Pascal Wehrlein won the Formula E Miami E-Prix after a restart which saw many drivers penalised for Attack Mode infringements, including Norman Nato, who won the race on the road.
The reigning World Champion was looking good for a podium, with team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa in the box seat for a victory, but a crash late-on saw the red flag bring the proceedings to a halt.
With many drivers, much of whom at the front, yet to take all of its Attack Modes, the restart saw many rush to take them, but with just a handful of laps left, the extra power was still in use at the chequered flag, as Nato overtook Wehrlein, but the German’s Tag Heuer Porsche team informing him that he would be declared winner.
Lucas di Grassi benefitted, taking second – the Lola-Yamaha-ABT team’s first FE podium.
Da Costa was eventually third, with Nico Mueller taking fourth – his best result for Andretti.
Edoardo Mortara was fifth for Mahindra, with Nato relegated to sixth. Dan Ticktum’s energy-conservation game plan saw him benefit also to finish seventh, with Robin Frijns dropped to eighth.
Jake Dennis was ninth in the sister Andretti, with Zane Maloney completing a double-points finish for Lola, his first-ever in the series.
How the race unfolded
At the start, Nato led into Turn 1, with da Costa taking Dennis on the exit of Turn 4. Nato looked to bunch-up the pack with the Porsche looking to pounce, but de Vries went ahead of the pair of them.
Into Turn 1 on the second lap, da Costa pushed Nato wide onto dusty exit, with Frijns working his way up to third.
The second Envision of Buemi worked his way up to fifth, with Dennis content to drop down to sixth, with di Grassi maintaining seventh.
In the thick area of the pack, Rowland was in 14th, with the Jaguars of Cassidy and Evans 16th and 17th, with Barnard working his way up to sixth.
By Lap 6, Nato was back in the lead with many of the cars keeping a respectable distance, despite the peloton’s usual nature to cause them to bunch-up.
On the ‘Energy Reveal’, da Costa was 1.5 percent stronger than Nato, with many of the cars with roughly equal levels.
Buemi was the first to blink and take Attack Mode, with two minutes on Lap 9, and he immediately moved up the pack, taking Barnard for sixth, and then past both Mahindras into fourth.
The first big incident was Jean-Eric Vergne going wide and into the grass at Turn 9, having launched his DS over the kerb.
Vandoorne was next to opt for a two minute attack, as Buemi ended his in third place. The Belgian was now up to fifth past Barnard and then third, taking both Envisions in one corner.
De Vries was the next, taking four minutes and immediately moving up into fifth, with Barnard jostling with Dennis further behind.
The Dutchman took the lead at Turns 8 and 9, as da Costa then moved from fourth to second, the Porsche still holding an energy advantage.
Beckmann’s strong race was thwarted by a puncture, sending him to the back.
With the race now past half-distance, the testing nature of the peloton became evident as cars began to bunch, with the speed picking-up significantly.
Mueller was now up to first having started near the foot of the field, but da Costa was quickly back in-front with Mortara in second.
Wehrein took his first Attack Mode and was quickly up the fifth. Di Grassi jumped from ninth place back to seventh on his attack, as Barnard dropped to 16th.
Da Costa took his first Attack Mode, dropping to second behind his team-mate, as his Attack Mode started to run out, the Porsche team’s plan looking strong.
Di Grassi’s attack ended in third place, as da Costa took the lead again with Wehrlein tucking in behind.
With the game plan in full swing, the Safety Car was now out due to de Vries’ car coming to a halt. The Mahindra was effectively switched off and on again, a system reset seeing de Vries get back going again, allowing the Safety Car to quickly return to the pits.
Racing resumed upon the start of Lap 19, with da Costa leading and the Porsche order being ‘hold station’.
Frijns was back into the top three, as Rowland took his first Attack Mode in 16th place, followed by da Costa on the following lap, remaining in the lead.
As the Portuguese looked to run away, building-up a 1.5 second gap, the Safety Car was back out after a big crash at the 8-9 chicane.
A three-way battle between Jake Hughes, Sebastien Buemi and Max Guenther saw Hughes smash into the outer barrier at the 8-9 chicane, the DS followed in sympathy, launching onto the back of Maserati, with Evans rendered out of room and creating a chain.
The Safety Car was quickly converted into a red flag, halting da Costa’s progress but giving Guenther and Evans a chance to rejoin the race.
After a 20-minute delay, a standing start was ordered, with da Costa on pole. And at the start, he led away, blocking out Wehrlein and giving Mortara a chance to take second place, which he did.
All the 14 drivers with Attack Modes left all swept off into the loops to take them, at risk of a penalty if they were not taken.
Mortara went into the lead but da Costa quickly took it back as race control announced no further laps.
Wehrlein, with Attack Mode left, breezed past his team-mate into the lead, as da Costa dropped down to third behind Frijns, with Nato following also.
Rowland was next to pass da Costa, moving up into fifth, with di Grassi now sixth, but with Attack Modes potentially still in effect at the end for some, a net third place if those were to be penalised.
On the final lap, Wehrlein was comfortably ahead, with Nato now in second, with the Nissan starting to close in and at the line, nabbed first off Wehrlein, but with Attack Mode still operating, Wehrlein would
Nato [first], Frijns [third], Bird [fifth], Rowland [fourth] and Barnard [eighth] were immediately placed under investigation, with many drivers now waiting to see how far they would be promoted up the order.
Confusion, as it often does in Formula E, reigned, but the result was quickly altered.
Wehrlein was declared winner, with di Grassi an amazing second, with da Costa taking third, a respectable result in the end, given Rowland and Barnard – the men ahead of him in the championship – lost their points.
Many questions will now be asked as to whether the Attack Mode rules will or should be altered, as Nato sat dejected and gutted in the Nissan garage, missing out on what would have been a brilliant victory.
