FORMULA E
Copyright © Aemilia Cumberland - Jean Eric Vergne for DS Penske at the London E-Prix
 Credit: Oscar Lumley Reigning Formula E world champion Pascal Wehrlein kept his cool to win the first ever Miami E-Prix taking place at the Homestead Miami Speedway on Saturday afternoon in Florida. A red flag in the second half of the E-Prix caused late drama with Attack Mode penalties taking centre stage, with many drivers failing to use all of their Attack Mode up before they saw the chequered flag. This was relevant for Norman Nato, who crossed the line first after starting from pole position. However, due to him having some Attack Mode he was penalised. Therefore, this passed the win to Porsche's reigning Drivers' champion Wehrlein. Wehrlein led an experienced Formula E podium with Lucas Di Grassi coming home to finish second for Lola Cars ABT. It would be a double podium for Porsche with Antonio Felix Da Costa coming home in third place. With a podium result, Da Costa moves to second in the championship and 15 points behind championship leader Oliver Rowland. A difficult round for Rowland saw him finish 10th. A failing in attempting to score points for young superstar Taylor Barnard sees him fall to fourth in the championship behind Pascal Wehrlein. The reigning champion goes above Barnard with Saturday's Miami E-Prix race victory. How the 2024/25 Miami E-Prix unfoldedFor the very first time in the history of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship it was time to go racing at the Homestead Miami Speedway. However, it was not the first Miami E-Prix; that came almost a decade ago from the one in 2024/25. Following the qualifying session, it was to be Nissan's Norman Nato who was to start from the front of the field after taking his first Formula E pole position. In doing so, Nato beat his former teammate at Andretti Jake Dennis in the knockout duels final. There was some major shocks though in the day's earlier qualifying session with the likes of Nick Cassidy, Jean-Eric Vergne, Taylor Barnard, championship leader Oliver Rowland and reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein all being eliminated before the knockout duels. An unexpected grid it was, as the 2024/25 Miami E-Prix got underway. The lights went out and a calm and composed start from Nato saw him lead into the first corner while second place Dennis had been passed by Antonio Felix Da Costa and Nyck De Vries. Therefore, the British Andretti driver found himself down to fourth. De Vries was flying at the start of proceedings and soon would find himself in the lead of the race following a pass on Frenchman Nato and the 2020/21 Formula E champion found himself in the race lead. In the early stages of the E-Prix the green machines of Envision Racing were making great progress. By lap two their two drivers, Robin Frijns and Sebastian Buemi, both found themselves in the top five. Buemi was in fifth behind Frijns who had found his way up to third! Meanwhile, Da Costa had made his way into second position ahead of Nato, while Nato had managed to drop behind the Envision Racing duo. Further back a battle between the reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein, who had been passed by the young charging Taylor Barnard in the NEOM McLaren. The change of position came for ninth place, with Barnard getting ahead of the Porsche of Wehrlein. The race was changing constantly and by lap five despite dropping back, Norman Nato was back in the race lead for Nissan. The order was constantly changing with drivers and teams having different strategies about how to attack the Miami E-Prix. There was battles throughout the field with many positions changing. This included on lap eight when Jake Dennis passed Belgian Maserati driver Stoffel Vandoorne and the Andretti driver was up to eighth after a pass at the first turn. It was the ninth lap before Attack Mode was first used. Sebastian Buemi of Envision Racing was the driver to make a visit to the Attack Mode zone at turn four. The Swiss veteran took two minutes of the mandatory eight minutes, meaning he was going to have to take six minutes later on in the E-Prix. Buemi's trip triggered the visit of Vandoorne, who took a trip one lap later. Soon Nyck De Vries, Jake Hughes, Mitch Evans, Wehrlein and Andretti's Nico Mueller had all visited Attack Mode for the first time in the E-Prix! Lap 14 and Mueller had worked hard with his first amount of Attack Mode. The Swiss driver had made it up to the race lead and put Andretti to the front of the field at the Homestead Speedway. With many using their first Attack Mode dosages, the order was to change constantly with just one lap later the top three consisted of Da Costa, Edoardo Mortara and Wehrlein. Da Costa was the driver in the lead. One lap later, it was Da Costa's time to take his first Attack Mode and he took it despite leading the E-Prix. This handed the lead to his Porsche teammate Wehrlein but Da Costa was in the lead shortly after. Porsche were maximising their energy saving and were 1-2! The first Safety Car of the race was drawn on lap 18 due to Mahindra's Nyck De Vries coming to a stop on circuit with an apparent mechanical issue. Despite the Safety Car being out, De Vries managed to restart the car himself and got back going on the circuit. Due to there not being a need for a long period, the Safety Car period was over and green flag racing was back underway at the start of lap 19. This was a lap, that once the race restarted, would see Oliver Rowland in his Nissan take to Attack Mode for the first time. It was a late first trip, as just one lap later Antonio Felix Da Costa took his second trip to the Attack Mode where he took on six minutes of Attack Mode and was looking in a very comfy position to take E-Prix victory in Miami. However, lap 21 and the Safety Car would be brought back out onto the circuit as there had been a three car collision at a chicane on the circuit. The three cars involved were Jake Hughes, Maximilian Gunther and Mitch Evans. With a part of the track being blocked off, the Race Control made the speedy decision to Red Flag the race and therefore it was suspended. The drivers returned to the pit lane under the Safety Car. This would create an issue for many drivers throughout the field who had to serve another dosage of Attack Mode with many having to take on four and six minute periods and therefore they were going to struggle to use all of their Attack Mode of before they reached the chequered flag. After a delay, it appeared that Mitch Evans and Max Gunther would be able to continue in the E-Prix as they made it back to the pit lane following their tangle with Hughes. They spent time getting themselves back on the lead lap before the restart. Lap 23 and the race would be restarted. Five lights went out and Da Costa got off the line very well to lead into the very first turn. However, his Porsche teammate Wehrlein had been passed and dropped to third. As expected, there was a rush for Attack Mode straight at the restart. Wehrlein, Frijns, Nato, Rowland, Barnard, Lucas Di Grassi and Sam Bird all made visits to the Attack Mode! Da Costa led but for how long? One lap later and we had the answer. Wehrlein overtook his Portuguese teammate and the reigning Formula E champion was leading the race from ninth on the grid. A remarkable drive from the German. Nato had six minutes of Attack Mode to burn and he was going to be up against it to win and cross the line with no Attack Mode left to avoid being penalised. Despite Nato passing Wehrlein on a drag race to line, he was to be penalised after the race following him not having used all of the eight minutes of Attack Mode. Nato was penalised along with teammate Rowland, Barnard, Bird and Frijns for failing to use all of their Attack Mode. Zane Maloney also picked up a penalty. This was post-race for failing to follow the Race Director's instructions. Despite finishing 10th in the provisional classification, the Lola Cars ABT of Maloney dropped to 19th. However, Pascal Wehrlein took victory for Porsche and he used his experience to rise above the rest and win the Miami E-Prix and the first ever Formula E race at the Homestead Miami Speedway. Wehrlein took victory ahead of Lucas Di Grassi of Lola ABT in what was a great result for the veteran Brazilian driver. Antonio Felix Da Costa, annoyed at the timing of the Red Flag, still kept his cool to finish third. Behind the podium finishers, Andretti's Nico Mueller would finish fourth ahead of Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara who completed the top five in the final classification. An overall positive Saturday with a maiden pole position has ended in disappointment for Norman Nato who finished sixth despite a 10-second time penalty for failing to use all of the Attack Mode. Dan Ticktum finished seventh for Cupra Kiro. Envision's Robin Frijns finished eighth despite the penalty. The Dutchman finished ahead British duo Jake Dennis and Oliver Rowland who finished ninth and 10th for Andretti and Nissan respectively. After a thrilling Miami E-Prix, Rowland maintains the championship lead after the first five rounds of the 2024/25 season. Rowland has a 15-point lead over Da Costa with Wehrlein moving up to third on 51 points. Wehrlein is 18 points off the championship lead as is Taylor Barnard, who sits fourth. The race win from Wehrlein sits him above in the standings. Next time in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, it will be a trip to the principality of Monte Carlo as rounds six and seven are being held in Monaco! 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship: Round 5 -Miami E-Prix Classification
 Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal
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