Formula E: Mitch Evans wins and retains title chance

The South Korean Formula E season finale kicked off with a rainy qualifying run ahead of Saturday’s race. Mahindra Racing driver Oliver Rowland was the best in difficult conditions on the new city circuit, built through the territory of the Seoul Olympic Park, taking pole position, and with a very convincing advantage.

The second result was shown by Lucas di Grassi, his future teammate, who is spending his last races for the Venturi, and Mitch Evans, the factory Jaguar driver, one of the contenders for the title, made his way into second. start row.

At the same time, Stoffel Vandorn, a Mercedes driver who confidently led the individual standings, would start from seventh position.

It had stopped raining at the start of the race, but the asphalt hadn’t had time to dry completely, so the drivers had to be extra careful, at least in the early laps after the start. Vandorn, who could only be prevented from becoming champion by some specific issues, noted that the track is very slippery, so the main task is to avoid problems and avoid mistakes. Of course, he promised to do everything necessary to fulfill the tasks before him.

But Mitch Evans wouldn’t be careful and started off so that he took the lead at the second corner, ahead of Di Grassi first, then Rowland, then outrun his pursuers for over a second towards the end of the lap.

However, the race was immediately stopped by red flags, because in the penultimate, 21st corner, a blockage of eight cars formed at once! There was an impression that the track was not water, but ice, because all the participants in the incident could not fit into the 90-degree turn at all – their cars just drove straight.

All the remaining cars returned to the pit lane, the evacuation of broken equipment and the repair of safety barriers began. Because the marshals had a lot of work to do, the process was delayed and the restart was only given after 50 minutes. At the same time, the peloton missed six cars: after the accident, Dan Tiktum, Sebastien Buemi, Nick de Vries, Oliver Turvey, Andre Lotterer and Oliver Askew dropped out of the further battle. Nick Cassidy and Norman Nato, who were also under the rubble, were able to continue the race, albeit with slightly damaged vehicles.

If the start was normal, despite the water on the track, from one spot, this time the race management decided not to take any risks and the peloton accelerated behind the electric safety car.

Mitch Evans was in the lead, followed by Rowland, and the Briton was already being pressured by di Grassi. Andretti’s Jake Dennis was fourth and Jean-Eric Vergne fifth, having already regained four places and ahead of Vandorn.

The track was still not only wet – small puddles could be seen on the pavement in places, which of course made it difficult for the riders to work, but the first laps after the restart went without incident.

All the riders in the leading group decided to use the high power mode, but this did not lead to a change of attitude as everyone kept riding at about the same pace.

On lap 12 Vergne tried to attack Dennis in the battle for 4th place, their cars had already overtaken but British driver Andretti still held back the opponent’s attack. Behind them, Edoardo Mortara attacked Vandorn, but also without much success.

Rowland managed to close the gap on Evans, but Evans stepped up with Attack Mode and again brought the advantage to over a second, while setting the fastest lap of the race. Meanwhile, Vandorn Vergne managed to stay ahead of Vergne and reach fifth position, which was crucial for the Belgian Mercedes driver as he had to try to keep the loss of points to Evans to a minimum. If they finish in that order, ie Mitch wins and Stoffel takes fifth place, only 21 points will separate them for Sunday’s final.

Meanwhile, the track gradually dried up, speeds increased and Rowland took the best lap from Evans. Pascal Wehrlein, a Porsche driver, followed by the fastest result in a lap, having previously surpassed Mortara and moved up to 7th position. After a few laps, Edoardo hooked the bumpstop, punctured the right rear wheel and withdrew from the race, simultaneously dropping out of the title contenders.

But Evans remained confident in the lead and with each lap another win approached, his fourth this season. With 25 laps behind him, he was about three seconds ahead of Rowland and had used less battery power than his opponents so he could keep attacking.

This is probably why he exaggerated a bit on lap 26, locking the wheels in the last corner, losing about 0.8 seconds.

But on the next lap, Alex Sims crashed his Mahindra at Turn 10, yellow flags hung across the track and the riders had to slow down. Then the race management decided to put out a safety car on the track, the function of which was fulfilled by the electric Porsche Taycan, so that all the gaps were closed, which naturally upset Mitch Evans slightly. Although he continued to lead, he had to fend off Rowland’s attacks in the closing laps, and it was generally not clear how further events would develop.

But in reality there was no particular development as the restart was already given on the last lap and nothing prevented Evans from crossing the finish line first. The fate of the title will therefore only be decided in the final race of the season: Vandorn’s advantage, who took fifth place, has noticeably diminished and tomorrow the Mercedes driver will have to give everything to stay ahead. Of course, Mitch Evans will do everything in his power to complicate his life as today’s win has greatly increased his chances of winning the championship.

Oliver Rowland finished second, Lucas di Grassi climbed to the podium, but Jean-Eric Vergne was only sixth, so like Mortara, he also dropped out of the contenders for the championship win. However, they were at least purely theoretical.

The winner of the championship is thus determined by the results of the last, 16th race of the season, and this is the best scenario for the organizers of the electric series, which will ensure maximum attention for tomorrow’s final.