Cape Town E-Prix 2023: The Greatest Move?
(Simon Galloway, copyright FIA Formula E)
A race day in South Africa that began with misfortune for a local driver ended with the crowd on their feet for one of the greatest overtaking manoeuvres we will be privileged to see in motorsport, as Antonio Felix da Costa used all of the road to beat Jean-Eric Vergne to victory in Cape Town.
Kelvin van der Linde. (Carl Bingham, copyright FIA Formula E)
Prior to the race five cars had to be pulled from the running. The two Mahindras were joined by the ABT cars of Nico Müller and home driver Kelvin van der Linde, likely to be enduring his final race meeting in Formula E before handing his car back to Robin Frijns. All four cars share the Mahindra powertrain, and the Indian manufacturer had sufficient grounds to doubt its suspension would be able to withstand the bumps of the new Cape Town street circuit. The upshot was embarrassment not only for the teams involved, but also for Formula E overall.
Sam Bird was prevented from racing by accident damage to his Jaguar following a collision with Edoardo Mortara’s Maserati, which had spun solo. Bird had the right to be aggrieved, having not been given a yellow or red flag in time to take evasive action. Miraculously, given his woeful season thus far, Bird remains in eighth in the drivers’ standings, and within a couple of fortunate races of being back in contention for the top prize.
Luckily, the race itself was a stunner, even with only 17 cars starting. Sacha Fenestraz led away from pole position, again having got the maximum from his Nissan over one lap. The works team might be struggling to get the regen and energy efficiency to remain in contention for race wins, but the talented French-Argentine is looking like the signing of the year.
Maximilian Günther leads early-on (Sam Bagnall, copyright FIA Formula E)
Fenestraz was followed by Maximilian Günther, the Maserati driver again qualifying well. With championship leader Pascal Wehrlein put out of the race by a lap-one skirmish and Jake Dennis down in the midfield and unable to capitalise, the race was wide open. Günther took the lead in the most unorthodox of ways - Fenestraz slowed earlier than he needed to for the full-course yellow, allowing the German through. On lap eight, Nick Cassidy, who has been a regular contender at the front this season, took the lead in the first Attack Mode shake-up.
The race was not to last long for Günther, as his proneness to flare-ups struck again, with the Maserati hitting the wall. Given Mortara was already out, it was another concerning weekend for the Maserati MSG team, which had seemed so composed and competitive as Venturi last season.
While Cassidy led the way, with Fenestraz falling back as expected, da Costa was engaged in an epic battle for fourth with Jean-Eric Vergne. The Portuguese had seemed to be taking his time to adapt to his new car and team, especially in comparison to Wehrlein who hit the ground running. However da Costa had taken advantage of his superior powertrain to move up from 12th on the grid, and Vergne was having to utilise all his defensive skills in the DS Penske, again.
The two eventually took their battle to the leading positions with the last activations of Attack mode, and then on lap 24 da Costa took the lead daringly under braking at the end of a fast section, in a well-disguised move. Thinking he had taken Attack mode and stayed in the lead, all looked rosy, but da Costa had marginally missed the activation zone under pressure from Vergne, who retook the lead as a consequence. It looked like game over for da Costa’s ambitions of victory, but someone didn’t tell him; with time and chances running out, he swept past Vergne for a second time, with barely a car-width of space, and in a place where overtaking had not been rife.
This was not only da Costa’s greatest Formula E victory, but an example of a move that will be watched and rewatched on highlights clips for years to come.