He started ninth, but has crossed the finish line in first place. Mitch Evans has moved quietly in the ePrix of Rome to achieve a triumph that few could imagine. Skilful behind the wheel of his Jaguar, Evans managed to avoid trouble, slip into the leading pack and steal the wallets of those who had dominated the race for much of it. With this win, Jaguar driver solves his discreet start to the season. The first Formula E podium in Rome has been completed Robin Frijns and Stoffel Vandoorne.
Stoffel Vandoorne asserted his pole position with a good start in which he kept Robin Frijns under control. Nyck de Vries and António Félix Da Costa also kept their place in first place, although Jean-Eric Vergne finally managed to beat his teammate to fourth. The Portuguese returned the maneuver in the chaos of the first round, since just behind the ‘top 10’, Oliver Rowland spun after being touched by Edo Mortara, penalized in the end with five seconds. A true montonera was formed, which despite dissolving quickly, ended with Maximilian Günther’s accident.
The race was neutralized under ‘Full Course Yellow’, although the Safety Car did not take long to make an appearance. He retired almost ten minutes later without the option to change positions in the lead, although by regulation five minutes were added to the total of the event. Stoffel Vandoorne stayed at the front of the pack under the gaze of Robin Frijns, Nyck de Vries and António Félix Da Costa.. In fact, the top positions remained unchanged until the first activations of the ‘attack mode’ started.
In the leading group, António Félix Da Costa was the first to activate the ‘attack mode’, which cost him fourth position in his direct duel with Jean-Eric Vergne. No need to pull strategy, Robin Frijns overtook Stoffel Vandoorne to become the new race leaderwhile behind Da Costa he recovered fourth place, making use of the extra power present in his car. In the following lap, the two Mercedes EQ drivers and Vergne activated the ‘attack mode’which left Da Costa free to move up to second place.
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Robin Frijns took advantage of all these movements to activate the ‘attack mode’ without losing the first place. In fact, António Félix Da Costa, with his first activation exhausted, could not stop Stoffel Vandoorne. They also overtook Portugal’s Nyck de Vries and Jean-Eric Vergne, while behind the leading five, Jake Dennis took sixth place as Mitch Evans passed through the slow activation zone. Both became protagonists of the following overtaking, since Dennis and Evans overtook Da Costa after a small push from the Andretti driver to the Portuguese.
Robin Frijns could not repeat the maneuver and in his second activation of the ‘attack mode’ he fell behind Stoffel Vandoorne. It didn’t take long for the Envision driver to regain the lead, so the Belgian went through the activation zone on the next lap, dropping him in turn behind Nyck de Vries. Without much opposition, Vandoorne overtook his partner, which put de Vries at the feet of the horses. In fact, Mitch Evans overtook the Dutch driver without needing any extra power.
Stoffel Vandoorne managed to close the gap with Robin Frijns and as soon as the Dutchman’s car lost the extra power, it gave an account of the Envision driver. Vandoorne thus returned to the front of the peloton with 14 minutes of racing ahead, but having already complied with the mandatory activations of the ‘attack mode’. Behind, Jean-Eric Vergne signed a great maneuver to overcome Nyck de Vries in their fight for fourth place. Still, the battle had only just begun.
Robin Frijns managed to beat Stoffel Vandoorne again, a duel that opened the door for Mitch Evans to also account for the Belgian driver taking advantage of his second ‘attack mode’. In fact, the Jaguar driver stormed the lead shortly after. Vandoorne’s sinking crystallized with the overtaking of Jake Dennis, who also overtook Frijns to take second place. However, with lower energy, Dennis had to lift his foot in the final stretch to finish the race. Same situation in which other pilots of the leading group were seen.
Mitch Evans cruised the additional 5:15 minutes of the race without any trouble to achieve victory, although behind there were a large number of changes. Robin Frijns took second place, while Stoffel Vandoorne had to settle for third place. Jean-Eric Vergne crossed the finish line in fourth place, while Sam Bird was fifth, favored by the suspension of an Edo Mortara who fell to seventh place, behind António Félix Da Costa. Pasca Wehrlein, Nick Cassidy and André Lotterer closed the final ‘top 10’.