Misano ePrix 2024 – Race 1: Antonio Felix da Costa wins ahead of Oliver Rowland and Jake Dennis

This 10th season of Formula E is definitely full of surprises. For the sixth time this year in six races, it’s a new driver who crossed the finish line in first place.

Behind the wheel of his Porsche, Antonio Felix da Costa emerged as the winner of the first race of the weekend held at the Misano circuit. After 28 laps, the Portuguese driver, who started in 14th position, managed to quickly climb to the front pack before overtaking his competitors in the final laps.

On this permanent circuit that is more used to seeing bikers compete for laurels, energy management was going to be the central point of this race. Starting from pole position, Mitch Evans managed to maintain his position in the early corners, while in the pack, it was Edoardo Mortara’s Mahindra that had to retire due to a technical problem.

Several drivers then managed to stand out, such as Sébastien Buemi, who was in the lead for a while, and especially Nick Cassidy. The Jaguar driver fought at the front for several laps before a collision with Jean-Eric Vergne forced him to return to the pits to repair the damage to his car.

The DS Penske driver, a major player in the afternoon, will receive a five-second penalty for this maneuver. Two drivers later, this time it is with the championship leader Pascal Wehrlein that the Frenchman will damage some carbon. The German’s Porsche also has to go through the pits to change the front wing.

After about ten laps, we find the two DS Penske cars, Sam Bird and Mitch Evans, at the front of the race, ahead of da Costa and Oliver Rowland. These two will stick together until the checkered flag. Even though he knows he is condemned to go down in the standings because of his penalty, Vergne continues to fight for the lead and a trio forms with his competitors from Porsche and Nissan.

With ten laps to go, it is Bird’s McLaren, winner in São Paulo a month ago, that suffers a puncture and has to give up. Up front, the battle is fierce between the top three, and in the energy management game, it is ultimately da Costa who launches a fatal attack on Rowland two laps from the end.

The Portuguese driver holds the lead position until the end and wins ahead of the Englishman’s Nissan and Vergne’s DS Penske, who is eventually demoted to 8th place with his penalty. Da Costa enables Porsche to claim its second victory this season after Wehrlein’s win in Mexico.

Secondly, Rowland climbs onto his fourth consecutive podium. This consistency allows him to take the lead in the championship, five points ahead of Jake Dennis, who is in 3rd place and has made a crazy comeback from 17th position on the grid.

The second race of the weekend in Misano will take place tomorrow, Sunday, and will start at 3pm.

Ranking ePrix of Misano 2024 – Race 1

Drivers’ championship standings

Team championship ranking.