How da Costa’s double and Cassidy’s collapse sets up a Formula E showdown

“I was one lap away from winning the championship this weekend.” Mistakes have been few and far between for Nick Cassidy this term on his quest for a maiden Formula E title, but a critical error within sight of that first crown has blown the championship battle wide open. Instead of walking away with his hands on the trophy, the Kiwi went scoreless at the Portland E-Prix double-header, and a 25-point lead prior to the event has been whittled down to just 12 ahead of the season finale in London later this month.

The late catastrophe for Cassidy and Jaguar in the USA opened the door for Porsche and Antonio Felix da Costa, and this potent combination scored a remarkable double that has propelled both into the championship mix with two races left.

Cassidy started 10th for the opening contest at the Portland International Raceway, the same position from which he took victory 12 months ago, and he bided his time in the early laps, conserving energy on the fringes of the points via a strategy that has become his trademark this season. He only moved to the front for the first time at the start of lap 12 in a typically frenetic Formula E race where positions changed on an almost corner-by-corner basis.

Five laps later, after taking his second Attack Mode activation, Cassidy remained among the leading contenders and with the most energy in reserve. With nine tours remaining of the scheduled 27-lap contest, Cassidy moved to the front again, and only relinquished the lead briefly on lap 22 to da Costa before reasserting his dominance.

A third win of the season looked even more likely when Cassidy’s Jaguar team-mate, Mitch Evans, moved into second on lap 24 on the run into Turn 1, drawing alongside da Costa on the outside into the braking zone before pulling ahead on the exit of the tight right-left chicane. Crucially, Evans had been handed a five-second penalty for a collision earlier in the race with Jake Hughes along the back straight. The McLaren driver had suffered a right-rear puncture in the contact with Evans’s front wing, and Hughes was sent off the road at the next corner, resulting in the stewards becoming involved.

Even though Evans was out of contention for outright victory, Jaguar issued a radio call to both its drivers saying they were free to race – a decision that arguably put unnecessary pressure on Cassidy at the head of the field. Aware of his team-mate’s penalty, Cassidy still took defensive lines at various points so as not to lose track position and come under threat from da Costa, who was piling pressure on the Jaguars from third.

Although Evans was eventually given the radio message to maintain position on the back straight during the penultimate lap, Cassidy ahead had received no such call and ran slightly deep into the fast left of Turn 10 that had caught several drivers out over the weekend. After bouncing over the kerb on the following right, Cassidy’s Jaguar took to the grass on the exit before spinning away any hopes of victory.

Cassidy's spin while fighting for victory in the Portland opener presented a opportunity for da Costa to strike

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

“Sometimes you’ve got to take a lot of responsibility and put your hand up and say you’ve screwed up,” shrugged Cassidy. “Today that’s the day for me. I guess a few chain of events led to that but ultimately that’s the case.”

With Cassidy dropping out of the points and eventually classified 19th, Evans was left leading and was the first to take the chequered flag. But the time penalty demoted him to eighth in the classification and he was left to rage at the stewards’ decision.

“It’s a disgrace, to be honest,” said Evans, who had taken his second pole position of the season. “The penalty is just completely out of order. Look, I feel like if I misjudged it, or if it was me changing lane and causing the puncture, then fair enough, that’s on me. I just think it was a really unfortunate set of circumstances.”

The following day Jaguar submitted a right to review the decision by the stewards, but this was dismissed and the British car maker had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

"If you told me four or five months ago that I would have won four races this year I would not have believed you" Antonio Felix da Costa

There to pick up the pieces was da Costa, who had entered the penultimate round of the season as the in-form driver, with two wins from the past three races, although he arrived under a cloud after the appeal into his Misano disqualification back in April for a car breach had been rejected. With Saturday’s victory in his pocket, da Costa started second for the sequel and, after leading at several points, found himself back in second on lap 18 when a safety car was deployed to retrieve debris scattered around the circuit from various incidents.

When racing resumed with seven laps remaining – the race distance extended by one lap due to the brief safety car intervention – da Costa made his move on leader Robin Frijns, immediately sweeping into the lead on the approach to Turn 1. While he was never headed thereafter, da Costa still had to contend with the attention of the Envision Jaguar of Frijns over the final two laps, not helped by a damaged front wing after contact with Edoardo Mortara on lap 15.

The collision at Turn 10 at the end of the back straight not only caused damage to da Costa’s car but handed Mortara a left-rear puncture that sent him off the track and eventually into retirement.

Da Costa remains an outsider for the title after four wins in the past five races

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

It was a disappointing end to the weekend for Mortara, whose Mahindra had finished an impressive fourth in the opening race after making it through to the duels for the fifth time this season. The incident was noted by the stewards and investigated briefly post-race before a verdict of no further action was given, ensuring da Costa secured a hat-trick of wins on the bounce that has propelled him to 33 points away from Cassidy with a maximum of 58 still available.

“We’re navigating through these races really well, the car is quick and we’re doing it in a smart way, but I’m having fun doing these races,” smiled da Costa, who matched his own record of three wins a row from 2019-20. “Impressive run of races, I’m not going to deny it, and considering where we started the season [with three non-scores], if you told me four or five months ago that I would have won four races this year I would not have believed you.”

Frijns was left to take his second runner-up finish of the weekend, the Dutchman scoring his first podium results since the Diriyah round in January and on this occasion repassing Evans on the penultimate lap.

Evans had been running fifth under the safety car but, with one Attack Mode still to take, the Kiwi had ground to recover over the final laps. He initially reached second at Turn 1 four laps from home, but the need to conserve energy meant the position with Frijns was reversed.

Just off the podium was the second Porsche of Pascal Wehrlein, who had entered the Oregon event as Cassidy’s closest rival in the championship. But the German failed to capitalise on his rival’s error in race one when debris from the Evans/Hughes collision became lodged under his car and affected its performance, and he was only able to salvage 10th.

It looked like Wehrlein might be left even lower down the order in the sequel after damaging his front wing on the rear of Mortara’s Mahindra into Turn 7, which then became lodged under his car. The damaged bodywork eventually broke free on the back straight, where it was collected by Sam Bird’s McLaren, sending the Briton off track at high speed and eventually into retirement. Despite a performance deficit in the closing laps as the pace increased, Wehrlein was able to hold on to finish in a vital points position while Cassidy suffered his own front wing drama.

After slipping back into the pack for his customary early race energy saving, Cassidy was climbing back through the order when a concertina effect ahead into Turn 1 meant both he and reigning champion Jake Dennis damaged their front wings on lap 13.

Cassidy remains favourite for this year's Formula E title, but cannot afford a repeat of Portland in the London finale

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Both pitted for repairs but were now off the back of the pack, before they were handed a lifeline with the deployment of the safety car. Despite having considerably more energy than those ahead, the increased pace of the race after the safety car meant Cassidy was never able to capitalise on his advantage and could only climb to 13th, while Dennis salvaged 10th after taking sixth the day before at the Andretti team’s home race.

On a weekend when Cassidy could and should have clinched the title, he heads to London in a title battle now finely poised. Just 12 points separate him from Evans and Wehrlein, while Jaguar sits only 33 points clear of Porsche in the teams’ contest.

Of his Portland nightmare, Cassidy reflected: “That’s motorsport and that’s the position I’m in. I’m not giving up.”

Could da Costa pull off a stunning late title charge?

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images