Mitch Evans wins from last on the grid in incredible opening round in Sao Paulo

Credit: Sport Press Photo

In an incredible action-packed opening round in Sao Paulo, Mitch Evans wins the first E-Prix of the year from 22nd and last on the grid.

Evans delivered a fantastic calm and controlled performance after having issues in both free practice 1 and qualifying because of a system issue with his Jaguar car. However, his sheer pace and skill in the E-Prix was fantastic as he took victory in a race filled with drama.

The New Zealander took the flag ahead of Antonio Felix Da Costa of Porsche who finished second. NEOM McLaren rookie Taylor Barnard finished third to take his first ever podium. In doing so, he would become the youngest ever podium finisher in Formula E history.

Evans would also make history by taking victory as he would be the first ever to win from last on the grid in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

The race would follow the qualifying session that would see Pascal Wehrlein, the reigning Formula E Champion take pole position for the second consecutive season at the Sao Paulo E-Prix. Wehrlein would have Nissan's Oliver Rowland alongside him.

With 21 on the grid following an aborted start after Robin Frijns had a mechanical issue, the lights would go out and Rowland would get the better of the starts on the front row as he sailed into the lead on the run down to turn 1.

Far from an ideal start it would be though from Wehrlein who would drop to second ahead of Maximilian Gunther, as contact from Jake Dennis saw him drop down a couple of places to fifth after the Andretti man started on the second row of the grid.

It was a good start from Evans who by the second lap had made his way up to 15th from the very back and 22nd on the grid. 

A few laps later and the green flag racing would see the first pause as the safety car would be called upon as Andretti's Nico Mueller and Maserati's Jake Hughes would come together and would take each other both out of the race. 

Both making their debuts for their teams would have been hoping for better but it would not be on that particular occasion. This would be investigated by the Stewards but no further action would be undertaken. 

On lap six, the safety car would be withdrawn from the circuit and racing would be back underway in Sao Paulo and there would be a flurry of action instantly from the restart. Rowland would maintain the lead as Nick Cassidy, Stoffel Vandoorne and Taylor Barnard would be out of the first set of drivers to take to the attack mode.

The attack mode would be really coming into play for Nick Cassidy and on lap eight he would take the lead of the race following on from starting 10th on the grid. A great race for Cassidy as he would be making use of his power advantage. 

Attack mode would be becoming a popular feature in the few laps that followed with the Porsche duo Da Costa and Wehrlein taking their first set of attack mode together to try and work as a team to compete against their opposition.

From the attack mode two drivers would be penalised for overpowering. This would be the first two of many throughout the E-Prix. Norman Nato of Nissan and Barnard of NEOM McLaren would be the two to be punished.

There would be a moment for Lucas Di Grassi directly at the restart following the conclusion of the safety car and the ABT Lola Cars driver would come to a stop in the first sector. He would get the car back going again but would become the fourth driver to withdraw his participation from the E-Prix.

Rowland would take back over the lead of the E-Prix as the Nissan driver was enduring his very first attack mode of the E-Prix but he would still have one more to serve as would many up and down the field.

This would be until the Porsche duo of Wehrlein and Da Costa would make it a 1-2 after using their second attack modes relatively early on in proceedings with half of the race to go but then Rowland would take the lead once again!

The E-Prix would then see the first of two red flags as a severe electrical fault for Jake Dennis would see him come to a stop at turn 1. The red flag would be brought out as with the electrical fault posing a huge risk, it would be unsafe to carry on the race behind a safety car.

Therefore, for safety reasons, the red flag was brought out and the race would be suspended while the Andretti of Dennis was moved in a safe fashion.

After a hefty delay to proceedings, the race would restart as a standing start and the drivers would take their places on the grid as the opening round of the 2024/25 season would get back underway in Sao Paulo.

It would be a positive restart from Rowland who would lead into the first corner ahead of Gunther and Da Costa. On the restart it would be revealed that the remaining Lola Cars driver Zane Maloney would be given a drive-through penalty for overpowering on race debut in the championship!

Attack mode would reach Cassidy a second time and he would make advantage of it to progress to second in the order and the Jaguar driver was having great pace in that part of the race.

On lap 28, there would be huge drama as race leader Rowland would be given a drive-through penalty as he would be the latest to be penalised for overpowering. The following lap would see four added laps added to the end of the race following the time spent behind the safety car,

Soon after, the second red flag would arrive for a frightening accident as Nick Cassidy and Pascal Wehrlein collided at turn four which saw Wehrlein's car overturned. Thankfully he would be okay. Cassidy had only just picked up suspension damage after contact with Gunther which also saw the DS Penske driver go into the wall. 

Once Wehrlein had got out of his car and the car and had been removed from circuit, the race was good to continue with Cassidy's car having been repaired in the stoppage as well as Gunther's. reigning champion Wehrlein however was out.

At the restart, after starting last on the grid, Mitch Evans was leading the race. He would keep it on the road and in the race lead. The New Zealander of Jaguar would manage to keep challenges from Da Costa and Barnard to open the campaign up perfectly.

This would be the only Formula E race of the 2024/25 season to take place in 2024, with round two set to take place in Mexico City with that E-Prix taking place on January 11

2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship: Round 1 - Sao Paulo E-Prix

1. Mitch Evans (New Zealand, Jaguar)
2. Antonio Felix Da Costa (Portugal, Porsche)
3. Taylor Barnard (Great Britain, NEOM McLaren)
4. Sam Bird (Great Britain, NEOM McLaren)
5. Edoardo Mortara (Switzerland, Mahindra)
6. Nyck De Vries (Netherlands, Mahindra)
7. Sebastian Buemi (Switzerland, Envision Racing)
8. Dan Ticktum (Great Britain, Kiro Race)
9. Jean-Eric Vergne (France, DS Penske)
10. Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium, Maserati)
11. Maximilian Gunther (Germany, DS Penske)
12. Zane Maloney (Barbados, ABT Lola Cars)
13. Norman Nato (France, Nissan)
14. Oliver Rowland (Great Britain, Nissan)
15. Nick Cassidy (New Zealand, Jaguar)
16. Pascal Wehrlein (Germany, Porsche) DNF
17. David Beckmann (Germany, Kiro Race) DNF
18. Jake Dennis (Great Britain, Andretti) DNF
19. Lucas Di Grassi (Brazil, ABT Lola Cars) DNF
20. Jake Hughes (Great Britain, Maserati) DNF
21. Nico Mueller (Switzerland, Andretti) DNF
22. Robin Frijns (Netherlands, Envision) DNF

Brandon Whiteside
Writer & X Contributor - F1 Journal