A lot was riding on Formula E having a good race in Monaco on Saturday, but the all-electric series properly delivered in its first crack at the full Monaco GP layout.
But beyond the bigger picture the race shook up the 2020-21 season’s erratic title fight once more, with seven drivers out front now split by just 16 points after seven races.
Below, The Race’s Formula E correspondent Sam Smith delves into the various performances on display in the principality.
Pure action! Your #MonacoEPrix highlights ⚡️
Until next time, Circuit de Monaco 😍 pic.twitter.com/OEXxazzFpK
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) May 8, 2021
DS Techeetah
Antonio Felix da Costa – 10
Position: 1st
Championship position: 4th, 52 points
Da Costa was imperious again in qualifying and stitched together a superb Super Pole effort to take his second pole in third races. His second sector effort was among the best seen in Formula E for a very long time and it netted him pole by a scant 0.012s even though he claimed to be “not at full beans, just 100%”.
His race was finely judged and he was able to relinquish the lead relatively unaffected with his targets. He chose caution when Evans executed his ludicrously good move for the lead at Beau Rivage, and then bided his time after the safety car to make it stick with a deft move on a faltering Evans at the chicane.
That LAST LAP overtake for the #MonacoEPrix WIN!!!@afelixdacosta @DSTECHEETAH pic.twitter.com/lrjYEcCHps
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) May 8, 2021
This result had been coming for a long time this season for the reigning champion and he now looks back on track for a renewed crack at a potent title defence that is now gaining momentum by the lap.
Jean-Eric Vergne – 8
Position: 4th
Championship position: 7th, 46 points
Vergne wasn’t especially thrilled with his qualifying or Super Pole effort but that belied his raw pace, which was there. A big lock up at Sainte Devote on his group lap didn’t help but it was still good enough for a comfortable transition to Super Pole.
That lap was also decent and within 0.059s of da Costa’s pole but like his team-mate the 2019 Monaco E-Prix winner held back slightly.
Vergne built a strong race and placed and got up to second place after a slight mauling of Evans at the chicane and the first attack mode.
He then compromised himself by missing the attack mode loop for his second attack mode, and when the safety car was deployed he knew he would lose several positions when he did accomplish the boost.
But from eighth place he surged through, passing Bird, Cassidy, Rowland and Gunther to burst through to fourth and just failing to vault the ailing Evans on the finish line, taking an excellent fightback fourth.
Nissan e.dams
Sebastien Buemi – 5
Position: 12th
Championship position: 22nd, 11 points
Buemi’s qualifying was compromised by Sette Camara’s incident at the final turn but he was vehemently unhappy with the way it panned out and made that clear on the team radio after he knew it was good enough only for P13.
It was another anonymous race for Buemi and his trough this season remains as he fought in the lower midfield mostly with the Venturis to a dispiriting 12th.
Oliver Rowland – 8
Position: 6th
Championship position: 9th, 35 points
Rowland put in a stellar qualifying lap in the new Nissan IM03 but it could have been so much more. He got an erroneous delta readout on his dash and braked early at Rascassse when he would have likely topped the group instead of Vergne.
Super Pole was marred by a ridiculous penalty for a rushed session start after the final group stoppage and delay saw him fail to leave the pitlane by approximately 0.7s! But it ultimately only cost him one position after four of the five that went ahead of him were quicker.
His race was strong but without ever being in real contention for a podium. He fought as hard as ever and survived contact with Guenther’s BMW to claim sixth and continue his consistent points haul this season, and again put team-mate Buemi in the shade.
Mercedes EQ
Stoffel Vandoorne – 5
Position: DNF
Championship position: 6th, 48 points
Never really got hooked up in qualifying and started a depressed 15th after tyre temperature struggles.
A truly miserable weekend was compounded by a wretched race which saw Vandoorne initially scrap in the lower reaches of the field
He then had a major moment when a suspected braking issue locked his rear axle and jettisoned him into Wehrlein’s Porsche just after the safety car came back in. It was an abject end to what was most definitely a weekend to forget.
Nyck de Vries – 5
Position: DNF
Championship position: 2nd, 57 points
Knocking his dial power mode dial off over a bump rendered his qualifying lap meaningless and the points leader was anchored down in 23rd position and effectively out any prospect of keeping his hard-earned standings lead coming in to Monaco.
Subsequent component changes in his powertrain cluster meant de Vries took a 40-place grid wrap, which was converted in toa 10-second stop/go penalty.
This dropped the erstwhile points leader in to another race entirely and then despite gaining it back under the safety car he stopped just before Tabac with an unspecified technical issue which caused his failsafe mechanism to come on and switch his car off completely.
Envision Virgin Racing
Robin Frijns – 9
Position: 2nd
Championship position: 1st, 62 points
Frijns was well lit from the very start of track action on Saturday and was one of the first to be truly committed through Casino in free practice.
Quali lap from group one was magical despite a brief tap of the wall. Super Pole was just as good with a sensational final sector taking him to within 0.012s of the pole.
Frijns was dynamite from the start and took the lead from da Costa at a relative canter but despite trying to pull clear and open a gap, which he did briefly, it was clear that da Costa and Evans had the real race-winning pace.
He got shuffled down to third in the second half of the race but took an opportunistic final-metre dash for second on the energy ailing Evans. Overall, more big points for the Dutchman sees him take over the points lead heading into the mini early-summer break.
Nick Cassidy – 7
Position: 8th
Championship position: 17th, 19 points
Monaco rookie Cassidy was soon into the groove during practice and despite an on-track altercation with Nato’s Venturi he headed into qualifying quietly confident.
The confidence was well-placed as he produced a fine lap for second in his group, just 0.021s off da Costa’s best. He just missed out on Super Pole by a slender 0.003s but seventh was a fine effort.
Cassidy had another strong race and was looking good for a solid top-six position. But some contact with Rene Rast at Sainte Devote and then getting shuffled back to eighth in the final laps left him ultimately a little disappointed.
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
Maximilian Guenther – 8
Position: 5th
Championship position: 16th, 22 points
Guenther’s raw pace in qualifying looked reasonably promising and quite measured, so it was not a huge surprise to see him topping his group and making it four Super Pole visits in seven attempts.
Sadly his Super Pole lap ultimately didn’t deliver but after Rowland’s exclusion he was promoted to a fifth-placed start.
Guenther had a storming race, battling with an obstinate Rowland early doors before taking advantage of the chicane contretemps between Vergne and Evans to run third. His positions ebbed and flowed but he was always in the mix.
Jake Dennis – 6
Positions: 16th
Championship position: 10th, 33 points
One of only three Monaco rookies in the field, Dennis was still exploring the limits heading into qualifying but put together a solid lap to start 14th despite not maximising tyre temperatures as he got slightly compromised by a sluggish Vergne on his warm-up lap.
Dennis’ race got severely skewed early on when he was caught up in the logjam at the hairpin and suffered some damage front and rear. Then he got dealt a drive-through penalty for excessive power use after his car got knocked into reverse.
With his wheels off the ground but the Valencia winner hard on the throttle, he got the sanction for over power when stationary!
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
Lucas di Grassi – 7
Position: 10th
Championship position: 19th, 14 points
A tepid qualifying saw di Grassi rooted to fourth in his group, which equated to another disappointing and lowly start in 17th. It was in all honesty hard to adequately explain when Audi customer team Envision Virgin was right at the sharp end.
That aside, di Grassi again fought valiantly in the race and as usual managed to make up several positions to go from 17th to eighth by the last corner. That was when he was shunted aside by Andre Lotterer, dropping to 10th at the chequered flag.
Rene Rast – 7
Position: DNF
Championship position: 8th, 39 points
Rast looked quick in free practice but ultimately his qualifying lap was way off group one pace-setters Frijns and Evans’ pace, mostly due to some unwelcome oversteer, which limited him to a 10th-place start.
Enjoyed a strong race and was dicing with Alex Lynn in the early running but banked a sizeable chunk of energy and looked to be a genuine threat for a top-six place at least.
It all came crashing to a halt when he collided with the fellow Audi-powered car of Nick while contesting seventh place. The resultant contact with the wall broke the rear suspension and his parked car at Beau Rivage brought out the race-defining safety car.
Jaguar Racing
Mitch Evans – 9
Position: 3rd
Championship position: 3rd, 54 points
Evans was on excellent form from the very first lap as he attacked the full track for his first runs since the 2016 GP2 race.
He shadowed Frijns in his quali group but really shone in Super Pole where he grazed the wall at Sainte Devote and channelled a 1990-spec Jean Alesi with some entertaining reflexology at Massenet and Casino. His first sector was a tantalising 0.001s off poleman da Costa’s best but he ultimately had to make do with third.
Evans built a strong pace and looked in a decent position to attack for the win. But a Vergne-triggered lunge had far reaching consequences as he attempted to get back on terms. He did this spectacularly with the move of the race on da Costa, at of all places Beau Rivage!
"ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS"
You're not supposed to be able to overtake like that at Monaco for the lead, @mitchevans_ !#MonacoEPrix 👉 https://t.co/3hxrnMERTJ @JaguarRacing pic.twitter.com/msBDIVlUaX
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) May 8, 2021
While he earned track position, in the second attack mode he “just burnt up a lot of juice to get there” and was always then susceptible in the final laps. The inevitable came when da Costa and Frijns jumped him on the final lap and he was powerless to defend.
Sam Bird – 8
Position: 7th
Championship position: 5th, 49 points
Bird got compromised by a dithering de Vries in qualifying and as a result ultimately fell way short of team-mate Evans and was a hugely frustrated 16th. That this came after some excellent pace shown in practice added extra salt to the wound.
The race was fruitful for Bird, who got his elbows out and managed to get back in the points groove with seventh place after a desperate Valencia.
Overall though there was a strong sense of what could have been for the Jaguar driver after he showed similar pace to Evans on various runs across free practice.
TAG-Heuer Porsche
Andre Lotterer – 6
Position: 9th
Championship position: 18th, 18 points
Lotterer had his most lacklustre qualifying for a long time on pace and was far from comfortable on his push lap. It showed as he was half a second away from the pace, which brought a lowly 19th-place start.
It was a patient race as he was able to pick off several cars, taking the inside line at the hairpin during the lap one dodgems display.
He made his way into the points and was dicing with di Grassi for eighth at the final corner when he nerfed the Audi out of the way and picked up a five-second post-race penalty and two penalty points for his trouble to seal a desperate day for Porsche and seal a second non-score in three races.
Pascal Wehrlein – 6
Position: DNF
Championship position: 12th, 32 points
Wehrlein’s day was curiously low-key and despite a decent qualifying it was spoiled by the hairpin melee which saw him literally drive over Alexander Sims’ Mahindra. This came after he was initially hit by Rowland’s Nissan, after which Wehrlein nailed the throttle and went into Sims.
This dropped him down to 15th but with pace-affecting damage he went nowhere fast and ultimately became the unwitting victim of Vandoorne’s glitch-triggered shunt and parked his car for good with a few laps remaining.
Mahindra Racing
Alexander Sims – 5
Position: DNF
Championship position: 14th, 24 points
It never really happened for Sims at Monaco despite a reasonable enough qualifying lap which saw him start mid-grid in 11th.
That was ultimately his downfall as he became the victim of the hairpin debacle after being spun around by Wehrlein in a chain reaction where Sims watched incredulously as the Porsche did a ludicrous but technically proficient Monster Truck impression.
Alex Lynn – 6
Position: 9th
Championship position: 15th, 23 points
Lynn made a fine fist of it in qualifying despite not being entirely happy with the balance of his car.
He started ninth and finished ninth but there was initial promise as he rose to seventh and was in decent contention, harrying Rowland’s Nissan after taking an early first attack mode.
After that though the pace seemed to drop off a little and he fell out of the points to 12th on the final lap before coming out of a fraught last corner in 10th, which was subsequently improved to ninth after Lotterer was pinged for creating the havoc.
ROKiT Venturi Racing
Edoardo Mortara – 6
Position: 13th
Championship position: 11th, 32 points
Mortara again looked rapid in practice but in qualifying he lost temperature in tyres slightly and ended a dejected 18th.
His race looked set for a more positive outcome when he made up five positions on the first lap after the hairpin dramas. He got to the verge of the points and was 11th entering Rascasse on the final lap when he got caught up in the Lotterer and di Grassi interface, which saw him drop down to a gloomy 13th.
Norman Nato – 6
Position: 13th
Championship position: 23rd, 11 points
Nato had fraught practice sessions, first after collecting a stationary Sette Camara at Rascasse and then struggling with a braking issues.
Qualifying produced a solid lap but it was hampered by less-than-ideal tyre temperatures, which saw him place 10th before he was shuffled back to 12th after a penalty for the practice shunt was applied.
He suffered some damage after an incident with di Grassi at the hairpin and never really recovered trailing in a bitterly frustrated 14th.
Dragon Penske
Nico Mueller – 4
Position: 18th
Championship position: 13th, 30 points
Mueller struggled with all manner of challenges in the new Penske EV-5 and never really looked like excavating any genuine pace in qualifying so started 20th.
His race was equally frustrating especially after he got severely delayed at the hairpin incident and subsequent knock-on effect.
He had a relatively unobtrusive run to a remarkably un-noteworthy 18th place in a race where he was not able to get his car within a second of the ultimate pace.
Sergio Sette Camara – 5
Position: 15th
Championship position: 21st, 12 points
Sette Camara’s new Penske EV-5 powertrain malfunctioned in practice and damaged the battery, meaning he was on the back foot from the off as he missed half of the first session and all but 10 minutes of the second one.
Therefore qualifying was always going to be a exploration exercise. Frustratingly he was on schedule for a decent top 12 slot when he overcooked it at Anthony Nogues and backed his car into the wall.
A tough day in the office for @sergiosettecama…
The @DragonRacing_FE driver has it all to play for in this afternoons #MonacoEPrix 👊
Click here for live timings and how to watch where you are 👉 https://t.co/3hxrnMERTJ pic.twitter.com/evHSpj3Rmf
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) May 8, 2021
He was allowed to start from the back row and to be fair to the Brazilian he got stuck in and raced gamely with Turvey and Vandoorne for a time. The reality was though that the pace wasn’t there and any sniff of a point was a long way away.
NIO333
Oliver Turvey – 5
Position: 19th
Championship position: 20th, 13 points
Turvey endeavoured in free practice but it became evident quite quickly that NIO333 was going to struggle on both qualifying and race modes/pace at Monaco.
After an encouraging FP2, Turvey was a good chunk off in qualifying after clipping the wall, anchoring him to 22nd-place start.
His race saw some initial progress neutered by delays at the hairpin traffic jam and from there he was never able to get on terms with most of those around him as he struggled to 19th at the chequered flag.
Tom Blomqvist – 6
Position: 14th
Championship position: 24th, 5 points
Blomqvist had issues around the brakes on his NIO at various stages and although he out-qualified Turvey for the second race in succession, it was a more hollow feeling than Valencia as his time was only good enough for 21st.
Had some reasonable race pace and was able to get about those around him such as Sette Camara and Nato. Raced without major dramas to 15th but picked up an additional spot when Lotterer took his penalty.
