Cassidy untroubled on his way to Shanghai E-Prix victory

Vyas Ponnuri
2 days ago
4 min read

Written by Vyas Ponnuri

Nick Cassidy put in an assured drive from pole position, taking victory in a wet Shanghai E-Prix on Sunday. The New Zealander put it on pole after a shortened qualifying, with a delayed start and seven laps under the safety car before racing action got underway in Shanghai

Cassidy took victory in Shanghai | Credit: Simon Galloway/LAT Images

Once again, it was Cassidy driving an assured race in the rain, similar to his triumph in the 2023 London E-Prix finale. The Jaguar man took his attack mode straightaway, never looking back as he drove faultlessly on a day when many struggled to keep it pointing in a straight line.

The closest competitors were seven seconds back, with Pascal Wehrlein and António Félix da Costa converting their starting positions into podium finishes, in a big day for the Porsche team.

Jake Hughes grabbed his first points since the Jeddah E-Prix in February, as Maserati ensured both cars finished in the points, with Tokyo winner Stoffel Vandoorne finishing further down the road in seventh.

Jean-Éric Vergne and Nico Müller flew the flag high for DS Penske and Andretti, coming home fifth and sixth, with both their teammates unable to finish in the points due to poor qualifying and technical issues.

Lucas di Grassi converted a fourth position start into eighth on the road, after delaying his first attack mode cost him three positions, while Robin Frijns took home only his fifth points score of 2025 for Envision Racing.

Taylor Barnard recovered from further down the grid to score points, capping off an efficient and error-free race for the rookie Briton.

AS IT UNFOLDED - Cassidy leads Shanghai E-Prix from pole in the rain

Heavy rain delayed proceedings on Sunday, the race starting under the safety car | Credit: Simon Galloway/LAT Images

Nick Cassidy started the 28-lap race on pole position, ahead of Porsche's António Félix da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein, after heavy showers in the region restricted qualifying to Group A and Group B, with the duels stage not taking place.

Alas, due to heavy showers, the race start was delayed by over an hour and a half, from the revised 13:05 local time (05:05 GMT) according to schedule changes proposed by Formula E after round 10. However, the race only got underway at 14:35 local time, with seven laps behind the safety car to assess the conditions.

Race director Marek Hanaczewski then radioed to the teams, signalling a rolling start, with a further 21 laps of racing to go.

The top 3 went into attack mode straight away, while Lucas di Grassi was the only driver in the top ten not to take his first hit of extra power. While this would cost him positions to Wehrlein, Jake Hughes and Nyck de Vries, the Lola man would jump in for his dose of extra power.

Despite the rain easing up, drivers still found it difficult to navigate the contours of the Shanghai International Circuit. de Vries lost traction on the exit of turn 5, veering onto the grass and gravel on the outside, slipping out of the points scoring positions.

The likes of Jake Dennis and Wehrlein too experienced oversteer at the fast turn 7, losing time to those ahead, while Cupra Kiro's David Beckmann too having a spin at the corner.

de Vries was once again in the wars, scrapping away with Hughes' teammate Stoffel Vandoorne for ninth on the road. As the Belgian experienced oversteer into turn 7, de Vries went into the side of the Maserati, as he attempted to make full use of his attack mode on the road. Elsewhere, Dennis and Oliver Rowland too made contact into the final corner, as the championship leader attempted to pass Mitch Evans for 12th.

Maximilian Günther became the first driver to retire from the race, a technical issue giving out a 'red car' warning, a warning for an unsafe vehicle out on the track that has often necessitated for safety cars and red flags in the past. Yet, the German was able to pull into a siding in the pit lane, stopping off the track.

As the race entered its closing stages, several drivers scrambled to take their attack modes. Both McLarens of Taylor Barnard and Sam Bird took their attack modes. While Barnard made his way up to take the final point, with a move on Zane Maloney's Lola, Bird had a spin into turn 6, losing positions in attack mode.

With race director Hanaczewski announcing three added laps, drivers utilised the opportunity to push for a final charge. Drivers were still finding it difficult, with Vandoorne too spinning into the gravel, despite remaining in the points.

Further ahead, Wehrlein had utilised much more energy than those around him, with Porsche sending a radio message to the reigning champion to "Bring it home", with a decent gap to teammate da Costa behind.

Yet, nobody was able to rein in Cassidy's Jaguar. The pole-sitter, who pulled away ever since he took attack mode on lap 8, eventually took the chequered flag by a sizeable margin of over seven seconds.

While the win boosted him as well as Jaguar, a double podium for Porsche elevated them to the lead of the constructors' standings, after neither Nissan driver scored during the race, with Rowland coming home 13th and Norman Nato down in 21st, last of the classified finishers.