Nick Cassidy triumphs in Monaco to lead Formula E championship

MONACO: Nick Cassidy of Envision Racing climbed to the top of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with a storming drive from ninth on the grid to win an absorbing 2023 Monaco E-Prix.

Cassidy led home Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing), having fended off his countryman until a late-race safety car made the win certain.

The race ebbed and flowed as leaders vied for control and to set the pace but Cassidy’s decisive early moves yielded the ultimate result. Once his engineer gave the green light for a six-lap sprint finish, Cassidy did not look back, despite the close attentions of Evans’ factory Jaguar.

Evans had himself clambered from sixth on the grid to second at the checkered flag and was within touching distance right up to the safety car three laps from the race finish. The New Zealand one-two made it four wins in succession, a new Formula E record for a single nation.

Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti Formula E team) could not quite live with the lead pair but he had torn through from 11th on the grid to make the final step on the podium.

Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan Formula E Team) — who thought he had sealed the Julius Baer Pole Position only for a post-session penalty to hand that honor to Jake Hughes (NEOM McLaren Formula E Team) — steered home to fourth, unable to compete with the lead trio’s benchmark combination of speed and efficiency. Hughes followed him across the line, with Dan Ticktum (NIO 333 Racing) hanging on for sixth position despite a couple of late-race scrapes and some damage to his car.

Long-time drivers’ standings leader Pascal Wehrlein could only improve to 11th from starting 12th on the grid, which resulted in both the driver and his TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team losing their grip on