How Porsche won, lost and won in Misano Formula E mayhem

The picturesque rolling hills and tranquil seaside resort atmosphere in which the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli is located could not have conflicted more with the chaotic on-track action that Formula E provided on its first visit to the region. A post-race disqualification for the opening race winner five hours after the chequered flag, another driver losing a seemingly certain win on the final lap in the sequel and a frenetic, even manic, style of racing that divided opinion – the Misano E-Prix double-header had it all.

After seven races and approaching the halfway point of the campaign, Pascal Wehrlein became the first driver this season to claim two victories and with it, just hold onto the lead of the championship standings on countback. But the Porsche driver’s outright success in the second of the weekend’s two races had looked incredibly unlikely as the contest entered the 26th and final lap, with Wehrlein some 1.4 seconds behind race leader Oliver Rowland.

The pair had pulled clear of the chasing pack over the last five laps after Rowland took the lead from Wehrlein into the Turn 5 left-hander during a race, which by comparison to the day before, was much more structured. Even so, the long straights and wide, fast corners that the Misano circuit offered meant a level of pack racing previously only seen on the same scale in Portland last year, with drivers drastically lifting and coasting in order to drop back into the pack and save energy in the slipstream.

Wehrlein had started third and remained towards the front of the field for much of the race, leading at various points before conceding the top position to Rowland in the closing stages. It was a tactical decision, Wehrlein having been told by his team that he was up on energy compared to Rowland, but he was left to question the strategic call as the Briton began to slowly pull a gap as the race neared its conclusion.

“Initially it was the plan to keep the lead but he was putting a lot of pressure on me and I was sure if I was trying to defend, I would just lose energy,” said Wehrlein. “So in the end I didn’t defend, I let him through and my team kept telling me I’m 2-3% up on energy. I was very surprised about that and actually until the last lap I was not even sure if that was correct.

“Then his energy I guess was dying in the last lap and that’s when we took over. Really good job and the right call to trust the information in the end.”

Rowland was the chief beneficiary of Da Costa's disqualification from race one, but when he hit strife in race two it was the other Porsche of Wehrlein who capitalised

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Coming out of Turn 5 for the final time Rowland’s Nissan slowed to a crawl, his car out of energy. It brought to an end another impressive performance, Rowland having started 10th from where he sat back in the pack over the opening laps as the race took shape.

By the halfway point Rowland had hit the front for the first time, but unbeknown to everyone including driver and team, his race strategy had quite literally been doomed from the start as a “mis-procedure” with the onboard lap counter meant that his energy targets were effectively a lap short. Having stayed towards the front over the second half of the race before jumping back into the lead, Rowland admitted that he wasn’t aware of his dire energy situation until “it was telling me it should be the last corner and I was going into Turn 4”.

“How it works is there should be a lap zero so it doesn’t count [at the start], but for some reason when I crossed the startline it dropped to that, I think it was a mis-procedure,” he said. “I was quick in the corners and I was just following my target and I did the strategy as we planned. This sort of thing has never happened to us, nowadays it’s such a simple [procedure], it should have been checked and maybe we should have doubted it.”

"It’s a big loss for us clearly but also for Formula E in general because these consequences are really harsh"
Florian Modlinger

Rowland had been just nine corners away from a second win of the weekend, having taken his and Nissan’s first victory since Berlin in 2020 the previous day. Not that anyone knew at the time, however, as it took a decision by the stewards well into the evening for the original result to change at the expense of Antonio Felix da Costa.

The second Porsche driver had taken his first Formula E win in more than a year having entered the weekend under something of a cloud, with rumours circulating that Abt’s Nico Muller had been tested by Porsche with a view to replacing the Portuguese driver – for next season if not sooner. A run of three non-scores to start his campaign had certainly put da Costa under pressure, but a sixth and fourth in the Sao Paulo and Tokyo races had allowed him to build some momentum.

Starting 13th for the opening Misano race was not ideal, but the 28-lap contest, two laps longer than the sequel, proved to be chaotic from the start as driver positions fluctuated wildly. Envision’s Sebastien Buemi hitting the front just halfway around the opening lap after starting on row five was the perfect example of what was in store over the remainder of the race, as 19 lead changes took place among eight drivers.

“Awareness is probably the key word of the day,” stated da Costa, as the tight bunching of the field meant contact was an ever-constant occurrence. Da Costa initially made his move on lap 21 but, as would be the case on Sunday, Rowland proved to be in contention for the win and claimed the lead into Turn 1 soon after. However Da Costa bided his time and waited for the right moment before striking into Turn 5 just three laps from the end, then unleashing the full potential of his Porsche to win by less than half a second.

Da Costa was cruelly denied a hard-fought victory in the opener due to an ineligible throttle damper spring

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

Victory had “come at the right moment” for da Costa, who celebrated in style with a backflip into the circuit’s swimming pool before the news of his disqualification came to light. The reason for the exclusion was a technical breach related to the throttle damper setting on his Porsche, the spring eligible for the Gen2 machine but not the current Gen3 specification.

It was revealed that the component had been used by Porsche and da Costa since the start of the Gen3 era last year but only found in post-race checks in Misano. Team principal Florian Modlinger was left to question the stewards’ decision, with Porsche lodging an intent to appeal – giving the German manufacturer 96 hours in which to decide whether to take further action, which had not been resolved at the time of writing.

He said: “We have a bit of a feeling that not all teams are treated equally, that’s our personal impression and with the FIA, a world championship, this must be guaranteed for the future that all teams are treated equally. I think it’s a big loss for us clearly but also for Formula E in general because these consequences are really harsh.”

Wehrlein, meanwhile, whose car it was later revealed was also fitted with the illegal spring, was left to record his first non-score of the season after a collision with the rear of Jean-Eric Vergne’s DS Penske into Turn 7 on lap six broke his front wing. He was not the only leading title protagonist to fall foul of Vergne or have to pit for a new front wing though.

Just one lap earlier, Nick Cassidy had found himself in a similar situation. The Jaguar driver had run side-by-side with Vergne through the tight Turn 8/9 chicane, with the resulting contact sending Cassidy to the pits as Vergne was handed a five-second penalty for the collision.

Cassidy had entered the event just two points behind Wehrlein in the standings but on a difficult run of form, which was only extended further as he retired from the opening race with a technical problem having never been in contention for points after his pitstop. The Kiwi, who had a high-speed off in FP2 at the final corner after taking avoiding action for cars slowing ahead that lightly damaged his car, did manage to make it to the podium in the sequel – his first rostrum since winning in Diriyah in January.

Having started eighth, Cassidy was the first driver to take both Attack Mode activations, which he believed put him in a strong position, but a one-lap safety car – unbelievably the only caution period in either race – to retrieve Robin Frijns’ damaged car negated any advantage. Stuck behind Maserati MSG’s Maximilian Guenther for the second portion of the race, Cassidy only moved ahead into Turn 8 with three laps remaining. Fifth soon became fourth, though, as Rowland slowed on the final lap before Cassidy grabbed the final podium spot by just 0.050s on the run to the line at the expense of Muller, who had put in another strong showing.

Cassidy recovered from his race one tangle with Vergne to claim a race two podium

Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images

Cassidy’s team-mate Mitch Evans endured a generally torrid event, only able to salvage fifth in the opener having started from pole, as he was left unimpressed by Guenther’s defending. Any chance of further points in the second race were dashed when the Jaguar driver came to a stop out on track after suffering a brake-by-wire issue, which required a complete car reset before he retired.

Arguably somewhat under the radar over the course of the weekend, but with performances that signify a reigning champion intent on retaining his crown, Jake Dennis achieved two unlikely runner-up finishes. The Briton had only finished fourth on the road in the opener, having started down on row nine, but Vergne’s five-second penalty and da Costa’s disqualification vaulted him up the order.

The Andretti driver took the position on merit in the second race, having defended stoically against Muller over the closing laps despite suffering with balance problems. It’s a result that leaves him tied on points with Wehrlein in the standings as the championship heads to Monaco later this month.

His performances in Misano went under the radar, but two second places for Dennis means he ties with Wehrlein in the points lead

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images