Guenther leads Vergne home for first-ever DS Penske one-two in Shanghai

Maximilian Guenther took his second win of the Formula E season, leading teammate Jean-Eric Vergne for DS Penske’s first ever one-two finish in the first first race of the Shanghai E-Prix.

Guenther had started from pole, but faced early pressure for the win from Pascal Weehrlein – who took the lead initially in Turn 1 on the first lap before ceding it again later in that same opening tour – and Oliver Rowland.

It was the timing of his final Attack Mode boost that proved pivotal for Guenther. He and Nissan driver Rowland both pitted for their 10 percent Pit Boost charge on lap 13, nine laps later Rowland went for his final four minutes of Attack Mode to rally back to the front, but Guenther saved it for another lap.

In the meantime, NEOM McLaren’s Taylor Barnard had gone for his last Attack Mode boost on lap 20 and quickly picked his way to the front. He began to build a gap, but Rowland and Guenther soon caught him. Rowland had lost time behind teammate Norman Nato, who ceded position on lap 24, allowing Rowland to set off after Barnard, but with Guenther having that Attack Mode advantage, he was able to stick with Rowland, then take the lead into Turn 1 on lap 26.

From there, he dropped the hammer and was unchallenged until the end of the 29 lap race. Rowland, Barnard, and Nato continued to squabble over the final podium positions, which allowed Dan Ticktum to close in, and on the final lap the Cupra Kiro driver attempted to pass Barnard into Turn 1, but the McLaren driver covered him off.

Ticktum caught again at Turns 8 and 9, and lunged up the inside of Turn 10. But at the same time, Vergne went up the inside of both to snatch a surprised second in a thrilling finish. Barnard held on for third with Ticktum following hom in fourth ahead of Rowland and Nato.

Sam Bird completed a fine day for McLaren, working his way from 12th on the grid to finish seventh, with Mahindra’s Nyck de Vries, and the Envision Racing pair of Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns completing the top 10.

Stoffel Vandoorne finished just outside the points in 11th for Maserati MSG Racing, having been in the lead conversation early on, but suffered issues during his Pit Boost stop which dropped him to the back midway through the race.

Jaguar TSC Racing’s Nick Cassidy set the fastest lap of the race but was the last of the finishers in 21st having been spun by Edoardo Mortara, then hit by Vernge in the last turn on lap two. The three went into the turn together with Mortara in the middle with nowhere to go – he ended up being the race's only retirement with track rod damage from the incident.

As well as being the team's first one-two finish, DS Penske's result was the first such one for an American team in Formula E, and the first from any team since Jaguar at last year's Monaco E-Prix.

The podium was also Vergne's first since the first race of the Portland E-Prix last season, with him extending his record as Formula E's highest points scorer in history in the process.

With a non-score for Wehrlein and da Costa, Rowland extended his lead in the championship by 10 points, while Barnard – who took the fifth podium of his rookie season on what was the day before his 21st birthday – leapfrogged both TAG Heuer Porsche drivers to move into second, a point ahead of Wehrlein.

Nissan continues to lead the teams' championship ahead of Porsche, with DS Penske moving up another position to third, ahead of McLaren who relegated Mahindra – who'd entered the weekend this overall – down to fifth. There was no change in the manufacturers' championship order, with Nissan continuing to lead Porsche and Stellantis (DS Penske and Maserati MSG Racing).

Due to heavy rain being expected on Sunday, the schedule for the second race of the weekend has been adjusted, with Free Practice 3 moving back an hour and now taking place at 7AM local time (7PM ET Saturday), qualifying now at 9am local (9pm ET Saturday), and the race at 1pm local (1am ET).

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