– Porsche works drivers finish in positions 5 and 7 in Monaco
– António Félix da Costa seventh after pursuit race
– Porsche still leads the manufacturers’ trophy
Porsche continues to top the leaderboard in two classifications at the season’s halfway point. Tackling the Monaco race from pole position on Saturday, Pascal Wehrlein extended his championship lead. On the legendary Grand Prix circuit in the Principality, he crossed the finish line in fifth place at the wheel of his Porsche 99X Electric. António Félix da Costa achieved seventh place for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team. After making it into the qualifying duels, he became entangled in a collision caused by another competitor and had to battle his way back up the order. From P20, António ran as high as sixth place directly behind Wehrlein for a while. With the points earned, Porsche successfully defended its lead in the bid for the manufacturers’ trophy.
Achieving tenth place, Frenchman Norman Nato was the best driver of the Porsche customer team Andretti Formula E. Defending world champion Jake Dennis in the Michael Andretti team’s second Porsche 99X Electric needed a new front wing after a collision. He ultimately took the flag in 20th place.
Next vehicle generation unveiled
On the Thursday before the Monaco E-Prix, Formula E and FIA unveiled the so-called Gen3 Evo, the next generation of vehicles in the electric world championship. It will line up on the grid next season. Taking just 1.86 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h, the Gen 3 Evo is said to be the fastest accelerating single-seater of any FIA championship. The biggest innovation: Front-wheel-drive has been added in qualifying, at the start and in ‘attack mode’.
Comments on the Monaco E-Prix, Race 8
Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E: « These points were extremely important for us. We can’t be entirely satisfied because when you start from pole, you expect to fight for the podium. António fell behind early due to an unfortunate situation, which put us on a strategic back foot. He did a sensational job of fighting his way up the order. This left Pascal on his own against two teams with two cars each, who made the most of their strategic advantage. Looking at the overall standings, the points for Pascal’s fifth place were critical. As a result, he extended his world championship lead. We rank second in the teams’ championship and are still the best manufacturer. We’re now heading into the second half of the season feeling confident and are looking forward to the home races in Berlin. »
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche works driver (#94): « That was a tough race. I lost a lot of time due to the early attack mode. That put two Jaguars and two DS cars in front of me. They both did a very clever job, making space for each other and often driving side by side. There wasn’t much I could do about it. It’s a shame because our pace was better than we were able to demonstrate today. »
António Félix da Costa, Porsche works driver (#13): « I was in the wrong place at the wrong time – that seems to be my problem at the moment. It could’ve been a good day for us. I qualified seventh and had a good car in the race. I remained patient and wasn’t rash. But then the track in front of me was blocked, I got stuck and lost ground. We’ll keep our heads up and continue fighting. »
ABB FIA Formula E World Championship – standings after 8 of 16 races
Drivers’ classification : 1. Pascal Wehrlein (GER), 102 points… Jake Dennis (GBR), 89 points ; 10. António Félix da Costa (POR), 26 points… 13. Norman Nato (FRA), 24 points…
Teams’ classification : 1. Jaguar TCS Racing, 172 points ; 2. TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 128 points ; 3. Andretti Formula E, 113 points…
Manufacturers’ trophy : 1. Porsche, 209 points ; 2. Jaguar, 201 points ; 3. Nissan, 166 points…