São Paulo ePrix 2024: Sam Bird gives McLaren its first Formula E victory

Sam Bird is a patient man. In São Paulo, the McLaren driver put an end to a 37-race winless streak in Formula E, the last one dating back to the second race of the New York ePrix in Season 7 in 2021. An eternity for someone who was already present in the Formula E championship during the first race in history in Beijing in 2014, and who had always won at least one race each year until Season 7.

Sixth time in a qualifying session dominated by Porsche driver Pascal Wehrlein, Bird had a card to play for his fourth race at the wheel of the McLaren powered by Nissan. The former Jaguar driver managed to avoid the pitfalls of an intense race full of twists and turns and suspense.

After just a few laps, a collision at the first corner between Norman Nato’s Andretti and Lucas di Grassi’s ABT Cupra left a lot of debris on the track. The safety car was deployed for the first time to clean up the track. Already leading the race, Bird managed to hold onto his top position at the restart despite the attacks from the two Porsches and Mitch Evans’ Jaguar.

While the Attack Mode strategies are being implemented in the tightly bunched peloton, championship leader Nick Cassidy sees his front wing go under his wheels, sending his Jaguar into the wall. This marks his first retirement of the season after three consecutive podium finishes, including a victory.

Second appearance of the safety car, still ahead of Bird, Evans, the Porsches, defending champion Jack Dennis, Oliver Rowland’s Nissan, and the two DS Penskes. There are just over ten laps to go and the victory is still up for grabs. Evans seizes an opportunity to overtake Bird on the straight behind the pit lane. However, the McLaren driver does not give up and stays close to the New Zealander’s Jaguar.

The final laps are intense and it is necessary to wait for the penultimate turn to see the race reach its conclusion. Bird takes the outside line against his opponent and seizes the opportunity to claim the 12th victory of his Formula E career, the first for McLaren since its arrival in Formula E last year. Behind the two men, Oliver Rowland climbs onto the third step of the podium after overtaking Wehrlein and Dennis in the final turn; the Nissan driver thus securing his second consecutive podium finish.

In the championship, Cassidy retains his lead with more than four points ahead of Wehrlein. Following closely behind are Evans, Vergne, Dennis, and Bird, with just two points separating them. In the team standings, Jaguar is still leading the way ahead of Porsche and DS Penske.

Meet us in two weeks, on March 30th, for the first-ever Tokyo ePrix.

Classification of the São Paulo ePrix 2024

Drivers’ championship standings

Team championship ranking