It’s time to find out who will be the champion of the 2023-2024 season, with Mitch Evans, Pascal Wehrlein and Nick Cassidy still in the fight.
Pole sitter had a very positive start, holding on to his lead, whereas Evans overtook Gunther for P2 at the start. Daruvala reaches the top ten, in an attempt to recover from yesterday’s severe race issues both Maseratis suffered from.
On Lap 2 Dennis and Mortara stopped at Turn 3. Replays show contact with Buemi and Mortara which ended up breaking the steering wheel on the Mahindra who then collected the Andretti. The safety car was issued to remove the powerless cars.
Racing resumed on Lap 5. Evans tried to overtake his teammate in the lead but didn’t manage to complete the move. Frijns and Vergne are the first top ten runners to pick up their first Attack mode.
On lap 7 Championship leader Pascal Wehrlein overtakes Gunther for the final podium position, whereas three cars stop at Turn 6. A second Safety Car of the day is issued to remove Dennis, Bird and Nato. Bird came into contact with Daruvala who spun around but was able to resume his race.
The Maserati however lost his rear wing and had to pit to fix it. Racing resumed on lap 10 with the following top 10: Cassidy, Evans, Wehrlein, Gunther, Vergne, Frijns Rowland, Vandoorne, Da Costa, Muller.
Cassidy takes up his first Attack Mode and is able to keep the P1, followed by Rowland and the ABT drivers on the next lap. The tension between the teammates and contenders grows as Evans asks to pass his teammate.
Casidy takes his second Attack mode, with Evans and Wehrlein overtaking him. On Lap 16 the unhappy Kiwi pole sitter tried to overtake Wehrlein in P2 but doesn’t make the move stick, whereas the Porsche driver attempted a move on Evans, unsuccessful as well.
Cassidy is deeply unsatisfied with the strategy chosen by his team for him, complaining on the radio about the fact that he overspent power in the first laps to build a gap from P1, meanwhile he’s now ended up in third.
Rowland overtakes Gunther for P4, while Da Costa has found his way up to P6. Wehrlein and Evans make slight contact while the German attempted again to overtake him, but the Kiwi was smart knowing what’s at stake for the both of them and left a bit of extra room.
With the situation at the moment the Porsche driver running in P2 would take the title. He heated up the battle with Evans once again.
Round 15 podium sitter Buemi has also recovered 10 spots sitting now in P8 ahead of his teammate.
With 10 laps to go Wehrlein makes yet another move on Evans, but it is unsuccessful. Porsche can still be satisfied with the knowledge that the German driver has 3% more power than the Jaguars.
Vergne overtakes Da Costa and after an heated half of a lap which featured three cars wide, the Porsche driver is overtaken by Gunther as well.
Evans gets a black and white flag for weaving. The French DS PENSKE driver tries a move on Rowland but gets passed by Da Costa as well. At the front his teammate makes yet another effort to pass Evans, but no success as of lap 26. The two front runners both have to take all 6 minutes of their Attack Modes.
Chaos ensured on Lap 29 as Cassidy gets a puncture and has to resign from the championship fight. The puncture was due to the fact that he had been involved in a three way battle with Da Costa and Gunther after having been passed by Rowland
Evans and Wehrlein all went to take up their Attack Mode, but were unsuccessful as the Safety Car was issued at the same time. Rowland passed the duo and is now the leader of the neutralized race.
Cassidy managed to get fixed in time to remain on the lead lap.
Race resumed on Lap 31, but no positions were changed. Evans and Wehrlein take up the Attack Mode, with the Porsche driver almost coming in contact with Frijns. Da Costa lets his teammate through and helps him to fend off the Dutch’s assaults.
Rowland, investigated for overtaking under the safety car, gave back the lead to Evans.
Three laps were added to the race length. Evans and the Porsche all take their final attack Mode, but Evans misses the activation zone! Rowland is now back in the lead, followed by the contenders , Buemi, Da Costa, Vergne, Muller, Frijns, Vandoorne and Di Grassi.
On the following lap Evans is ultimately successful in taking it up, but had to let ahead of him Wehrlein. It’s a complete disaster for Jaguar, as Cassidy has to retire from the race.
Rowland takes the win and Wehrlein the championship, whereas Jaguars win the first ever teams’championship.
The top 10 features Rowland, Wehrlein, Evans, Buemi, Da Costa, Vergne, Muller, Frijns, Vandoorne, Di Grassi.
