Cassidy stuns the field to take maiden victory for Citroën in Mexico City
- Vyas Ponnuri
- 13 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Written by Vyas Ponnuri
Nick Cassidy took his first victory of Season 12, and put Citroën Racing's name up on the winners board for the first time. The New Zealander pulled off a stellar defence late in the race at Mexico, fending off a charging Edoardo Mortara and Oliver Rowland until the flag.
Mortara and Jake Dennis pushed hard, using every bit of their final attack mode to close in on Cassidy, but weren't able to find a way past as the race reached its final tours. Rowland capitalised on the opportunity to pass Dennis on the last lap though, to take home third on the road.
Taylor Barnard stormed ahead right at the line to take fourth, ahead of Dennis, while Pascal Wehrlein endured a rare off-colour weekend to take sixth on the road. Rookie Pepe Martí scored his first Formula E points in seventh, ahead of Cassidy's teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, while Nico Müller and Norman Nato rounded out the points in Mexico City.
AS IT UNFOLDED
Envision Racing's Sébastien Buemi started the Mexico City E-Prix from pole, after DS Penske's Taylor Barnard lost his pole lap time for exceeding track limits at Turn 16. In a major shake-up during qualifying, four-time Mexico pole-sitter Pascal Wehrlein failed to make it through to the duels stage, marking his worst qualifying at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
As the five red lights went out, Barnard got the better start, although Buemi fended hard heading into the slightly tightened Turn 1. However, as the Envision racer defended off the racing line, he braked too late heading into the right-hander, going deep. Buemi narrowly avoided the barriers, although the damage had been done. He rejoined at the rear of the field.
The top four remained largely static, with Barnard leading the race, ahead of Edoardo Mortara's Mahindra, while Nico Müller pressured the Swissman ahead for second.
Starting down in 11th, Wehrlein was the first driver to take attack mode on Lap 3. This move paid instant dividends for the German driver, who made up several places, to move up into the top six.
Mortara made a move to take the lead from Barnard into Turn 1 on Lap 5, with neither drives having taken attack mode yet. Wehrlein capitalised on the battling quintet ahead, moving into second at Turn 6, before taking the race lead from Mortara at the end of the lap.
As Wehrlein's attack mode ran out, teammate Müller was conveniently placed in second, allowing Porsche to play the team game. This resulted in Müller taking the lead on Lap 8, in an attempt by the reigning champions to secure the top two spots.
The Jaguar of António Félix da Costa and the Cupra Kiro of Dan Ticktum were the next to take attack mode and maximise the extra power available. da Costa made his way up into fourth, before an attempt to pass Mortara on Lap 11 saw him squeezed out at Turn 1, as he lost positions to Wehrlein.
Mortara later moved into the race lead on Lap 12, surpassing Müller into Turn 1, while Ticktum steadily made his way up into third in attack mode. He would later lose position to Wehrlein, with Porsche holding second and third on the road.
Further back, overtaking in the Foro Sol stadium section saw Jake Dennis and Maximilian Günther make their way past da Costa on Lap 13, to move into sixth and seventh, before da Costa moved back into seventh shortly after. Meanwhile, another change for the race lead saw Müller swap places with Mortara.
da Costa was once again in the midst of action, making contact with Ticktum on Lap 16. Several drivers managed to make their way past the Briton, including Nissan's Oliver Rowland, who took two minutes of attack mode and made his way up to ninth.
A full course yellow was called out on Lap 18 to recover the stricken Mahindra of Nyck de Vries. The Dutchman had stopped in the run off at Turn 1 after an issue with his car, bringing a difficult outing to an end. Further chaos ensued at Turns 5 and 6, though, with drivers attempting to go three abreast in the hairpin. da Costa and Rowland were forced to take the run off area after Buemi took avoiding action. Both drivers lost positions just as the full course yellow was called out.
The full course yellow was upgraded to a safety car period, bunching up the field. As the drivers trundled around on track, Ticktum's teammate Pepe Martí had about six percent more energy as compared to those at the front, putting him in prime position to make ground.
Lap 21 saw a double blow for the Envision Racing cars, as Buemi came into the pits to check for damages, while teammate Joel Eriksson received a five second penalty for breaching track limits.
The safety car came into the pits on Lap 22, leaving Müller and Mortara at the front of the field, with neither driver taking their attack modes yet. Günther took his attack mode on Lap 22, as did Lucas di Grassi, with the former making up places in the top 10.
Barnard made his way up into third, overtaking Wehrlein to take the position, while Dennis followed shortly to push the Porsche driver down to fifth. A major incident once again ensued at Turns 5 and 6, with Cassidy coming in for an overtake at the corner. The closing speed of the Citroën driver caused him to spin Günther around.
The spinning DS Penske then found himself in the way of da Costa, as the Jaguar driver lost his front wing and splattered debris at the turn. Ticktum attempted to take avoiding action, but made contact with Günther and headed onto the grass.
As the race neared its closing stages, the pace improved, and the likes of Mortara, Müller and Jake Dennis took their attack modes. Cassidy, who was in the wars earlier, had taken six minutes of attack mode in one go, swiftly making his way up to take the race lead.
Rowland too made his way up the grid, squabbling with Dennis for third on the road. Despite Mortara and Dennis having two minutes of attack mode, neither driver were able to make their way past Cassidy's Citroën on the road.
The New Zealander defended firmly in the final two laps, holding firm into Turn 1 and Turn 9, the prime overtaking spots on the circuit, as both Dennis and Mortara ran out of attack mode on the final lap, and could not find a way past.
Rowland capitalised on a slowing Dennis to make his way into third in the stadium section. However, none of them were able to stop Cassidy, who took Citroën's maiden Formula E victory from 13th on the grid, replicating his drives of the past.
It was Cassidy's fourth victory in the last six races, and his 12th Formula E victory, putting him fourth on the all-time winners list for the championship. Three different manufacturers took to the podium, while a rare off day for the Porsche drivers in Mexico left them sixth and ninth.
Further back, Martí made his way up to seventh at the flag, having started last and served a 10-second penalty, scoring his first Formula E points in the process.
Classification: Mexico City E-Prix
Nick Cassidy (Citroën Racing)
Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra Racing)
Oliver Rowland (Nissan)
Taylor Barnard (DS Penske)
Jake Dennis (Andretti)
Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche)
Pepe Martí (Cupra Kiro)
Jean-Éric Vergne (Citroën Racing)
Nico Müller (Porsche)
Norman Nato (Nissan)
Mitch Evans (Jaguar)
Maximilian Günther (DS Penske)
Lucas di Grassi (Lola Yamaha ABT)
Joel Eriksson (Envision Racing)
Felipe Drugovich (Andretti)
Zane Maloney (Lola Yamaha ABT)
Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing)
Dan Ticktum (Cupra Kiro) - DNF
António Félix da Costa (Jaguar) - DNF
Nyck de Vries (Mahindra Racing) - DNF
Drivers' standings
Nick Cassidy (Citroën Racing) - 40 points
Jake Dennis (Andretti) - 36 points
Oliver Rowland (Nissan) - 34 points
Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche) - 23 points
Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra Racing) - 18 points
Constructors' standings
Citroën Racing - 44 points
Andretti - 36 points
Nissan - 35 points
Porsche - 35 points
Mahindra Racing - 20 points
