Wehrlein wins the Formula E Miami E-Prix after crash unplugs teammate Da Costa

Yahoo

13-04-2025

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship's return to Miami Saturday for the first time since 2015 fell right into Miami's 2025 Racing Spring rhythm — dominant driver looking at a victory crafted to the perfection of a Mission: Impossible plan ends the day crushed when someone else's boo-boo collapses the plan.
So were the three races danced during March's NASCAR weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. And, so twerked Saturday's Miami E-Prix at Homestead, which fell to Tag Heuer Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein, in front of an official attendance of 17,000.
When it all shook out — and rarely has that old phrase been more appropriate —Wehrlein took first (but wasn't first under the checkered flag); Lucas di Grassi scored a stunning second for Lola Yamaha ABT, in just its fifth race with the Lola partnership; and Antonio Felix Da Costa stood on the podium in third, happy to be on the podium, disconsolate he wasn't standing in the middle where his Porsche teammate stood.
Wehrlein, who said Miami was his favorite U.S. city, acknowledged racing luck that moved an apparent win to his part of the Tag Heuer Porsche garage from Da Costa's.
'It was great, though it was a bit of a lucky win,' said Wehrlein, the 2024 Formula E series champion. 'I thought on the podium a top five was possible. But, I think we've had enough bad luck this season that we can be lucky for once.'
With six laps left, Da Costa led with Wehrlein second, but had it all over his teammate. No contender had more power left in his engine (Formula E cars regenerate power during braking). And, Da Costa had just kicked in his Attack Mode, which turns the car from a 300 kilowatt racer to a 350 kilowatt,four-wheel drive racer. The eight minutes of Attack Mode must be used in two four-minute spurts or a six-minute and a two-minute spurt.
Da Costa decided to use six minutes. By the time he ran out of Attack Mode, there would be just over a lap left and he likely would just have to worry about bringing the car home safely for the win.
But, way in the back of the field, Jake Hughes didn't make it through the perilous Turn 10 and 11 chicane. Max Gunther punted Hughes, and Mitch Evans got into Gunther's rear end. The cleanup brought out the safety car for a couple of laps, then a red flag.
This poured Da Costa's Attack Mode down the drain. He would have none left for the restart with four laps left. His teammate and several others jumped him and left him powerless to fight it.
'Positives, there are many,' Da Costa said. 'We were second in both practices, we qualified third. We did the perfect race. We were up on energy on everybody by a bit. So, I'm just sad at the ultimate result.'
He eventually settled into the philosophical shrug of race drivers felled by bad fortune: you'll win some races that way, too, and if a 'bad' day is finishing second or third, you're having a good season.
The reverse problem hit those who had saved their Attack Mode for late race use. Rules say you must use all your attack mode, but for those with eight minutes left, four laps wasn't enough to exhaust Attack Mode.
That's why Wehrlein won though he wasn't first under the checkered flag. That would be Norman Nato of Nissan, who got his first points of the year for winning the pole in the final qualifying duel with Andretti Motorsport's Jake Dennis. But Nato, like many drivers, didn't use all his Attack Mode.
Nato slipped past Wehrlein coming off the last corner on the Homestead road course with Wehrlein pushing to stay in front, but knowing he lacked the traction and power. Also, he knew Nato's Attack Mode situation, so informed by his team over the radio during a message that could be summed up as don't do anything stupid, you've got the win.
Nato wound up sixth after the penalty. Nissan teammate Oliver Rowland, the championship leader, also was one of the many dinged for Attack Mode violation and got moved down to 11th.
Rarely will you see a driver happier to finish second than 2017 Formula E champion di Grassi, who hadn't been on a podium since the 2023 season opener.
'It's a very special podium for many reasons,' di Grassi said. 'We hadn't been in a competitive car for the last three seasons. It's rough to keep the motivation up, knowing, sometimes, you don't have the most competitive car. But, you try to keep your head down and do the work the best I can.
'On the other hand, it was a very important point for the team,' he continued. 'This is only the fifth race for this team. We were very competitive in practice, in qualifying and, then in the race, apart from Antonio, me and Pascal, the difference in energy wasn't that great.'
Recalling Porsche's early years in Formula E, di Grassi said it had similar struggles to get competitive.
Lola Cars owner and chairman, Till Bechtolsheimer, said, 'This is the first race we've been able to focus on performance as opposed to just reliability, debugging, getting all the kinks out the first handful of races. Now, we've made that shift to performance and trying to unlock the package we have.'
As for the morale boost, Bechtolsheimer said, 'It's a huge boost to everyone. Everyone's been working so hard. The second youngest manufacturer in this championship is in its sixth year. We're playing catch up. That means unbelievable amount of man hours, unbelievable amount of work put in by the team. It's tough to keep putting in those hours, keep putting in that blood, sweat and tears for a goal two or three years from now.
'Getting the result in the here and now just makes everyone work that much harder and double down on the amazing efforts they've been putting in.'
Qualifying provided the early afternoon big excitement for Andretti Motorsport with Jake Dennis just missing the pole in Homestead and Andretti's IndyCar's Kyle Kirkwood taking the pole for Sunday's IndyCar Long Beach Grand Prix.
But, it was Nico Muller, who tore up his car at the Turn 10/11 chicane in practice, who provided the best result.
Muller qualified 18th of 22 drivers in Homestead, but canny driving and smart use of Attack Mode — and post-race Attack Mode use penalties of others — put him just off the podium, fourth.
Muller and engineer Bertrand Fermine won the Engineered to Outrun Award, given to the driver who makes the biggest position jump.
Actor Sung Kang, perhaps best known for his appearances in the 'Fast & Furious' franchise, couldn't walk 8 yards behind the garage area without being asked for a selfie.
When Kang got to the end of the garage, he had a chat with 1972 and 1974 Formula 1 world champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi.
Along with Fittipaldi and Kang, also spotted during the prerace grid walk were 'Emily in Paris' actor Lucien Laviscount, 'Stranger Things' actor Caleb McLaughlin and world champion fencer Miles Chamley-Watson.