Formula E’s 2024-25 season started with a remarkable last-to-first victory for Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, who didn’t even manage to set a qualifying time yet emerged on top in a wild race.
No one has ever won an FE race from last on the grid before, but does it rank as the best through-the-field drive in series’ history?
Here’s Sam Smith’s ranking of Formula E’s best back-to-front (or back-ish to front-ish at least) charges.
5 Oliver Rowland - London 2024
9th to 1st
One of Oliver Rowland’s best ever Formula E drives was masked somewhat by title fight mayhem involving Pascal Wehrlein being the fox in Jaguar’s title hen-house and running off with the title.
While all that was kicking off and the Jaguars tripped over themselves, Rowland from ninth place on the grid picked his way through the field and got himself into a great position to shakedown the fragile champions elect.
It opened up for him beautifully late in the race when the stalking became the striking, and Rowland despatched an exposed Nick Cassidy before the Kiwi was removed from proceedings by an over-eager Antonio Felix da Costa.
That left Rowland’s Nissan third with just Evans and Wehrlein ahead of him. When both missed their attack mode transponder loops Rowland was in and gratefully accepted the opportunity to win on home ground, notch up his second victory of the season and mug Jean-Eric Vergne and da Costa to claim fourth in the points after a stellar season in which had illness not ruled him out of the Portland double-header he would certainly have been in genuine championship contention.
4 Mitch Evans - Marrakesh 2020
20th to 6th
Evans’ forgotten masterpiece and one of the all-time great Formula E race drives just before the pandemic struck and FE got knocked out of shape for a few seasons.
Prior to the Marrakesh race Evans and Jaguar had looked to be on a hot streak with a third in Santiago and then a dominating win at Mexico City.
Come the Marrakesh, Evans was leading the championship by a point from the fast starting Alexander Sims.
But in qualifying it all went wrong. A calamitous error by his team in timing his qualifying run meant he didn’t get over the line in time and the Kiwi was rightly furious about the lame mistake.
Staring last on the grid he channelled his anger positively and scythed through the field at colossal rates to pick off rivals for fun.
This was before the pack-racing hysteria of Gen3 and Evans had to craft his moves elegantly.
He got up to a spellbinding sixth although he still rued the qualifying mistake as he lost the championship lead to eventual title-winner da Costa’s DS Techeetah.
3 Lucas di Grassi - Mexico City 2017
15th to 1st
Lucas di Grassi’s classic voodoo-like win in March 2017 was the first in a succession of ‘Miracle in Mexico’ performances that stretched all the way to his unlikely podium at the 2023 race in a recalcitrant Mahindra.
In 2017 di Grassi started the Mexico City E-Prix in 15th position after a fractious qualifying. His prospects for any points at all looked doomed at the end of the third lap when he pitted with a cock-eyed rear-wing and a temper as heady as the Mexican altitude.
His Abt team replaced the wing and sent him back only just on the lead lap.
When a safety car was deployed to mop up some mess di Grassi bolted for the pits and his mandatory car-swap stop. It was a massive roll of the dice, which essentially centred upon a massive energy save in the first portion of his second phase of the race.
The plan worked a treat, although Dragon’s Jerome d’Ambrosio followed suit and arguably should have won the race had it not been for some missteps in defending his positions.
Di Grassi felt like his unlikely chance at victory was shot when a second safety car was deployed in the second half of the race and his offset strategy was nullified. But he’d driven frugally and had done the hard yards on saving energy meaning he was able to defend stoutly and take a win that was rightly deemed the original ‘Miracle of Mexico.’
2 Mitch Evans - Sao Paulo, 2024
22nd to 1st
The most recent of the outrageous ‘burn from the stern’ races, Evans’ Sao Paulo epic last Saturday was a genius mix of opportunistic track position gains and cool use of the newly potent attack mode boost.
A collection of issues in free practice and qualifying had neutered Evans’ and Jaguar’s new season prospects as he started the race from the final grid slot after coming to a terminal halt in his group qualifying session.
In any other series that would have been game over. Not in Formula E.
The Kiwi made the opening laps count by quickly vanquishing 10 of his rivals and by mid-distance was solidly in the leading bunch. He’d seen how the attack mode could vault you up the order and he deliberately left his late.
It worked a treat as he took the lead of the race from team-mate Cassidy (who’d gone slightly earlier with his final attack mode) before a second red flag flew for champion Wehrlein’s airborne accident.
This was no easy cruise to the chequered flag though and Evans had to manage some grisly rubber and thermal challenges to defend from a rabid da Costa.
It was a supreme win, worthy of a champion, which Evans surely must become in the near future.
1 Antonio Felix da Costa - Cape Town 2023
13th to 1st
While Evans’ ‘top gear from the rear’ number was delicious, it wasn’t quite as epic in its grandstand finish philosophy as da Costa’s mesmeric journey from 13th to victory lane at the 2023 Cape Town E-Prix.
The Portuguese had only just made the move from the recently defunct DS Techeetah team to Porsche and this new partnership had started off steadily with a solid third place in the preceding race in Hyderabad.
Cape Town felt like a track right up da Costa’s street but he struggled in qualifying, failing to make the knock-out phases. Instead he lined up right in the mixer with 13th position.
The opening laps were all about survival as wheels were banged and front wings were loosened. Once clear of the midfield da Costa stalked Dan Ticktum’s NIO 333 and spent several laps banking energy before striking.
He put a smart move on Rene Rast’s McLaren and then shuffled past Sacha Fenestraz’s polesitting Nissan. When Max Guenther crashed his Maserati, da Costa was up into third place and within sight of leader and former team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne.
The one rival you don’t want to be fighting the lead for in the final knockings of a street circuit epic is Vergne. Making his car wider than the Cape of Good Hope itself, the DS Penske ace had absolutely no intention of losing what was set to be a second consecutive E-Prix win after a defensive masterclass in Hyderabad.
Two laps from the end da Costa got a run on Vergne exiting Turn 7, feigned left and then went for the right before flicking back over to claim a line that never really existed. It was from the top drawer of racing moves and one that sensationally won him the race.
HANG IT IN THE LOUVRE 🤌
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) February 25, 2023
A move worthy of winning any race. Take a bow @AFelixdacosta 👏#CapeTownEPrix pic.twitter.com/G2hrANaCTk
After the race da Costa was rightly on cloud nine. There were tears of joy for his first Porsche win and few begrudged him the emotion after arguably Formula E’s greatest ever victory.
Indeed, it was a victory so good it may as well have been hewn from the edifice of Table Mountain that overlooked the mighty Cape Town E-Prix circuit itself.
