Da Costa revival continues but Wehrlein suffers title setback

Antonio Felix da Costa took his second victory of the Formula E season in the second Shanghai race, beating McLaren's first-time podium finisher Jake Hughes to the win with a commanding drive.

In what was a faster, far less dramatic race than the one that opened the weekend, da Costa was a threat throughout and was not headed once he'd claimed the lead just past the halfway point in the 28-lap race.

Da Costa's place at Porsche beyond the end of this season remains up in the air - with the 2019/20 champion's qualifying performances Porsche's main gripe.

But there was no such issue here as da Costa started third, holding station to begin with then passing polesitter Hughes for second at the end of the second lap.

He was part of an early four-way battle for the lead along with Hughes, DS Penske's Stoffel Vandoorne and Andretti driver Norman Nato as the majority of drivers cleared their attack mode usage early.

And though the customer Porsche of Nato seemed comfortable leading the race, da Costa had managed his energy levels expertly through that opening phase and hit the front on lap 16 - building a small gap in his first three laps that proved enough as he beat Hughes, who cleared Nato inside the final 10 laps to clinch second.

Da Costa's second win of the season - and third on the road, having been disqualified at Misano, a decision that Porsche is still appealing - gave Porsche some solace as championship hopeful Pascal Wehrlein ended the race a point-less 20th.

Wehrlein had struggled to make progress in the opening stages from 13th on the grid before being taken out of contention while running on the fringes of the points.

He was tagged on the left-rear tyre by McLaren's Sam Bird and Wehrlein pitted at the end of the lap, reporting a puncture.

Wehrlein's non-score allowed fourth-place finisher Nick Cassidy to extend his advantage to 25 points in the drivers' standings.

There was no repeat of the intra-team angst over positions a day earlier for Cassidy and Jaguar and though he was never a real threat for a podium, fourth still represented an important haul that moves him a race win's worth of points clear of Wehrlein with three rounds remaining.

While Hughes celebrated an excellent first Formula E podium in his second season with McLaren (with Nato achieving his first top-three finish at Andretti in third) his team-mate Bird was the only retiree from the race.

Though his contact with Wehrlein was minor, Bird later lunged into Nyck de Vries' Mahindra - ending his race soon after and wiping fourth-place starter De Vries out of contention for a second points finish in two days.

Cassidy was followed home over the line by Jaguar team-mate Mitch Evans, with Vandoorne fading from early victory contention to a muted sixth - right ahead of team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne, who was disgruntled by the way his fellow DS Penske driver had raced him while they fought for position.

Max Guenther, Robin Frijns - up 11 places from 20th on the grid - and Oliver Rowland completed the points.