New Zealander Mitch Evans will always remember the Rome ePrix after winning both races of the event. If in Saturday’s heat he achieved a formidable comeback, in the event held on Sunday he pulled strategy to win with his Jaguar I-Type 5. With this double victory, Evans has gone from having one point to adding 51 units and getting fully involved in the fight for the Formula E title. Jean-Eric Vergne, second in Rome, is the new leader. Sunday’s podium in Italy was completed by Robin Frijns.
Vergne made a good start to keep first place. Jake Dennis had more trouble consolidating his second place against a combative André Lotterer. For his part, the two Jaguar drivers managed to save the first meters without problems, with Mitch Evans ahead of Sam Bird. No change in the top nine positions, Edo Mortara managed to win tenth place from Sérgio Sette Câmara in the first turns before the start of the first ‘attack mode’ activations. In fact, the first movement in the lead was produced without any extra power.
André Lotterer beat Jake Dennis to move into second position in a perfect maneuver. Mitch Evans followed in his footsteps at the next turn to attack the German shortly after. With everything, the Porsche driver managed to keep Evans under control on his first overtaking attempt. The outcome was not repeated in the second meeting between the two and Mitch Evans assaulted the second position. In parallel, Pascal Wehrlein activated the ‘attack mode’, this time with a duration of 8 minutes and a single use available.
Antonio Giovinazzi’s mechanical problems led to the appearance of the Safety Car, which left drivers like Wehrlein, Rowlan, Askew or Ticktum on the track, wasting attack mode time without real use. However, the appearance of the Safety Car was very brief and the race resumed shortly after. However, the reset was very important, since Mitch Evans managed to overtake Jean-Eric Vergne to become the new leader of the race. Behind, the race was hectic with Robin Frijns overtaking Jake Dennis, a maneuver that Sam Bird also took advantage of.
Pascal Wehrlein was very close to also beating Jake Dennisbut the Andretti driver hit the Porsche, which Stoffel Vandoorne took advantage of to slip into sixth after overtaking the two. Robin Frijns and Sam Bird activated the ‘attack mode’ just below, which left Stoffel Vandoorne fifth, by placing himself between the two. He used the extra power Sam Bird to regain position with the Mercedes driver, although this maneuver did not help him to overtake André Lotterer when he entered the activation zone. Yes Frijns got it.
In fact, Robin Frijns moved into second place after beating Jean-Eric Vergne very easily. He repeated the maneuver with Mitch Evans moments later to position himself as the new leader of the race at a time when Mitch Evans remained the only front-runner who did not use the ‘attack mode’. That cost him his position with André Lotterer, but it allowed him to have a perfect position to counterattack against the protection of Sam Bird. Meanwhile, Lotterer took the lead rushing the last seconds of the ‘attack mode’ to overtake Frijns.
Loading tweet…
1513155069889417220
However, the strategies of each other were blown up with the presence of the Safety Car for the second time for the problems of Alexander Sims. The race was restarted with seven minutes to go, although another 5 minutes and 15 seconds were added at the end of the event, as defined by the new regulations. In fact, Mitch Evans activated the ‘attack mode’ with five minutes to go with the security of using all the time of extra power. With just 40 seconds of use, the Jaguar driver already realized Jean-Eric Vergne.
Evans’ counter strategy was working and he also outplayed Frijns and Lotterer in the blink of an eye. Repeating his performance on Saturday, Mitch Evans managed to take the lead in the final stretch of the race to escape from the different movements behind him. In fact, Jean-Eric Vergne moved into second position after beating Robin Frijns and André Lotterer in just one turn. Robin Frijns also just overtook Lotterer for third place. Behind, Nick Cassidy in his attempt to overtake Sam Bird was pushed by the Jaguar driver against the barriers.
Although there was still one last lap without a Safety Car, there was no room for change. Mitch Evans achieved a spectacular double with his second victory in Rome, in this case ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne and Robin Frijns. German André Lotterer finished fourth, followed by Stoffel Vandoorne and Pascal Wehrlein. Oliver Turvey used the final chaos and penalties on several rivals to climb to seventh place ahead of Lucas Di Grassi. Sébastien Buemi and Dan Ticktum closed the points zone.
Results 1 Formula E Mexico City ePrix 2021-22
Photos: Jaguar Racing / DS Techeetah / Envision Racing