Written by Vyas Ponnuri
Mitch Evans took his first victory of 2024, and his first around the streets of Monaco, becoming the seventh different winner in eight races in 2024, with a controlled drive, as the Jaguar outfit orchestrated spectacular teamwork to fetch a 1-2 finish, and extend their lead in the constructors' standings.
Stoffel Vandoorne took his first podium for DS Penske, and the team's first at Monaco, in a strong race for the team, with Vergne backing up his teammate with an excellent fourth position finish.
Championship leader Wehrlein could manage only fifth after starting from pole position, but he would keep his lead in the standings by seven points, as his closest rival Jake Dennis failed to score any points on the day, after knocking his front wing in the tunnel mid-race.
Oliver Rowland took sixth for Nissan, ahead of Antonio Felix Da Costa in seventh, ahead of Rowland's teammate Sacha Fenestraz in eighth, while Maserati MSG's Max Gunther finishing ninth in the team's home race, while Norman Nato took home a point for Andretti in tenth.
AS IT UNFOLDED
Championship leader Pascal Wehrlein topped qualifying to take pole position, and three vital points to go outright at the head of the standings, while Stoffel Vandoorne accompanied the German racer on the front row.
Wehrlein would have been eyeing a smooth start to maintain his lead, and he got just that, as Vandoorne was forced to cover off the chasing Jaguars of Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans, as he made a slow getaway off the five red lights. He would manage to keep his position.
The same wasn't the case further back though, as Mahindra's Nyck de Vries found himself the meat in a Nissan sandwich on lap one, losing a portion of his front wing in the first corner action. He would later jump the chicane to defend against the chasing Andretti of Jake Dennis.
The Porsche driver would be among the first to take his attack mode, and rejoin behind Vandoorne and the Jaguar duo, in fourth. However, he looked susceptible to an attack from Vandoorne's teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, who put in an overtake into the Nouvelle chicane on lap three, to move up into fourth.
Vergne wouldn't be done yet, and attempted to go for an overtake on Cassidy ahead into the Mirabeau corner, before shaping up for an overtake at the hairpin.
The resultant bunching up of cars into the hairpin caused the Envision Racing car of Sebastian Buemi, the ERT of Sergio Sette Camara, and Wehrlein's teammate Antonio Felix Da Costa to come to blows, with Buemi and Da Costa falling down the order, while Sette Camara kept his position in the top ten.
While the stricken Envision racer would get going, the safety car would be necessitated on lap five, after a heavy impact at the quick chicane of turns 13-14 saw Edoardo Mortara shunt into the barrier.
Having overshot the Nouvelle chicane, and passed by Fenestraz and Dan Ticktum into Tabac, Mortara experienced a bout of oversteer, and appeared to understeer into the barrier, resulting in a heavy impact that shattered debris onto the circuit, bringing out the safety car.
Norman Nato and Jake Hughes too dropped into the pits for front wing changes, and would benefit from being close to the pack ahead, due to the lengthy safety car period.
Green flag racing resumed on lap nine, with Vandoorne leading from the two Jaguars of Evans and Cassidy, with the other Penske of Vergne fourth. Pole-sitter Wehrlein sat fifth, having dropped behind as he took an attack mode before the safety car period.
The biggest gainer on the restart, though, was Nissan's Oliver Rowland, who made up three places to sit sixth, behind the quintet ahead.
Jake Dennis's day would go from bad to worse on lap ten, the Andretti racer appearing out of the tunnel with a broken front wing, dropping down to the rear of the grid as he pitted for a change of front wing.
Back at the sharp end of the field, smart teamwork from Cassidy allowed teammate Mitch Evans to emerge in the outright lead of the race, after taking his attack mode. As one Kiwi backed up the chasing pack, the other shot into a lead of almost three seconds, before diving for a dose of attack mode, and sprinting off into the distance.
It was role reversal at Jaguar on lap 14, with Evans and Cassidy swapping positions, with Evans baulking up the pack as Cassidy built a gap up front, to allow him to retain positions after taking his attack mode. And retain position he would, as Cassidy dived in for attack mode a lap later, having built up a lead of nearly two seconds.
The DS Penske drivers would swap positions too, with Vergne jumping into the podium places, passing Vandoorne ahead. Vergne would take attack mode a lap later, dropping behind his teammate, and requesting his team to swap positions once again, in his quest to chase after the Jaguar cars ahead for victory.
Cassidy would take his final attack mode on lap 17, before relinquishing the lead to Evans once again, as Jaguar appeared to be looking the favourites for a big points haul.
With ten tours of the regular race on the streets of Monaco to go, Evans held the lead from Cassidy, while the two DS Penske drivers sat third and fourth, with Wehrlein in fifth. Behind, Rowland attempted an overtake on Max Gunther into the Mirabeau corner, barging his way past the Maserati driver, who would then lose positions to Da Costa and Fenestraz as he overshot the Nouvelle chicane.
More wheel-barging ensued on lap 21, when Rowland was shoved into the barrier at the hairpin as he tried to pass Da Costa. It was a checkerboard of Jaguars, DS Penske's, and Porsches at the front, but the top four had begun to open up the gap to the rest of the field as the race grew.
Although, this gap would quickly be erased, and the Porsche drivers Wehrlein and Da Costa would make their way towards the quartet ahead, and the Nissan duo of Rowland and Fenestraz too made it four teams locking out the top eight spots onto lap 24.
The pack would be drawn closer once again, though, and the race neutralised, as the safety car was called out once again on lap 25. This was for the stricken ABT Cupra of Nico Muller at turn 18, Rascasse, as he was clipped into the outside barrier by NEOM McLaren's Jake Hughes, who went for an overtake on the ABT Cupra ahead.
At the same point, it was announced that two further laps would be added to the race, due to the two safety car periods in the 29-lap race. With the pack once again bunched up, the potential for a grand finish loomed in the Principality.
The safety car peeled in on lap 26, after a quick turnaround, making for a five-lap sprint to the chequered flag, with the Jaguars, Penskes, Porsche and Nissan cars holding firm in the top eight spots, while points would be up for grabs for those on the fringes, for the likes of Lucas Di Grassi and Mahindra's Nyck de Vries.
Although the race was set up for a grandstand finish, this never petered out, and all the points scorers held formation, with the only overtake late in the race coming from Rowland, who overtook Da Costa ahead to take sixth.
Yet, nobody could restrain the Jaguar drivers, who put on a clinical display in the Principality to take their first win around the prestigious streets of Monaco as a works outfit, with Evans taking his first victory of the season, becoming the seventh different winner in eight rounds.
Cassidy backed up his form at Monaco with a runners-up spot, the icing on the cake for the team being the fastest lap he netted in the process, setting a 1:31.561 in the process.
A massive haul of 44 points capped off a stellar weekend for the team, not long after they had decided to commit to the upcoming Gen4 era, eyeing up more such showings in the future.
DS Penske too netted a strong result, with Vandoorne taking his first podium of the season in third, while Vergne eventually finished fourth, forced to stay put behind his teammate. Championship leader Wehrlein finished in the top five once again, maintaining his championship lead.
Outside the points though, special mention to NEOM McLaren's Taylor Barnard, who, at 19 years and 331 days old, became the youngest starter of a Formula E race, and would eventually wind up 14th, on a tough day for the British outfit.
Provisional Classification: Monaco
Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing)
Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing) - +0.946s
Stoffel Vandoorne (DS Penske) - +3.835s
Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske) - +4.799s
Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche) - +6.378s
Oliver Rowland (Nissan Formula E Team) - +6.792s
Antonio Felix Da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche) - +7.364s
Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan Formula E Team) - +7.928s
Max Gunther (Maserati MSG) - +8.262s
Norman Nato (Andretti Formula E Team) - +9.045s
Championship standings after Monaco
Drivers' standings:
Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche) - 102 points
Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing) - 95 points
Jake Dennis (Andretti Formula E Team) - 89 points
Oliver Rowland (Nissan Formula E Team) - 88 points
Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) - 77 points
Constructors' standings:
Jaguar TCS Racing - 172 points
TAG Heuer Porsche - 128 points
Andretti Formula E Team - 113 points
Nissan Formula E Team - 112 points
DS Penske - 102 points
An exciting first half of the season concludes with the Monaco E Prix, with Wehrlein heading the way in the standings, while Jaguar's massive points haul moves them clear in the standings. Monaco also marks the final standalone round of season ten, with the next eight races coming thick and fast through double headers at Berlin, Shanghai, Portland, and London.
The second half of the season looms — who will emerge as favourites when the grid return at Berlin? Will any driver begin a late championship charge, and mount a stern challenge to the favourites? Join us for the second half of the season then, to uncover the answers to these questions.
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