SHANGHAI — António Félix da Costa clinched his second victory of the season in Round 12 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship at the Shanghai E-Prix, leading NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes and Andretti’s Norman Nato to the podium.
After superior energy management and performance, da Costa seized the lead from Andretti’s Nato on lap 16 and maintained his position until the end of the 28-lap race, despite Hughes’ late push.
“I’m super happy with the momentum that we’ve been able to build,” da Costa said. “It’s been a big run of races now since São Paulo, racing almost every two weeks, so we’ve been able to crack on and keep building a little bit more every weekend. We’ve had some sixth places, some fifth places and now we’ve had three wins in the last six or seven races so definitely good momentum.
“A real shame how the year started, plus that loss of win in Misano, but otherwise I think we’ve been having a run with a championship-contending car and driver.
“I think Mitch [Evans] has got two victories, [Nick] Cassidy and Pascal [Wehrlein] are on a roll as well so obviously it shows that the Jags and the Porsches at these types of races, where efficiency is key, have a little bit of an edge on the others I think, and that’s good.”
Hughes, who had secured the Julius Baer Pole Position by a mere 0.001 seconds earlier in the day, succeeded in securing his first-ever Formula E podium amidst fierce competition, ultimately finishing second.
Nato finished third, with Nick Cassidy in fourth after a collision damaged his front wing. Cassidy’s closest title rival, and da Costa’s teammate Pascal Wehrlein, faced a setback with a punctured tire, finishing outside the points.
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans followed Cassidy in fifth, contributing to a strong team result for the current leaders of the Teams’ FIA World Championship. The DS Penske duo, Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Éric Vergne, finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Maximilian Günther, Robin Frijns and Oliver Rowland rounded out the top ten. Reigning champion Jake Dennis finished just outside the points in 11th.
The results see Cassidy extend his lead to 25 points over Wehrlein in the Drivers’ FIA World Championship standings. Jaguar TCS Racing now holds 299 points in the teams’ standings, with TAG Heuer Porsche on 226. Porsche leads the Manufacturers’ standings with 337 points to Jaguar’s 328.