hard to say,” he admitted. “I don’t have the exact numbers on energy. I think I would have got back to them, but I think had I passed them, I would have consumed too much and struggled to maintain the lead.

“But obviously, when I took (Attack Mode) already in half a lap, I noticed how much I gained on Jake. I think my strategy at that point would have probably been to get to these guys and then consolidate a podium. But yeah, and then when I got the chance to go for it, I just went for it.

“I was going to give it a go. It was obviously a little bit easier, because we weren’t really worried about energy after that. So I was able to just go full gas on all three corners and give it a go.”

Rowland, Nissan rocket to Mexico City E-Prix win over Porsche duo

Oliver Rowland made the most of a late race restart to win the Mexico E-Prix over Antonio Felix da Costa. A safety car bunched up the field – brought out for the stricken David Beckmann at Turn 12 on lap 29 after he made contact with Lucas di …

Oliver Rowland made the most of a late race restart to win the Mexico E-Prix over Antonio Felix da Costa.

A safety car bunched up the field — brought out for the stricken David Beckmann at Turn 12 on lap 29 after he made contact with Lucas di Grassi. Nissan’s Rowland was then on the back of fourth-place Jake Dennis despite being over 2s behind before the race was neutralized.

Holding a handy Attack Mode advantage on the subsequent restart, he was able to get by Dennis into Turn 1, Pascal Wehrlein a corner later, then da Costa in Turn 12 after dueling with the TAG Heuer Porsche driver throughout the stadium section.

All that work in a single lap proved vital, as another safety car was deployed, this time for Mitch Evans.

Evans restarted after Beckmann’s yellow in eighth with four minutes of his Attack Mode remaining, leaving him in a prime position to once again make big moves in the final stages of the race as he did in Sao Paulo, but he hit Mueller as the field concertinaed in Turns 10 and 11, breaking his steering in a similar fashion to Beckmann.

With some of Rowland’s four-wheel-drive and extra power remaining, he dropped the hammer before the final corner as the race resumed on lap 33 and was able to get away to have a car length’s lead into the first corner.

Da Costa kept Rowland honest in the final four laps, closing right up to his tail in the second half of the final lap, but was not able to get by the Brit who not only won, but recorded his first podium finish from six starts in Mexico City.

Wehrlein, who led the opening 15 laps from pole as the two Porsches ran in formation at the front, came home third, ahead of Dennis, who took the lead from him on lap 16 thanks to an early Attack Mode use, but couldn’t hold off da Costa who breezed by three laps later, consolidating that lead after a close battle after Dennis briefly got back ahead as the Portuguese driver dipped into the Attack Mode activation zone on lap 22.

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Fifth went the way of Jean-Eric Vergne, the Frenchman dropping back from third on the grid as the Stellantis-powered cars struggled to match the Porsches in race trim.

DS Penske teammate Maximilian Guenther followed him home in sixth ahead of Nyck de Vries and Nico Mueller, who charged from 13th on the grid to give the Porsche-powered Andretti team a double points finish after going scoreless at the season opener in Sao Paulo in December.

NEOM McLaren’s Taylor Barnard completed the top 10 despite starting from 19th on the grid. He carved his way through the field, and like in Brazil, was able to make the most of Attack Mode and energy advantages in the punctuated latter stages to move into the points. He kept the final points position despite being handed a 5s time penalty for gaining a lasting advantage at Turn 16.

Despite the two safety car periods, there were no laps added to the 36-lap race, a total safety car period of over 3m10s needed to extend the race distance.

That proved costly to Edoardo Mortara and Sebastien Buemi who left their final Attack Mode uses late and were subsequently unable to use them fully. It meant they were both handed 10s time penalties which left them 13th and 17th, respectively. Di Grassi didn’t have time to activate his second Attack Mode at all, getting a drive through penalty converted to a 27s penalty to his overall race time, dropping him to 16th in the final order.

Da Costa’s second straight second place means he leaves Mexico City with the championship lead, 12 points ahead of race winner Rowland, while Evans remains in third, equal on points with Rowland. Wehrlein’s brace of pole positions and third place this weekend puts him fourth, with Barnard fifth on the heels of two points finishes from the two races so far.

After a non-score in Sao Paulo, Dennis’ fourth place vaults him up to sixth in the points, five back from Barnard and equal to Sam Bird in the second McLaren, who failed to score this time out.

TAG Heuer Porsche overtakes NEOM McLaren in the Teams’ championship, holding double the amount of points as the British outfit, with reigning teams champions Jaguar TCS Racing third.

RESULTS

Wehrlein snatches Mexico City pole in Porsche front-row lockout

Pascal Wehrlein took pole position for the Mexico City E-Prix for the second year in a row as TAG Heuer Porsche locked out the front row of the grid for the first time. The reigning series champion, who also started on pole in December’s season …

Pascal Wehrlein took pole position for the Mexico City E-Prix for the second year in a row as TAG Heuer Porsche locked out the front row of the grid for the first time.

The reigning series champion, who also started on pole in December’s season opener in Sao Paulo, set a 1m10.984s in the final of the head-to-head Duels to beat teammate Antonio Felix da Costa.

Da Costa was quicker in the first sector but lost time in the subsequent two to finish 0.125s adrift of Wehrlein, but complained of “something broken on my rear right” after his flying lap.

En route to the Duels final, Wehrlein topped the first Group session ahead of Oliver Rowland, Sebastien Buemi, and Mitch Evans, before going on to beat Edoardo Mortara – handed a reprieve after Buemi was excluded for a tire pressure infringement – and Rowland, who’s semifinal Duels run was derailed after he ran wide at Turn 16.

Da Costa finished the second Group session fourth behind Maximilian Guenther, Jake Dennis, and Nick Cassidy, who was also excluded for a technical infringement, promoting Jean-Eric Vergne to the final transfer spot in that session.

He then defeated Dennis in a close Quarter Finals Duel where both took a sector each in the first two third of the lap, before Dennis lost time in the stadium section at the end of the lap to finish 0.488 adrift. Wehrlein then beat Vergne to set up the all-Porsche final.

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Wehrlein’s pole was not only his second of the season and his second in a row in Mexico City, but his fourth at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, making him the first driver in Formula E history to claim four poles at a single track. It also bodes well for him as in both previous visits to the track in the GEN3 era, the polesitter has not only gone on to win the race, but the championship as well – Dennis doing it in Season 9, and Wehrlein himself doing it last year.

Starting behind both works cars from the German outfit on the grid will be Vergne, with the DS Penske driver starting in the top three in Mexico for the first time since the 2017.

Nissan driver Rowland will line up fourth, ahead of Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans, and Guenther, who fell to his DS Penske teammate Vergne in the first part of the Duels. Dennis and Mortara completed the positions of those that advanced to the Duels for Andretti and Mahindra respectively.

Zane Maloney will start ninth for Lola Yamaha Abt ahead of NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird, who was a victim of traffic in the Group stage which prevented him from improving on his time. Nico Mueller will start 13th in the second Andretti entry ahead of Cupra Kiro’s David Beckmann, Maserati MSG’s Stoffel Vandoorne, and Nyck de Vries in the other Mahindra, with Dan Ticktum 15th for Kiro, and Jake Hughes 16th for Maserati.

Lucas di Grassi will start from 17th on the grid in the other Lola, in front of Nissan’s Norman Nato, McLaren’s Taylor Barnard, and Robin Frijns, who was another driver unable to improve his Group stage best due to traffic, while his Envision Racing teammate Buemi will start on the back row of the grid alongside Jaguar driver Cassidy after their exclusions.

RESULTS

Hughes fastest for Maserati in damp second Mexico City practice

Jake Hughes was fastest in second practice for the Mexico City E-Prix as wet conditions shook up the order compared to Friday’s first session, with only four drivers from Friday’s top 10 remaining there. The mixed conditions – with the track drying …

The mixed conditions – with the track drying towards the end of the session – not only affected the order, but lap times too, with Maserati MSG driverHughes’ table topping lap of 1m25.808s — 15 seconds slower than the fastest FP1 time. The top 10 was covered by 0.628s on Friday, but that spread was over 1.719s this time around.

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Second was Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy, who moved up the order late on despite a spin at Turn 15. He was 0.157s off Hughes pace, with Pascal Wehrlein leading a trio of Porsche-powered cars in third, another 0.197s back. Andretti’s Jake Dennis split the two factory Porsches in fourth, with Friday’s fastest Antonio Felix da Costa fifth.

Nyck de Vries was sixth fastest for Mahindra ahead of Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns and Stoffel Vandoorne who ensured both Maseratis were in the top 10 after both missed out on Friday, with Maximilain Guenther ninth in the similarly Stellantis Powered DS Penske, while Oliver Rowland completed the top 10 for Nissan.

Mitch Evans was 11th in the second Jaguar, just under three tenths adrift of the top 10, ahead of Nico Mueller, who improved one spot in his Andretti Porsche.

Previous series champions Jean-Eric Vergne, Lucas di Grassi, and Sebastien Buemi were next up for DS Penske, Lola Yamaha Abt and Envision respectively, ahead of Cupra Kiro’s Dan Ticktum and the NEOM McLarens of Taylor Barnard and Sam Bird, with Zane Maloney (Lola), Norman Nato (Nisssan), and Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra) next up. David Beckmann once again rounded out the field for Kiro.

RESULTS

Porsche’s da Costa fastest in opening Mexico City practice

Antonio Felix da Costa topped opening practice for the Mexico City E-Prix, leading the Nissan-powered duo of Taylor Barnard and Oliver Rowland. The session took place in mostly dry conditions, although there were a few reports of spots of rain …

Antonio Felix da Costa topped opening practice for the Mexico City E-Prix, leading the Nissan-powered duo of Taylor Barnard and Oliver Rowland.

The session took place in mostly dry conditions, although there were a few reports of spots of rain during the 40-minutes, but Formula E’s new GEN3 Evo car ensured the official lap record at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was comfortably broken, with da Costa’s best lap of 1m10.855s – the race lap record being set by Jake Dennis last year with a 1m14.195s.

Second was NEOM McLaren driver Barnard, just 0.091s behind da Costa, with Rowland in the works Nissan a further 0.031s back, both drivers having made a late surge up the timesheets as the checkered flag came out.

Da Costa completed his fastest lap with the full complement of 350 kW of power, while his TAG Heuer Porsche teammate Pascal Wehrlein – the polesitter and winner of last year’s Mexico City E-Prix – was the highest-placed runner to lap with only 300 kW. He completed his best time on full power, however.

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Sao Paulo E-Prix winner Mitch Evans was fifth for Jaguar TCS Racing, having gone quickest halfway through the session, with Lucas di Grassi sixth for Lola Yamaha Abt having spent a period in the second half of the session atop of the timesheets after becoming the first driver to break the 1m11s barrier.

Norman Nato ensured both factory Nissans ended the day in the top 10, finishing seventh, 0.486s adrift of his teammate. Next up was Envision Racing’s Sebastein Buemi and the Mahindra Racing pair of Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries, with Stoffel Vandoorne splitting both in 10th.

Behind 12th-placed Dan Ticktum of Burpa Kiro, Nico Mueller led Andretti teammate Dennis in 13th, with Nick Cassidy a lowly 15th in the second factory Jaguar. Sam Bird was another driver with a big gap to his teammate, the McLaren man ending the session 16th, ahead of the Stellantis-powered trio of Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske), Jake Hughes (Maserati MSG Racing), and Maximilian Guenther.

Robin Frijns (Envision), David Beckmann (Kiro) – who had a brush with the wall at the Peraltada on his final lap – and Zane Maloney in the second Lola Yamaha Abt completed the field, Maloney not completing a lap on full power.

RESULTS