Portland definitely delivered a spectacle – but what did the drivers have to say after their time on track? Let’s investigate together.
Photo credit: Formula E Media Bank / Simon Galloway
Without much introduction – let’s take a look at the five drivers that in one way or another had a big impact on the race in Portland.
Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing:
After difficult two rounds in Jakarta, where he dropped down in the championship fight, Cassidy has done it again – and took the win in a similar style to what he did a few rounds ago in Berlin. His performance in Portland brought him back into second place in the championship standings, just one point short of Jake Dennis. A well executed race by his team and the overtake in the right moment have cemented Cassidy’s victory on Sunday, and the fight for this years World Champion title will get even more exciting in the remaining four races of the season.
We’ve had a good run in America over the last couple of years, and I love racing here. That race was fun, it was so close and the battle with both da Costa and Jake was pretty intense. Credit to Envision Racing, what a car, what a powertrain, it allowed us to move up the field and fight at the front and get the win.
Photo credit: Formula E Media Bank / Sam Bagnall
Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti:
Jake Dennis likes a good podium finish, doesn’t he? So much so that he finished on the podium 5 races in a row, and P2 on four out of 5 occasions. Another great finish in Portland launched him into P1 one in the championship fight, and even though the remaining of the season won’t be only a two-way battle, it’s now eyes on him and Cassidy for who will take the crown this season. Starting the race from pole he had to settle for a P2 finish, but who knows what ace will he pull out of his pocket in Rome and London?
There are some guys fighting for the championship and other guys with nothing to lose. A race like today is all about risk. Me and Nick are really fighting for the championship. It’s just who takes the most risk. Some of those moves on Antonio were brave and he did a really good job there.
Photo credit: Formula E Media Bank / Sam Bloxham
Antonio Felix Da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche:
It’s a third podium for Da Costa this season, and considering he qualified P8 for the race we bet he’s happy with 3rd place. It was also his first podium in seven rounds – the last being that win in Cape Town. The Porsche driver fought hard in the early stages of the race to secure the front, but possibly overdone it and as a result had to save some energy by the end of the race. Nevertheless, his racing was clean, and it was the best result for his team this weekend (with Wehrlein scoring only P8).
I’m thrilled with the podium. It was a great race with a great result. We fought hard but we possibly took the lead a little too early. As a result, it became a bit tight with the energy at the end. Still, we know what we have to improve on for the last four races of the season. We’ll continue to do our utmost to secure the title for Pascal and the team.
Photo credit: Formula E Media Bank / Andrew Ferraro
Nico Muller, ABT Cupra:
Despite a quite strong performance over the course of this weekend, Nico Muller will definitely like to forget about this round. On Lap 10, we’ve seen a big shunt for the ABT Cupra driver, who fired off the track at high speed into a 27G impact with the wall at Turn 10. He later on reported that it was due to his brakes basically giving up almost mid-race, but we’re very much glad Nico walked away from this one without a scuff. Scary stuff.
We had a strong performance all weekend, but all that remains is a lot of damage to the car and a lot of work for the guys. Without this incident we would have had a good chance for points as well.
Photo credit: Formula E Media Bank / Sam Bloxham
Stoffel Vandoorne & Eugenio Franzetti, DS PENSKE:
Just like for Muller, DS Penske and it’s drivers will definitely like to forget about this race. Why? Because before it even started, they were penalized. But why they were penalized? Well, because they installed an RFID reader at the pit door around qualifying time, which could potentially “collect live data from all cars” and not only DS Penske’s. The later explanation from the team was that it was supposed to be used for scanning the barcodes of tyres, but eventually the team was team was penalised EUR 25,000 by the FIA stewards for trying to gain an unfair advantage over the other teams. Additionally, both Vandoorne and Vergne were given a pit lane start penalty. Maybe this will keep them out of those ideas for the future. Here’s what Vandoorne and Eugenio Franzetti had to say about it, respectively:
It was a difficult weekend and we were obviously disappointed to have to start from the pitlane. That was a pity, but we accept the decision. At the start of the race, we did everything we had to do and the car was working very well. But then we had to battle with energy management and we couldn’t really stay with the leaders. There just wasn’t enough left to go further. Now, with all the experience that we’ve gathered, I hope that we can finish the season strongly at the final two race meetings.
It was a difficult race for the team, with the final result being a long way from our potential.We were very quick during free practice, especially in 300 Kw mode, and in qualifying we saw JEV go through to the duels phase. Unfortunately, the team was penalised for having some equipment in the pitlane that was used to scan the codes on the tyres. Obviously this isn’t something that affects the powertrain and car performance, but the consequence was that we had to start from the pitlane in the race. Our drivers still fought all the way to the end though, each making up nine places. It was a great performance on a difficult day.
Photo credit: Formula E Media Bank / Simon Galloway
This sums up our coverage for Round 12 in Portland. We’ve now entering a three weeks break, but Formula E will be back in full force for the remaining four races of the season, and boy the championship fight is intense! Don’t forget to check Pitdebrief every week as we’ve got some things lined up for you. Until then, don’t forget: enjoy the race, wherever you are ✨
