Jakarta E-Prix 2021-22: Evans Dialled in on a New Surface
Mitch Evans wins the Jakarta E-Prix (copyright FIA Formula E)
The DS Techeetahs of Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa led off from the grid in first and second after a perfect qualifying session for the team. Da Costa had to see off a challenge from Mitch Evans going into the first corner, but the start was clean for most. The exception to that was Oliver Rowland, who was again involved in contact, ending his race as soon as it had started, in a country where Mahindra were pushing their profile hard.
Frustration for da Costa
Da Costa, adding to his frustration in what has been a tough season for the Portuguese, made a mistake on the opening lap, allowing Evans through into second. The rest of the race was then a tense battle between Vergne, in title contention despite being without a win so far this season, and the New Zealander, whose Jaguar was not attuned to the unique surface and corners of Berlin’s Tempelhof circuit, but seemed again at home with the purpose-built Formula E loop of Jakarta.
There was, in the latter stages of the race, a third party interested in breaking the duopoly, in the form of Edoardo Mortara. The Venturi driver closed in on Vergne and meant the Frenchman had to defend from the Swiss, rather than chasing down Evans. Vergne also had battery issues to concern himself with, and it meant Evans was able to control his lead, and win more comfortably than he had perhaps been led to expect.
The result
Behind Evans, Vergne, and the charging Mortara, da Costa finished fourth, and Stoffel Vandoorne, keeping the lead in the championship coming out of Jakarta, was fifth, in a relatively quiet display for Mercedes EQ that nonetheless kept up consistent form. Jake Dennis was sixth in the Andretti, followed by Lucas di Grassi in the Venturi, Pascal Wehrlein in the Porsche, his teammate Andre Lotterer (after a time penalty), and Jaguar’s Sam Bird.