Jaguar’s Mitch Evans pulled off a bold last-lap overtake around the outside of Pascal Wehrlein to win the first Formula E race of the weekend in Shanghai.
Wehrlein led heading into the final laps of the race, before Evans took his opportunity and passed him at turn one to take the lead and win.
Wehrlein held off Evans’ team mate, his championship rival Nick Cassidy for second place. The second Jaguar claimed the final podium spot in third. However, Evans is currently under investigation for an incident of leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Racing around a shortened layout of the Shanghai International Circuit which cuts from turn nine on the grand prix circuit back onto the pit straight, the opening race of the weekend saw the entire field once again compressed into a large single pack. Pole winner Jean-Eric Vergne was one of several leaders over the opening half of the race, which saw the two Porsches of Wehrlein and Antonio Felix da Costa eventually move to the front of the field together.
Eventually, with under ten laps remaining, the field began to spread out. Wehrlein established himself as the leader, with the Jaguars of Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy pressuring both him and Da Costa in the top four. Jake Dennis was one of the last drivers to take his second Attack Mode and used the extra energy to join the battle for the lead, slotting into third place.
In the closing laps, Wehrlein continued to lead with the two Jaguars moving to be his major competition. Heading into the last lap of the race, Evans swept around the outside of the Porsche into turn one to take the lead, with Wehrlein coming under heavy pressure from Cassidy with his higher energy level.
Evans pulled clear to take the chequered flag, while Cassidy fumed over Wehrlein’s last-lap defensive tactics. Oliver Rowland finished fourth for Nissan, with Da Costa in fifth and Dennis in sixth.
Pole winner Vergne finished in seventh, ahead of Nyck de Vries, Sebastien Buemi and Stoffel Vandoorne, who claimed the final point in tenth after Maximilian Guenther was hit with a ten second post-race penalty for causing a collision. Nissan driver Edoardo Mortara pulled into the pits and into retirement just after the halfway mark with damage to the front of his car, the only driver who failed to finish.
The race result keeps Cassidy on the top of the championship on 155 points heading into the second race of the weekend on Sunday, but with Wehrlein reducing his lead slightly to 13 points.
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