Winners and Losers: Mexico City E-Prix
- Vyas Ponnuri
- 2 hours ago
- 11 min read
Written by Vyas Ponnuri
The Mexico City E-Prix witnessed several stellar comeback drives, while some found it to be a bittersweet pill to swallow. With a familiar face back at the top in Formula E’s milestone race, here are the winners and losers from the second Formula E weekend of the year….
Winner: Nick Cassidy
Would a Nick Cassidy win be considered a surprise anymore?
Not as much, considering it is his fourth race win in the last five races. And the race he didn’t win? Third, having started outside the top 10.
Cassidy is no stranger to pulling off comeback drives, but the early stages of Season 12 will certainly have left an ominous sign for the season to come. Days like these only vindicate the decision of team principal Cyril Blais and the Citroën top brass for spending the big bucks to bring Cassidy onboard.
The Mexico City E-Prix once again brought about the classic comeback drive we’ve been accustomed to: Convert a poor qualifying into a big result by conserving energy early in the race, before letting it rip in the final stages.
Starting 13th on the road, Cassidy rode much of the first half on the fringes of the top 10. Alongside Oliver Rowland, the duo did not look to press on early in the race, waiting for the right time to pull the pin and take the bull by the horns.
While Cassidy did have his role to play on a day of several incidents, he made up for it in a big way. Utilising six minutes of attack mode, the Citroën man kept close to race leader-elect Edoardo Mortara, crucially getting past the Mahindra man into Turn 1 onto Lap 30 to take the lead.
This move would prove to be the game-changer in the context of the race, with Cassidy having more juice in his attack mode allocation to use compared to Mortara, which he used to pull away and open up a gap to the rest of the pack.
Despite Mortara and São Paulo winner Jake Dennis closing down this gap, Cassidy expertly defended, planting his car to the inside of the left hander of Turn 10, and taking advantage of the two behind him squabbling for position. Being strong on the brakes into Turn 5 also cut off an important overtaking spot for the race.
With Mortara and Dennis running out of attack mode on the final lap, and falling into the clutches of the chasing Rowland and Taylor Barnard, it was all set up for Cassidy to take a comfortable 12th Formula E victory, and Citroën’s first in the championship.
There’s a trend of every Mexico City E-Prix winner in the Gen3 era going on to win the title, and it will certainly make for an extraordinary season if Cassidy and Citroën can keep this omen going until the end of Season 12.
Loser: Porsche
While several surprises littered the weekend in Mexico, Pascal Wehrlein and Porsche’s absence from the front of the grid was certainly the biggest among them.
Porsche (and in particular Wehrlein) have a tremendous form guide around the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, having taken a pole or finished on the podium at the venue for all but one season in between. Müller managed to outqualify his more illustrious, champion teammate, starting fifth on the grid and keeping his hopes high for the race.
But Season 12 didn’t quite bring about the same level of success for the driver as well as the team. Wehrlein was shockingly knocked out in the group stages of qualifying, starting the race only 11th on the road.
Starting further back, it was on Porsche to try a different strategy to the rest, in a bid to make up for the deficiencies in qualifying. It looked optimistic for the German driver early on, as he moved up to the race lead on Lap 6, and even formed part of a Porsche 1-2 at one point in the race.
However, using the early attack mode left him vulnerable towards the end of the race, and losing position to Barnard on the safety car restart left Wehrlein a sitting duck to those behind on attack mode.
While Müller ran strongly early in the race, closely locked in a battle with Mortara for the outright lead, a mistake on Lap 28 let Mitch Evans through for the lead, while the Swissman was no match for those behind on attack mode. He eventually came home in ninth, three positions behind teammate Wehrlein, with Porsche searching for answers, in addition to their first podium of the season.
Winner: Edoardo Mortara
Mortara hasn’t had the best form around Mexico. But there was one form guide boding well heading into this year: Mortara had won the previous landmark races in the championship (50th race, 100th race).
Upholding this record would mean setting right the previous record around Mexico City, and getting back onto the podium in the country after seven seasons.
Mortara certainly banked on Mahindra’s strong pre-season and qualifying pace in Season 12 across the weekend. Despite struggling to extract the maximum during free practice, the Swiss racer made it to the semi-finals in the qualifying session before being upstaged by Barnard. This meant he would start third, setting a quicker lap time compared to fellow semi-final eliminatee Evans.
On a day when several drivers were caught up in incidents, Mortara drove an excellent race, staying out of trouble as he slugged it out for the race lead with the likes of Barnard and Müller. He remained on course for victory, taking his attack mode late into the race.
However, he couldn’t rein in a chasing Cassidy, who moved past into the lead despite both drivers having attack mode. The extra 40 seconds of attack mode available allowed the Citroën man to open up the gap. Mortara had to use up more energy to close up to Cassidy ahead, forcing him to conserve energy as he tailed his rival for the win.
Despite falling behind on the final lap and running out of attack mode, Mortara was able to hold on to second from a chasing Rowland and Dennis, continuing his run of standing on the podiums during landmark races.
The podium finish in Mexico City elevated both Mortara and Mahindra to the top five in the championship standings, bringing some renewed assurance to the Indian manufacturer after a disastrous São Paulo weekend.
Loser: Nyck de Vries
While it was ecstasy on one side of the Mahindra garage, Mexico City marked a weekend to forget for Nyck de Vries. The Dutchman found himself on the backfoot, his performance across the weekend a complete contrast compared to Mortara.
A disastrous qualifying session left de Vries down at the back of the grid, only elevated up one spot due to Pepe Martí’s grid drop. He also couldn’t make much headway at the beginning of the race, running towards the rear of the grid as he looked to conserve energy for later in the race.
De Vries’ difficult weekend finally came to a sputtering stop on Lap 17, his Mahindra facing a mechanical issue and slowing on the run down to Turn 1. Despite the Dutchman’s best efforts to stop in a safe spot, a full course yellow (FCY) was called out to retrieve his stricken Mahindra.
This was later upgraded to a safety car, with recovery vehicles present at the run-off. The non-finish in Mexico City leaves de Vries on two points in the standings, and he will be looking ahead to the next stop in Miami for a quick reply to his starring teammate’s performances.
Winner: Pepe Martí
Cupra Kiro’s Pepe Martí was distraught after the opening weekend in São Paulo, despite escaping unscathed from a scary barrel roll crash that set his car on fire.
The Spaniard believed he could have finished in the top six, having run eighth and kept out of trouble up until the red flag was called out.
While they may not have many points to show, Cupra Kiro have displayed strong pace in Season 12. Dan Ticktum has made it to the duels in both weekends and started second and sixth so far (more on him later).
Martí’s pace was reflective of the strengths of the Porsche power unit, and staying out of trouble for most part. While running in the points on debut was impressive, the drive he pulled off in Mexico City was just as impressive.
Martí already faced a back-of-the-grid start, and with several new components taken early in the season, he faced a total grid drop of 60 positions. Having failed to serve the full grid penalty, this was converted into a 10-second stop/go penalty to be served during the race.
The series of penalties had left the Cupra Kiro man running last on the road, with the safety car period bringing him back into play. With upto six percent more energy compared to some of his competitors, a points finish wasn’t out of the question for the 20-year-old.
The Spaniard made up places as several drivers, including teammate Ticktum, got caught up in incidents and trips through the pit lane, before taking his final attack mode for four minutes behind Wehrlein.
Trailing the German all the way, Martí climbed up the order, using the extra power to overtake the likes of Norman Nato, Joel Eriksson and Müller to eventually make his way up to seventh at the flag, and score his first points in the championship. A stellar comeback drive, indeed, against all the odds for the rookie.
Loser: Dan Ticktum
"They race like a bunch of children, petulant children. Pathetic! I've had enough of this!"
The frustration had certainly caught up to Dan Ticktum during the Mexico City E-Prix. For the second successive race, a top-six start position had gone to bust, with the Briton ending up a victim in a race-ending incident.
Ticktum had made steady progress during the race, having taken his first attack mode activation early on, mirroring Jaguar racer António Félix da Costa on strategy. Having made his way up to third by Lap 12, Ticktum certainly eyed a redemption for missing out on a potential podium at the season-opening São Paulo E-Prix.
Yet, once again, Ticktum’s race would unravel, once again due to factors not in his control. A charging attempt by da Costa to get past at Turn 16 resulted in the Portuguese driver tugging Ticktum’s rear end at Turn 5.
The slow exit for the Cupra Kiro racer saw him slide down the order on the run down to Turn 9, with Rowland, who had just taken attack mode, pushing Ticktum down to 10th.
Even still, Ticktum sat ninth after the safety car period, and a recovery certainly looked on the cards, with over 15 laps to go and an attack mode activation remaining.
But Turn 5 would once again be the scene of Ticktum’s undoing. A squabbling Cassidy and da Costa couldn’t stop in time at Turn 5, tipping Max Günther around. As Ticktum veered left to avoid the spinning DS Penske, he clipped the rear, going onto the grass as he attempted to rejoin the track safely.
The damage was done, though. With Ticktum slowing on the run down to Turn 9 due to impending suspension damage from the collision, Cupra Kiro were forced to retire the car.
A distraught Ticktum lashed out at the stewarding decisions after the race, later releasing an outburst of emotions on a now-deleted Instagram post quoting his radio messages from the race. While this was certainly a piquing moment for the 26-year-old, he will be looking for a smoother weekend in Miami, chasing his first race finish of 2026.
Winner: Oliver Rowland
It may not have been a second successive Mexico City win, but the reigning champion ensured he put himself on a podium for the second race in succession.
He may have started eighth and moved up five places on the scorecard, but his drive proved to be anything but straightforward on race day.
Running on the fringes of the top 10 early in the race, Rowland opted to conserve energy, mirroring a similar strategy to race winner Cassidy. A first attack mode activation on Lap 16 helped the Nissan man climb up to ninth, although his race came undone only a lap later.
Running close behind da Costa heading into Turn 5, Rowland was forced to swerve onto the outside of the hairpin in a bid to avoid the Jaguar ahead, who was also avoiding running into the Envision Racing car ahead of him. While this cost him several positions, he would also run into Cassidy three corners later, as the FCY was deployed.
Rowland would then make his way towards the top 10 again, before taking six minutes of attack mode on Lap 31. An opportunistic pass on Müller at Turn 1 saw him climb up to a lofty third, with Dennis just behind.
Despite losing out to the Andretti initially, Rowland reaped rewards for staying close to the leading trio. With Dennis stuck behind a slow Mortara, Rowland’s opportunism in the stadium section paid off, as he took third at Turn 14, holding on till the flag.
With two podiums from two races, Rowland sits third in the standings, just two points behind Dennis and six behind leader Cassidy.
Loser: Jaguar
With two races down in Season 12, only one team remains yet to get off the mark: Jaguar. While São Paulo saw both drivers end up at the receiving end of incidents, it was more of the same in Mexico City.
It looked to be a different story for much of the race, though. Both Evans and da Costa qualified in the top 10 for the second race running. While Evans ran towards the tail end of the top 10, da Costa took an early attack mode activation, attempting to replicate Wehrlein’s strategy.
The Portuguese driver couldn’t make a move to stick to get past Mortara for third, though, being shuffled towards the barriers at Turn 1. Da Costa later found himself in the wars, making contact as he attempted to pass Ticktum on Lap 16.
He would then have a near-miss the following lap, taking avoiding action from a slowing Buemi at Turn 5, and causing Rowland behind to veer off the circuit.
His misery was compounded on Lap 25, when he made contact with Cassidy and slammed into Günther’s DS Penske. With steering problems and plenty of bodywork lost, Jaguar opted to retire the car from the race.
Evans looked to be on for a strong finish, even taking the race lead from Müller on Lap 28. However, a missed attack mode activation cost him several positions, as he lost out to drivers behind with extra power at their disposal. He came home to finish 11th at the flag, capping off a disappointing day for the Big Cat.
Winner: Taylor Barnard
After a difficult outing in São Paulo, Mexico City provided the perfect redemption for Barnard. It was the type of performances DS Penske looked ahead to when they signed the young Briton.
A blistering lap in qualifying saw him secure pole, alas, only for a few moments, as he was later found to have exceeded track limits at Turn 16. Even still, he netted a front row start, optimistic of his chances at a maiden Formula E victory.
The opening lap provided a pivotal moment in Barnard’s race, putting him up into the race lead as pole-sitter Buemi went deep and missed Turn 1. While the DS Penske man briefly stayed ahead, Mortara, Müller and Wehrlein would initially make their way past, as Barnard found himself squabbling with several drivers early on.
A crucial move on Lap 22 would put Barnard up to third, ahead of Wehrlein. Sitting further back after taking six minutes of attack mode late in the race, he would follow in the footsteps of former mentor Rowland, making up places swiftly.
A last-lap pass around the outside of Dennis at the line would fetch him fourth, a respectable haul of points on a day of attrition, and help Barnard get his first points of 2026.
Loser: Sébastien Buemi
As good as it was, Buemi’s weekend epitomised one of motorsport’s finest sayings: “You can’t win a race on Lap 1, but you can certainly lose it.”
Having secured pole after Barnard lost his lap time in the finals, the race was arguably Buemi’s to lose. Starting on the clean side of the grid, the Swiss racer came across to defend his position off the red lights.
However, he misjudged the braking point for Turn 1, going straight on into the run off and narrowly avoiding the barriers. Rejoining last on the road, he still remained in the race.
Buemi was also in the midst of action later on, with da Costa and Rowland taking avoiding action at Turn 5 as they swerved to avoid hitting the rear of the Envision Racing driver. His day would get worse, though, being called into the pits after the team noticed a puncture during the safety car period.
Having rejoined well outside the top 10, Buemi’s pace slowed, as he eventually came home a minute behind race leader Cassidy, down in 17th.
With teammate Eriksson missing out on points due to a five-second penalty for overtaking off the track, Envision Racing capped off a disappointing day with no points on the board, slipping to seventh in the constructors’ standings.
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