For the third time in the last four E-Prixs, TAG Heuer Porsche’s António Félix da Costa sped to the top step of the podium in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship at Portland today (29 June), after Nick Cassidy spun away the lead almost within sight of the finish line.
As the race entered its final laps, Jaguar TCS Racing star Cassidy looked set to take a huge leap towards a maiden Drivers’ crown by repeating his 2023 charge through the pack from tenth to first in America’s Pacific Northwest – but then, with less than five kilometres left to run, disaster struck.
Sweeping through the rapid left-right chicane at Turns 10 and 11 on the penultimate tour, the championship leader got slightly out-of-shape and put two wheels on the grass. The loss of traction sent him into a spin that dropped him to a lowly 19th at the chequered flag, costing him 25 points in the blink of an eye.
For Cassidy, the only saving grace was that none of his closest rivals greatly profited from his error. From pole position, team-mate and countryman Mitch Evans went on to take the chequered flag first, but a five-second penalty for contact with NEOM McLaren Formula E Team’s Jake Hughes that punctured one of the Briton’s tyres subsequently relegated the New Zealander to eighth.
The prime beneficiary of Evans and Cassidy’s pain was da Costa, who from the second row of the starting grid was a factor throughout Formula E’s fastest race to-date, completed at an average speed of 152.041 km/h. First hitting the front on lap six, the 2019/20 Champion – a winner in each of the previous two events in Berlin and Shanghai – was an ever-present threat as he hounded the Jaguar duo ceaselessly in the closing stages.
Second across the line, once Evans’ penalty was applied, da Costa was able to celebrate an 11th career triumph – just two shy of the all-time record in the electric single-seater series.
The runner-up spoils went the way of Robin Frijns, as the Envision Racing ace converted third on the grid into a second podium of the campaign – his first in more than five months. In order to achieve that, the Dutchman had to fend off a feisty Jean-Éric Vergne (DS Penske) – another driver to briefly lead – as the Frenchman surged through the field from 14th to reach the rostrum for the third time this season.
Edoardo Mortara translated a strong qualifying performance for Mahindra Racing into an equally strong race result just behind in fourth – comfortably the team’s best finish in 2024 – with Nico Müller similarly shining for ABT CUPRA Formula E Team by winding up fifth.
Following a bright start, reigning champion Jake Dennis ended up sixth on Andretti Formula E’s home soil to keep his title defence alive, while compatriot Sam Bird scored for the first time since Misano back in April as the Briton took seventh for McLaren.
After eighth-placed Evans – who posted the race’s fastest lap – the top ten was rounded out by Season 8 champion Stoffel Vandoorne and Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein, who was only able to reduce Cassidy’s margin in the chase for the crown from 25 points to 24 ahead of the second leg of the Portland E-Prix at 14:03 local time (23:03 CEST) tomorrow (Sunday, 30 June).
António Félix da Costa, No. 13, Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E, said:
“I’m super happy obviously. We knew the type of racing we were going to get, and everybody is getting super good at it. The race was never flat out, because everybody was pushing so hard to be at the front that it’s hard to build up buffer to be flat out eventually. I’ve been on the other side of the of the coin on this one so yeah, just a great momentum to be honest. I’m just really happy with how it’s going.
I’ve had bad times in my career before, I think what I had the beginning of this year was probably a bit more extreme. You know everybody wanted to go in the same direction for us to be able to come out of the slump. I knew we were gonna be able to make it, it’s just not nice when you’re there. I’ve had this before and obviously we went from one extreme to another, which is nice. I’ve learned a lot about myself, about people, about sports, about everything. I think when you have bad times and you take the good stuff out of it you become a little bit stronger. Everyone here has been up and down in their life at some point, it’s racing so that’s why I will never take it for granted. I’ll celebrate because I know how hard it is to win these days, so yeah I’ll definitely take this one!”
Robin Frijns, No. 4, Envision Racing, said:
“We were always up front, and that was the goal. I think the strategy calls we made in the background were really good, the team really helped me to stay where I was and to finish where I was. I’m happy with the race, I just missed that little edge on set-up which I think we can improve tomorrow, but we’re here to fight and we’ll fight another day tomorrow.
“We’ve been in a bit of a downward spiral recently which has been tough for the team, and for the drivers as well. We have a good car underneath us and we are quick in free practices most of the time, but in the races we’ve had bad luck, punctures and things. Now finally, something came together, we have a podium and we can celebrate, and hopefully another one tomorrow.”
Jean-Éric Vergne, No. 25, DS PENSKE, said:
“I’m really happy finishing third, but today starting where I started at the back I’m very happy with how the race went. I think it was very good and for the team Penske and on the home side of Jay [Penske] so I’m happy to bring him a podium today and those are good points for the team championship, so it was a good day. It started quite bad in qualifying, but I’m happy to have such a come back in the race.”
Classification Round 13
Drivers Championship Standings
Teams Championship Standings
Source : Fia
