There couldn’t have been a better day for Jaguar, which in the historic first ePrix in Brazil not only achieved its first victory of the season, but also a nice double podium, placing “three” cars in the top three. In fact, in addition to the two single-seaters of the official team, the Envision of Nick Cassidy also took the podium, also powered by the same engine present on the Jaguar I-Type 6 of the Coventry brand.
The winner was Mitch Evans, author of a race managed with great intelligence from an energy point of view thanks also to the support of the team, who was able to better read a race that put the management of the residual charge to the test.
As expected on the eve, with its long straights and high temperatures, the San Paolo track proved to be particularly stressful on the battery, perhaps among the most energy-intensive in the world championship. This is why we witnessed an even more “extreme” race strategy than what is usually seen, with the leading riders letting themselves be overtaken to save energy.
The departure
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
This was seen above all in the early stages of the race with Vandoorne, in the lead for a long time after starting from pole, and Da Costa, with the DS driver who after 18 laps could count on 3% less charge than his rivals.
Evans launched the decisive attack for victory in the final laps, overtaking Cassidy while teammate Bird was coming behind him, who could count on a greater amount of energy for the final laps. Despite an intense final passage, in which the New Zealander from Envision tried the attack several times but without finding the right opening, Evans managed to bring his I-Type 6 in front of everyone across the finish line, hitting the first win of his season .
Fourth place for Da Costa, who after starting from the front row was the author of a particular first part of the race, in which he played for a long time with Vandoorne in order not to stay in the lead and save energy. The Portuguese was then the protagonist of a mistake arriving along the most demanding braking section of the track, being forced to lose several positions in order to comply with the regulation imposed by the FIA in the event of a corner cut in that particular area of the track.
Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
Fifth position for Jean Eric Vergne, good at recovering a few positions after a qualifying in which he didn’t impress, already exiting in the first qualifying phase of group A. departure had attempted to immediately take off with a fulminating leap.
Failing to clearly increase his advantage, however, the Belgian then chose a more wait-and-see tactic, trying to keep the group together, so much so that he could exploit Attack Mode well in advance to climb the standings and save energy . It is no coincidence that after about twenty laps, in fact, Vandoorne could count on a residual charge between 2-3% lower than that of his main rivals.
Seventh place for Pascal Wehrlein, who was also forced to come back from the back after a disappointing qualifying session after hitting the wall. On the grid, the German had also paid a further penalty for an accident in South Africa: starting from eighteenth position, the Porsche driver was in any case the author of a good comeback, in which even a few favorable episodes helped him.
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
An overall solid race, which allowed him to maintain the leadership of the championship with a 24-point lead over Dennis, who was forced to retire today. However, a possible penalty still hangs over Wehrlein, because the marshals are still investigating possible overtaking completed with a double yellow flag.
The two McLarens of Jake Hughes and René Rast concluded the points, followed by the other Envision of Sebastien Buemi, who in the second lap had been the author of a rear-end collision that had dropped him to the back of the group.
Disappointing day for Maserati, out of the top ten with both cars. Gunther’s race immediately became complicated at the end of the first lap, with a long run that forced him to lose several positions, while Mortara was the author of two accidents: the first right in the start phase, the second during the twentieth lap forcing him to retire permanently. Same fate also for Muller, the two Nissans of Fenestraz and Nato as well as the Andretti of Jake Dennis, forced to stop on the side of the track due to a technical problem.
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After the less than exciting qualifying, the Englishman was still stuck in the group, but he was trying to move up the standings, at least until he was the author of a double contact: after being rear-ended by Ticktum, who came wide at the most demanding braking point of the course, Dennis had lost control crashing into Wehrlein, even if fortunately the German did not suffer any particular damage.
Also out of the top ten was the home driver Lucas Di Grassi, who had started from the back after the accident in qualifying.
