Nick Cassidy stormed from ninth on the grid to win the Monaco E-Prix. The Envision Racing driver now takes the championship lead, with title rival Pascal Wehrlein finishing a distant 10th.
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans put the pressure on Cassidy in the closing laps, but a late-race Safety Car meant he had to settle for second. Avalanche Andretti driver Jake Dennis completed the podium.
- Cassidy leads championship, 20 points ahead of Wehrlein
- Evans, Dennis on podium
- Envision Racing takes championship lead from Porsche
Cassidy fends off Evans
Carrying on their Berlin E-Prix form, Jaguar-powered cars continued to show a strong pace in Monaco. Cassidy’s early overtakes proved to be crucial and by Lap 7, he was already in the lead.
Evans was initially told to avoid overtaking Cassidy, but he was given the green light to go ahead on Lap 21. He was within touching distance when the Safety Car was brought out with just three laps to go, sealing Cassidy’s victory.
Dennis also made big gains, climbing from 11th on the grid to take the final spot on the podium. He was followed by Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz and McLaren’s Jake Hughes in fourth and fifth. Fenestraz had taken pole on track, but a post-session penalty dropped him to second, handing Hughes pole.
Wehrlein, Porsche dethroned
The Monaco E-Prix saw the 2023 Formula E title lead change for the first time since the Diriyah round in January. Long-time championship leader Wehrlein could only score a single point; that too was inherited after Sam Bird was handed a penalty for taking out Nico Mueller.
Wehrlein is now 20 points behind Cassidy in the championship, while Porsche has also dropped to second in the teams' standings behind Envision Racing. “We’d hoped for better in Monaco and we’re disappointed not to have been able to showcase the true potential of our car. We now have to focus on our strong points and regain the performance that we’ve demonstrated so often this year,” said Wehrlein.
Mahindra’s Rowland retires with injury
Monaco proved to be another tough race for Mahindra and the Indian squad walked away from the round with no points scored. Lucas di Grassi progressed from 20th to finish 12th.
Oliver Rowland gained six places at the start, only for all that hard work to be undone when he made contact with Edoardo Mortara at the Nouvelle Chicane. He was forced to retire after injuring his left hand; however, Mahindra has since confirmed that “the results of the X-Ray showed that there were no broken bones, just bruising and some swelling”. So he should be clear to race at the next round in Jakarta on June 3-4.
2023 Monaco E-Prix results
Suraj Viswanathan
