Monaco E-Prix 2021-22: Vandoorne Counts the Cards and the Points
(copyright FIA Formula E)
Stoffel Vandoorne had the joyous expression of a gambler who had gone into the casino with a plan, counted the cards, and come out with the winnings. The Formula E title race is a long game, but the Belgian leads the standings after round six, having taken a commanding victory for Mercedes EQ
Since Monaco’s full formula One circuit was made available to Formula E in 2021, the electric races around the Principality have put the F1 action in the shade. Could this be part of the reason why Monaco’s place on the Formula E calendar is reportedly under some threat?
In any case, this race was a fine advert for the high quality of drivers in Formula E at the tail end of the Gen2 era. There is not a below-average race driver on the current grid, and this means that the margins are ever-tighter, and the price for an error ever-higher.
Evans early on
It was Mitch Evans in the Jaguar who took pole position and then led away from the start, with Pascal Wehrlein in the Porsche throwing the kitchen sink at him to try and unseat him from the lead. With 13 minutes gone in the race Evans was told “your apexes [sic] are better than Wehrlein’s”, but Evans was also told, a lap later, to save energy. This came as a surprise to the New Zealander, he said after the race, because he had assumed he was driving conservatively.
The first retirement of a tough race in the midfield was Sam Bird, who had found himself trapped in the lower order, and then overcome with frustration as he tried to make up places. Wishbone damage after a series of clashes put him out on lap seven.
With 24 minutes and one lap remaining, Evans took Attack Mode and let Wehrlein into the lead. “Keep investing and we take,” he was told cryptically by the Porsche pit, but only a couple of laps later, Wehrlein was out, with a mysterious technical issue forcing the Porsche to stop altogether. His team-mate Andre Lotterer was into the barrier at Ste Devote five minutes later, Oliver Rowland in the Mahindra having overtaken him and then kicked his tail into the German driver’s car, unbalancing it.
Attack Mode taken literally
The full-course yellow had seemed to disadvantage Vandoorne, who had been out in front after the whole field had taken Attack Mode. However, once the green flag was out, he stretched his lead once again, pulling out 3.2 seconds’ advantage prior to the Lotterer stoppage which led to the Safety Car being deployed.
Behind this, Robin Frijns in the Envision was once again showing his mastery of pack racing, with a double-pass on the hill up to the casino, on Lucas di Grassi’s Venturi and Evans, putting him briefly in third. Evans then made his way past Frijns and Jean-Eric Vergne’s DS Techeetah for second, a position he held to the flag.
Issues to consider
Jaguar clearly have energy-management issues around a fast circuit (for electric racers) such as Monaco, but this was still a sign that, unless there is another summer slump, Jaguar ought to remain in strong contention for the Driver’s and Team’s Championships going into the flyaway rounds.
It was Vandoorne who took the winner’s trophy home, though, and it was clear that Monaco, along with being back on top of the table, was cause for unbridled joy.
At 16.30 local time on Saturday, the race results were Vandoorne, Evans, Vergne, Frijns (who took fastest lap), Antonio Felix da Costa in the DS Techeetah, di Grassi, Nick Cassidy’s Envision, Sebastien Buemi in the Nissan edams, Jake Dennis in the Andretti, and Nyck de Vries in the second Mercedes EQ.