Tactical perfection nets Monaco E-Prix Race 1 victory for de Vries and Mahindra

Nyck de Vries and Mahindra executed a perfect strategy to undercut a strong Dan Ticktum to win the first race of the Monaco E-Prix, ending a long wait for victory for the Indian team.

Starting from pole, Ticktum controlled the pace from the front early in the 29-lap race, but crucially waited to pit for his one Pit Boost fast charging stop. de Vries, meanwhile, went in on lap 14, three laps before the Cupra Kiro driver, then put together a string of strong laps in clear air. That meant Ticktum emerged from his stop just behind.

At that point Jaguar TCS Racing’s Antonio Felix da Costa held the lead thanks to an early pit and Attack Mode, which he used to get past Ticktum on lap 17. His teammate Mitch Evans, who pitted at the same time as de Vries, went for his Attack Mode on that lap too, with de Vries, following two laps later.

De Vries moved to the lead on lap 20 with a pass up the inside of da Costa at Tabac, the Jaguar driver's additional power and four-wheel-drive having run out by that point and de Vries still having more than half of his remaining. Evans followed by not long after, but Ticktum – in fourth at this point – waited late to use his, mirroring his pit strategy.

He finally went into the activation zone at Casino Square on lap 21, and within three laps he'd closed the gap to the lead trio. de Vries, who was controlling the pace, started to speed up on lap 24 too as Ticktum rejoined the fight, but with Ticktum having led for the first 16 laps, he was at an energy disadvantage to those around him and struggled to mount a challenge to leader de Vries and Evans in second place, but he would have to dice with da Costa for the final podium position.

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Ticktum snatched third on lap 25 while still using Attack Mode, but with it expiring at the end of that lap, da Costa was all over him. Neither gave way at the Nouvelle Chicane on the following lap, with both taking to the run-off area, then a lap after that in the same place, Ticktum closed the door on da Costa, who hit him from behind, tearing off his right wheel, ending his race and bringing out a full course yellow.

While the race did go green again for the last half a lap, da Costa's crash all but signaled the end of the race, with de Vries leading home Evans and Ticktum taking third.

Ticktum was given a drive-through penalty, converted to a 33-second penalty, post-race, however, for his involvement in the crash, dropping him to 12 in the final results, but elevating teammate Pepe Marti to third, from 15th on the grid, for his first Formula E podium.

Similarly, Andretti’s Felipe Drugovich had started down in 10th but overconsumed early on to make up ground and ended up fifth by the checkered flag.

Sebastien Buemi, who started 16th after getting a three-place penalty for impeding Maximilian Guenther in the group stage of qualifying took fifth ahead of his Envision Racing teammate Joel Eriksson and the DS Penskes of Taylor Barnard and Guenther with Nico Mueller ninth despite finishing the race without a front wing following a collision between him and his Porsche teammate Pascal Wehrlein.

Mueller had made a lunge on Eriksson at the Grand Hotel Hairpin on lap 11 for 7th, putting him just behind Wehrlein and when the field closed up at La Rasscasse on lap 12th, Mueller had nowhere to go and hit the German. Mueller was able to carry on right away despite significant damage to the front of his car but Wehrlein sustained a puncture, necessitating a pit stop which fell out of the Pit Boost window.

That ultimately dropped him to 18th by the end of the race. He was to be the last of the finishers after da Costa and Jake Dennis, who crashed out on lap four when he was squeezed by Citroen’s Nick Cassidy into the wall on the entry to the Nouvelle Chicane.

Cassidy, who was moving to avoid Norman Nato ahead of him, was handed a 10-second penalty for the incident, while the Andretti driver suffered significant front wing and suspension damage, taking him out on the spot.

The incident brought out a brief safety car period allowing the rest of the pack to conserve more energy in what was already going to be not a very sensitive race on energy.

De Vries' win was his first of the GEN3 era and his first since his return to Formula E after his brief foray into Formula 1. It was also a first GEN3 win for Mahindra, which has been knocking on the door for the last season and a half after a significant upturn in form during the GEN3 Evo period of the regulations. The team last won in 2021 when Alex Lynn triumphed in London.

Evans' second place means he now leads the championship, 15 points ahead of Wehrlein after his non-score, with Edoardo Mortara in third, a further eight points back. His day began with an issue in qualifying which meant he didn't leave the garage, and was then compounded with a penalty for a tire pressure infringement during the race. He finished 17th and a lap down.

Jaguar has moved into the lead of the teams' championship, just three points ahead of Porsche, but Porsche still sits atop of the manufacturers; standings with a 13-point advantage over Jaguar.

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