Brilliant from Buemi who wins on the streets of Monaco!

Credit: Andrew Ferraro

Experienced Envision racer Sebastian Buemi who sets a new record for the most Formula E victories, after winning a difficult race on the streets of Monte Carlo.

On Sunday, the Swiss driver excelled in all aspects which included the Attack Mode. Buemi used all the experience to take his record-breaking 14th Formula E victory which has been his first Formula E win since 2019.

Buemi won ahead of pole sitter Oliver Rowland, who had to settle for second place despite showing some strong pace throughout but the championship leader was unable to catch Buemi in the latter stages. The first podium of the season for Jaguar's Nick Cassidy saw him finish third place after a great drive.

Rowland leads the championship now by 48 points to Antonio Felix Da Costa in second position. The championship leader takes a first and second place finish from the first ever double round Formula E weekend in Monte Carlo.

How the Round 7 Monaco E-Prix unfolded

Sunday afternoon rolled around and it was time to complete round seven of the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with the E-Prix at a very wet and rainy Monte Carlo.

Monaco had seen its first ever double round weekend in Formula E with the action taking place on just Saturday and Sunday, in a very busy couple of days for all of the teams and drivers up and down the grid.

The rain had poured down throughout qualifying and affected it so much that the final duel was cancelled by Race Director Marek Hanaczewski, with the headache of both DS Penske drivers in one of the knockout duel semi-finals exceeding track limits.

Oliver Rowland took pole position for Nissan to extend his championship lead by a further three points, as he picked up three as a prize for taking pole position for the E-Prix. Due to both in the semi-final two having exceeded track limits that promoted Nyck De Vries, who lost to Rowland, to second place on the grid as his lap was legal.

The two drivers in the finished in the top two for Saturday's Monaco E-Prix which was round six, were to start from the front row. Rowland was on pole with De Vries alongside. On row two was the DS Penske duo of Maximilian Gunther and Jean-Eric Vergne, who started third and fourth respectively.

Sam Bird, despite a big crash in qualifying, made the start of the race as NEOM McLaren had got the car fixed in time. However, he was to start from the pit lane at the Circuit De Monaco.

The lights went out and it was a very well disciplined start from the drivers with Oliver Rowland leading from Nyck De Vries in second position. A change between the two DS Penske cars as Vergne got ahead of Gunther.

Antonio Felix Da Costa made a good start for Porsche who had taken fifth from Stoffel Vandoorne at the start, who started in front of him on the grid.

Once again there were 29 laps of racing scheduled in Monte Carlo, just like round six on Saturday in the double weekend. The opening lap was something that the drivers were taking very easy due to the treacherous track conditions.

Lap three saw the first drivers to Attack Mode in the E-Prix with Sebastian Buemi, Dan Ticktum, Jake Dennis, Robin Frijns and David Beckmann all taking to the Attack Mode. Dennis the only one outside of Cupra Kiro and Envision to take Attack Mode on lap three.

Buemi was making good use of the Attack Mode early on and prior to the start of lap four he got ahead of Da Costa, who took his first Attack Mode at the following lap along with Vandoorne. Both took four minutes each.

Norman Nato and Jake Hughes were the next two drivers to take Attack Mode as well as Jean-Eric Vergne and Max Gunther who took it prior to Da Costa as they were slightly further up the road.

The Attack Mode was showing its worth as Vergne and Buemi shot ahead of the Mahindra Racing car of De Vries. Vergne and Buemi were up to second and third respectively with De Vries down to fourth.

It was lap five where De Vries took to the Attack Mode for the first time and was wanting to try and re-claim the positions he had lost.

Attack Mode was the difference in terms of overtakes being made. It was shown with Vergne taking the lead but Rowland was doing well to keep himself in the top two despite those around him having had Attack Mode already in the first six laps.

Yellow flags were out briefly during the early part of the E-Prix with Jake Hughes making contact with the Cupra Kiro of David Beckmann who because of it had to take to the escape road and picked up a puncture.

This was put under investigation by the Stewards and he was subsequently handed Hughes a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.

De Vries was using his first Attack Mode to get himself up into third once again after passing Gunther and Buemi in quick succession. 

Lola Yamaha had both of their cars running in decent positions and were in a contest with the Andretti of Dennis with their drivers Lucas Di Grassi and Zane Maloney. However, Di Grassi trying to pass Dennis locked up into turn eight and ended up in the wall.

Di Grassi being in the wall brought out a Full Course Yellow while his car and the Lola Yamaha ABT debris was removed from the circuit, so that the other 21 cars were able to go racing once again.

Lap eight and the green flag was flying with racing back underway around the streets of Monte Carlo and it was Vergne who remained in the lead from the Nissan of Rowland in second, with De Vries tailing behind in third.

Nick Cassidy and Edoardo Mortara were the latest two drivers to make their trips to Attack Mode for the first time but there had been 10 laps without the first Attack Mode visit for Nissan's Rowland.

Drama was caused between the Cupra of Dan Ticktum and the Jaguar of Cassidy as they both were battling but Ticktum skidded and ended up clipping the wall and headed down the escape road. Thankfully he was able to keep the car going but was down in 18th place.

Rowland was without using his first Attack Mode even onto lap 12 but neither had other experienced E-Prix winners in Mitch Evans. Pascal Wehrlein and Nico Mueller were the latest to take their first portions of Attack Mode.

Evans had been having a difficult weekend as had Jaguar. On Sunday, Evans had topped Free Practice 3 but had been knocked out of qualifying low down the order. He had made a pass though into La Racasse on the Nissan of Norman Nato.

When trying to pass Jake Hughes into Sainte Devote on the following lap, they both made contact and went wide. This led to them being both passed by Pascal Wehrlein who moved up into 13th place.

There were yellow flags out in turn three for Nico Mueller who ended up hitting the wall and was out of the race on the spot requiring a Safety Car which had bunched the field close together! A nightmare for Muller but it had closed the field together for the final 15 laps.

It was a short Safety Car as Muller's car was moved quickly. Lap 15 and the E-Prix was back underway with Vergne getting off the line well and keeping hold off the lead through the first few corners. 

Championship leader Rowland was under pressure though from De Vries with many battles happening further through the field with one including Jake Dennis and Zane Maloney, in a battle for the lower points positions.

Immediately taking his first Attack Mode was Sam Bird at the restart. Meanwhile, an incident between Jake Hughes and Mitch Evans was noted by the FIA Race Control. Hughes already had picked up a penalty for an earlier collision between he and Beckmann.

Buemi was up to fourth place with a pass on Gunther and the experienced Swiss driver was up into fourth place in Monte Carlo and the Envision driver was hunting down the Mahindra of De Vries.

Rowland has yet to visit Attack Mode at all throughout the course of the E-Prix wa son lap 17 and hounding Vergne for the race lead in Monte Carlo. It was a tense battle beginning to build slowly for the race lead.

Eventually in lap 18 Rowland took his first Attack Mode of the E-Prix and it worked well for him and he only lost one place to De Vries and was down to third. He tried to pass De Vries on the run to the Nouvelle chicane but was squeezed and had to take to the run off - while giving the place back to the Dutch driver.

Rowland did get into second before the start of the next lap and was pressuring Vergne who was in the race lead. The following lap and in to the Nouvelle chicane the pair were side by side with Rowland taking the place but going off the curb in the process.

Rowland attempting to give the place back to Vergne, gave De Vries the opportunity to take them both and the Dutch driver took the lead momentarily before Rowland re-passed him.

In the midst of all of this De Vries and Buemi took their second Attack Mode servings and this worked for the pair of them who moved into first and third with De Vries in first and Buemi in third after the pair passed Rowland and Vergne  respectively.

Vergne and Gunther were two others that also took their second Attack Mode portions and were trying to play themselves into contention for race victory. 

Buemi meanwhile had got Rowland and was using the Attack Mode to his advantage and in no time at all took the lead from De Vries who had run out of Attack Mode and the Envision Racing driver was flying and into the race lead.

Rowland took the second Attack Mode shortly after this and moved behind Vergne to give him the place back that he gained unfairly earlier on in the race to avoid picking up a penalty that cost him more and more time.

Rowland was using his Attack Mode well and was pulling himself up towards De Vries as Vergne ahead was also catching him and the pair got ahead of De Vries easily but Rowland also got ahead of Vergne too and was into second of the E-Prix and was chasing Buemi down but it was a tall order with little laps remaining.

Cassidy was driving well and was using Attack Mode well as he took third from De Vries who was dropping back without the Attack Mode he had previously had. Cassidy took third and Da Costa took fourth with De Vries down into fifth place.

Buemi was managing the gap well out in front for Envision, who were bottom of the Teams' Standings coming into round seven but he was commanding the race well out in front with a four-second advantage over points leader Rowland.

There was one lap added by the FIA Race Control due to the Safety Car being deployed for Muller's Andretti. Meanwhile, the FIA had issued five-second time penalties to Taylor Barnard and Zane Maloney and Dan Ticktum for track limits.

Da Costa was pacey and was showing his speed well as he set the fastest lap of the race. He in his Tag Heur Porsche was hunting down the Jaguar of Nick Cassidy. However, on lap 28 of 30 he made a slight error and dropped back and gave Cassidy a bit of breathing room.

As for the other Porsche of reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein, he was running in seventh on the penultimate lap but was catching Vergne who was in sixth, with a potential battle looking to form as the race approached the final lap of the race.

Out front, Sebastian Buemi had really impressed and used all of the experience of his many, many races in Formula E. The challenging and unpredictable conditions made it no doubt that extra bit more tricky to manage. However, the Swiss driver had driven brilliantly.

Buemi crossed the line first to take victory on the streets of Monte Carlo, at the infamous Circuit De Monaco. Superb from the Swiss driver who took his first E-Prix victory since 2019 - some five years ago for such an experienced talent.

The Envision veteran took the flag first ahead of championship Oliver Rowland who had to settle for second place in the race despite starting the E-Prix from pole position but it had been an incredible points haul for Rowland over his championship rivals. Nick Cassidy drove brilliant to end third and complete the podium for Jaguar.

Antonio Felix Da Costa took fourth for Porsche ahead of Nyck De Vries, who may have been disappointed to be made to settle for fifth place despite starting on the front row. Reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein was seventh, behind Jean-Eric Vergne in sixth after the multiple champion had been in the lead for a large part.

In ninth place was Jake Dennis of Andretti, behind DS Penske's Max Gunther with Belgian and Maserati driver Stoffel Vandoorne completing the top 10.

Formula E will return in just short of two weeks time in the Japanese capital Tokyo for a double round weekend between 16-18 May.

2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship: Round 7 - Monaco E-Prix provisional race result

1. Sebastian Buemi
2. Oliver Rowland
3. Nick Cassidy
4. Antonio Felix Da Costa
5. Nyck De Vries
6. Jean-Eric Vergne
7. Pascal Wehrlein
8. Maximilian Gunther
9. Jake Dennis
10. Stoffel Vandoorne
11. Robin Frijns
12. Edoardo Mortara
13. Norman Nato
14. Zane Maloney
15. Dan Ticktum
16. Taylor Barnard
17. Jake Hughes
18. Mitch Evans
19. David Beckmann
20. Sam Bird
21. Nico Mueller (DNF)
22. Lucas Di Grassi (DNF)

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal