In a dramatic turn of events at the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, Nick Cassidy missed a golden opportunity to widen his lead in the Formula E World Championship. While his teammate Mitch Evans initially crossed the finish line in first place, a penalty for contact with McLaren’s Jake Hughes pushed Evans down to eighth. This allowed Antonio Felix da Costa to claim his third victory in four races. However, Porsche also faced disappointment as da Costa’s teammate Pascal Wehrlein could only manage a 10th place finish, gaining just one point on Cassidy.
Cassidy had been executing an impressive display of energy-saving driving, starting in 13th place and quickly making his way to the front of the pack. He successfully fended off da Costa and was leading the race against Evans when disaster struck on the penultimate lap. Cassidy ran wide at the Turn 10/11 chicane, causing him to slide onto the grass and spin out, ultimately finishing in 19th place.
Evans, who felt the penalty was unjust, saw his hopes of victory dashed as he crossed the finish line. Within minutes, da Costa went from third place to first, with a Jaguar 1-2 turning into a victory for the Portuguese driver. Hughes, involved in the incident with Evans, suffered a puncture and ended up in 21st place, a lap behind the leaders.
Robin Frijns, driving for Jaguar’s customer team Envision, secured second place, followed by DS Penke’s Jean-Eric Vergne in third. Edoardo Mortara achieved a season-best result for Mahindra, finishing in fourth place. Reigning champion Jake Dennis took sixth place for Andretti, with Abt Cupra driver Nico Mueller finishing ahead of him in fifth.
Wehrlein’s strategy of delaying his attack mode activations seemed to backfire, as he was unable to make any progress from his 10th place starting position once the pace of the race picked up in the closing laps. He is also under investigation for a collision that ended Maserati driver Maximilian Guenther’s race. Despite Cassidy’s error, Wehrlein still trails him by 24 points in the championship standings.
Norman Nato, teammate of Jake Dennis at Andretti, showed impressive speed in qualifying but was penalized with a 10-place grid penalty due to a full-course yellow infringement in final practice. Starting from 11th place, Nato quickly made his way to the front of the pack, only to sacrifice his position with a lengthy stint in the energy-inefficient lead. He ultimately finished in 13th place.