The FIA Formula E World Championship will be decided in London after Antonio Felix da Costa won the second race of the Portland E-Prix weekend, making it a clean-sweep in the USA, and making it three wins from three races.
With Pascal Wehrlein suffering a front wing loss early in the race and not able to fight for the win, his Tag Heuer Porsche team-mate was able to fight for victory, and held-off a stern challenge from Envision’s Robin Frijns, who made it two podiums in two.
In a race that saw many drivers suffering damage due to contact amid the closeness of the racing, Mitch Evans largely stayed out of the danger to finish third, with Wehrlein still able to finish fourth and take some crucial championship points off Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy, who lost out in the middle of the race due to pitting for damage and scored no points, but Evans is now firmly in the mix too, his podium leaving him tied on points with Wehrlein.
Pole man Jean-Eric Vergne could not maintain a challenge, finishing fifth, with Nico Müller sixth, Norman Nato, seventh, Max Günther eighth, Sébastien Buemi ninth and Jake Dennis tenth.
Cassidy’s nightmare weekend, Evans’ third place, and Wehrlein able to complete a modest damage limitation job, the both Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships will be decided in the final weekend of the season in London in three weeks’ time.
HOW THE RACE UNFOLDED
At the start, da Costa took the lead from Vergne at T1, with Cassidy losing position to Wehrlein. Frijns, who moved-up to third, was quickly under extreme pressure from Bird, who took the position back, but team-mate Hughes sailed up into the lead at T1 at the start of lap two, with de Vries second, and Vergne down in fifth, with da Costa sixth.
Cassidy, seemingly content to play a waiting game, dropped to 18th by the start of lap three, with Hughes and de Vries taking their first Attack Mode, along with da Costa, handing Vergne back his lead.
With Bird dropping down the order, team-mate Hughes regained the lead with Vergne dropping to third after his first Attack Mode. Hughes took his second on lap five, with Mortara working up to fourth with de Vries now seventh.
Wehrlein, who had been as high as fourth, suffered a further blow to his ailing title chances, losing his front wing on lap six, causing the Porsche to tumble down the order. It would be a similar story for Bird, whose front wing was also lost, sending him off track and to the back of the field, with replays showing Wehrlein’s dislodged wing flying straight into Bird’s, leaving the English to bemoan why Wehrlein failed to pit for a replacement. Wehrlein’s front wing freed itself from under his car, but was now only two places ahead of Cassidy, who was still electing to stay out of contention in the early stages.
Race leader Hughes lost the lead at T1 on lap eight, outbraking himself and slipping down to third, with Buemi now leading, but the Swiss veteran was swiftly handed a drive through penalty for a technical infraction. Vergne took the lead back on lap nine, with Müller driving superbly in second, with Fenestraz also firmly in the mix in fourth.
Wehrlein worked his way back through the pack, moving to seventh at the start of lap 11 despite the front of his car missing. Müller was now leading, with Frijns quickly taking him, the Dutchman swiftly taking his second Attack Mode.
On lap 13, Hughes, who lost a portion of his own front wing, spun off track,
In what was now looking to become a race of attrition, Dennis, Collet, de Vries, Hughes and Cassidy all got caught in a string of incidents, sending all five into the pits for repairs.
This left Wehrlein now in third, with Frijns and da Costa leading the way, with Vergne, Mortara and the two ABT Cupras of Müller and di Grassi keeping well in touch with them, but Mortara’s race was virtually done by the end of lap 15, tagging da Costa and receiving a puncture for his troubles.
Vergne was now back in the lead, with da Costa second, who became the latest driver to miss a piece of front wing due to the brush with Mortara. In the midfield, Nato and Günther, both starting at the foot of the grid, were noe eighth and tenth respectively, with Evans, largely out of trouble at the midway point, now up to fifth.
The carnage and debris on track left Race Director Scott Elkins with no choice but to deploy the Safety Car, giving Cassidy a chance to potentially recover his compromised race.
The Safety Car came in at the end of lap 20, with da Costa immediately taking the lead from Frijns, with Wehrlein third. Evans took his second Attack Mode, dropping from fifth to eighth but immediately took seventh of Nato and began pursuit of the ABT pair.
With one lap now added, da Costa dropped to third before moving back to first, with Evans now up to fourth and battling Wehrlein for third, which he took at the start of lap 23, the Kiwi now in serious contention, taking Frijns for second at T1 on lap 24. Cassidy, despite an energy advantage over everyone, was unable to free himself from 15th place.
At the start of the penultimate lap, Frijns took second back off of Evans, with Wehrlein still fourth but dropping away from the top three, with da Costa still in the leading, getting the go-ahead from the Porsche pit wall that he could go for the win.
At the start of the final lap, da Costa narrowly led from Frijns, the Envision pushing and probing the Porsche, the two now the only ones left to contend for the win. Vergne was swarming all over Wehrlein, aware that every point will count in his championship battle. Frijns continued to harry da Costa, but the Portuguese can seemingly do no wrong, taking his third Formula E win in succession. Evans took third, with Wehrlein just holding onto fourth, perhaps some vital points with Cassidy scoring none.
On the cool-down lap, a quiet da Costa told his team he did what he could to help Wehrlein, but leaves Portland showing Porsche team boss Florian Modlinger that he may be the best driver available to him after all.
