Antonio Felix da Costa claimed victory for Jaguar in a close finish to the inaugural Madrid E-Prix at Jarama Circuit.
Mitch Evans joined team-mate da Costa on the podium in second, while Porsche’s Wehrlein rounded out the podium after a late scrap with Dan Ticktum.
At the start, Nyck Cassidy held the lead in his Citroen, ahead of Mahindra’s Nyck De Vries and da Costa. Behind them, there was more action and several overtakes, with Wehrlein moving up from sixth to fourth place, and Ticktum making the best start by climbing from ninth to fifth position.
But the calm at the front would be short-lived, as Mahindra driver De Vries, who had dropped several positions, attempted to overtake Wehrlein in an overly optimistic move and ended up crashing into the rear of the Porsche driver, breaking his front wing, dropping to the back of the pack, and receiving a 5-second penalty.
Meanwhile, Ticktum continued his impressive charge and moved into second place after passing Wehrlein, who maintained a strong pace despite the incident with De Vries, and would in fact go on to reclaim second place. At the front, Cassidy couldn’t pull away but held firm in the lead.
Felipe Drugovich was the first to activate his “Attack Mode” from the back of the pack, and within a few laps he overtook all his rivals to take the lead on lap 8 of 23.
Pepe Marti was the next to use Attack Mode and also staged a great recovery that saw him take the lead in his home race, though he was aware that he would likely lose it later, as Drugovich was already showing signs of gradually dropping positions. At one point, the Cupra Kiro cars held a one-two finish after Ticktum passed Cassidy.
On lap 12 of 23, the Pit Boost stops began at the back of the grid. At that moment, Lucas Di Grassi, also aided by Attack Mode, moved into the lead, but he would quickly pit, handing the lead back to Marti.
On lap 14, the five drivers at the front (Marti, Cassidy, Jake Dennis, Nico Muller, and Joel Eriksson) pitted in quick succession, with Evans and Oliver Rowland inheriting the lead while awaiting their Pit Boosts.
Once all the pit stops were complete, Maximilian Gunther and da Costa fought a fierce battle for the lead, which went to Gunther, with Wehrlein a bit further back in third place.
With fewer and fewer laps remaining, the pack was tightly bunched, and the drivers who had not yet activated their Attack Mode began doing so on lap 17 of 23, causing constant movement within the top 10.
Da Costa took the lead and seized the moment to activate his Attack Mode and defend his position, while Sebastien Buemi moved into second, followed by Muller, Wehrlein, Cassidy, Ticktum, Edoardo Mortara, Evans, and Norman Nato, all with their Attack Mode activated.
In the final laps, the battles at the front of the race were impressive, but it was Da Costa who best utilised his Attack Mode to cross the finish line and claim the victory. Behind him, in a tense finish, Evans finished second to complete the Jaguar one-two, and Wehrlein rounded out the podium after pipping Ticktum exiting the final corner.
Mortara, Buemi, Dennis, Muller, Martí, and Eriksson completed out the top 10.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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