Portland e-Prix housed the penultimate weekend of Season 10, making it the 3rd back-to-back double header. With a championship still to play for and a contender withdrawing from the weekend, every point mattered. Here’s how the weekend panned out.

This weekend was nothing short of challenges and changes as Caio Collet, Nissan reserve driver, got behind the wheel of the car for rounds 13 and 14. The Brazilian filled the seat of Oliver Rowland, who came down sick and had to withdraw from the weekend. Rowland was a contender in the championship battle, where he sat 4th in the standings, so a pointless weekend wasn’t what he needed if he wanted to take his first world championship in Formula E.

In terms of challenges, both Sam Bird and Lucas di Grassi carried penalties forward into round 13. Bird was to serve a 5 place grid penalty following a collision with Nyck de Vries in Shanghai while di Grassi was to serve a 6 place grid penalty, 2 instalments of 3 place grid penalties for forcing both Dan Ticktum and Jehan Daruvala off track. During FP1, Norman Nato received his third reprimand for exceeding the FCY speed and thus, took a 10 place grid penalty as a punishment. Nyck de Vries also took a 3 place grid penalty for forcing Daruvala off track in Shanghai.

Qualifying

The first qualifying of the weekend hit the tracks, with group A competing for the 4 spots in the duals first. Guenther, Bird, Vergne, Cassidy, Buemi, Mueller and Mortara were the seven to depart as the session came to and end, sending di Grassi, Sette Camara, Evans and Hughes through to the quarter finals. With championship leader Cassidy out at the first hurdle while Nio’s Sette Camara and ABT’s di Grassi progressed on to the next stage, the potential for the race grew increasingly. Group B saw a further curve ball in the championship battle as Ticktum, da Costa, Frijns and Nato, leaving championship potential Wehrlein to exit before the duals alongside season 9 champion Jake Dennis, new comer Collet who out qualified his team mate Fenestraz, Vandoorne, Daruvala and de Vries.

With di Grassi, Sette Camara, Evans, Hughes, Ticktum, da Costa, Frijns and Nato all through to the duals, this is how they lined up for the quarter-finals:

Evans vs di Grassi – Mitch Evans heads through to the semi-finals.

Hughes vs Mortara – Jake Hughes heads through to the semi-finals.

Frijns vs da Costa – Robin Frijns heads through to the semi-finals.

Nato vs Ticktum – Norman Nato heads through to the semi-finals.

The duals dwindles the pack down to four drivers; Evans, Hughes, Frijns and Nato. Hughes goes head-to-head with Evans but misses out on his chance in the finals as the Kiwi sets the quicker time. Nato heads to the track next against Robin Frijns, setting the better lap and taking the home team into the first final of the duals for the weekend.

With a 10 place grid penalty lingering over his head, even if Nato managed to beat Evans on track, he wouldn’t take pole position. As the chequered flag falls on the session, Evans clinches 1st in qualifying to solidify his place at the front of the grid. Ticktum finished P5 while Mortara landed himself in P6 to take two successful qualifying for Nio and Mahindra. Frijns nestles himself into P3 on the grid after his first duals since Misano.

Round 13

Mitch Evans lunged off the line as we went green for the first race in Portland with a fantastic start, keeping the lead into turn 1. His start was soon forgotten as Hughes joined the Kiwi side-by-side through the first sector with the McLaren taking the lead of the race. Further down the order, Norman Nato continues his charge up the grid after starting P11 due to his penalty.

The Andretti’s drivers charge continued into lap 5 as he slots himself into the lead of the race. Within those first few laps, Nato had used all of his attack mode alongside Hughes. On an alternative strategy were da Costa, Evans, Wehrlein, Daruvala and Guenther who finished lap 5 with all 6 minutes of attack mode left. However, Daruvala was the first to leave the group to take 2 minutes of his attack mode.

After a phenomenal start for Hughes, his pace was short-lived as he headed for the grass at turn 11, dropping himself down to 14th. As we head into lap 12, the pack was close with the cars driving 5 wide down to turn 1; but it was Cassidy who capitalised the most as he takes the lead from 8th into turn 1. Norman Nato, after his climb in the first few laps of the race, finds himself down in 15th.

Mitch Evans is the first driver to receive a penalty as he takes 5 seconds for a collision with Hughes that saw the end of his race. Hughes moved up along the left-hand side of Evans where the Jaguar drivers front wing clipped the McLaren drivers right rear tyre. The Brit then finds himself side-by-side with Dennis when his left rear punctures and sends him out of the race.

Lap 15 sees a new race leader as Mahindra’s Mortara shuffles to the top. Further down the grid, Cassidy takes his final attack mode while Jean-Eric Vergne takes to the lead of the race in lap 17. As the final 10 laps clock onto the board, championship contender Wehrlein and season 2 champion Buemi both harbour 4 minutes of attack mode. With Cassidy and Evans in strong form, Porsche would be relying on Wehrlein’s alternate strategy to help in the championship battle. Antonio Felix da Costa, Porsche’s other hopeful for points, finds himself in the middle of the two Jaguar’s as they battle for position during lap 23.

The fight between the Kiwi’s continues into lap 26 with da Costa keeping clear, knowing a calm race would help him achieve a podium position. With one lap to go, Cassidy finds himself running wide and on to the grass, spinning off and ending his race. With a snap of oversteer, the championship leader managed to miss the apex. Evans takes over the lead, keeping da Costa behind him as they cross the line for the final lap of the race. With a 5 second penalty looming over, Mitch Evans crosses the line in first before tumbling down to 8th while Porsche’s da Costa takes the win.

“…Honestly for me today, I just really wanted to keep it clean and be there at the end, and then see how it unfolds and, it looked like I was gonna finish third … then Nick makes a mistake, Mitch has a penalty and we take the win there at the end. So, it’s an amazing run of races to be honest. i will never ever after what I’ve been through this year take any win or any podium for granted. So I got lucky today, to get this win, so I’ll make sure to enjoy it for sure.” – DAC post race

Antonio Felix da Costa shared the podium with Robin Frijns and former team mate Jean-Eric Vergne. Caio Collet took 18th in his first Formula E race after only 3 sessions on the track with zero sim preparation. Cassidy left Saturday with no points while Wehrlein took one and Evans taking eight after a P8 finish for 4 points, 3 points for pole and another for fastest lap. Rowland’s championship potential grew more likely after round 13 as the standings fell with Cassidy leading on 167, Wherein on 143, Evans on 140 and Rowland retaining P4 with 131 points, 36 points from the top spot.

Qualifying

Round 14’s qualifying saw group A head to the track once again to set their laps for the duals. In a shock turn of events, Evans misses out on the quarter-finals while his team mate, Cassidy, makes it through. Evans was joined by Daruvala, Muller, Buemi, Ticktum, di Grassi and Guenther while Frijns, Vergne and Hughes progress forward.

Group B were next with championship contender Wehrlein joining team-mate da Costa, Bird and de Vries as they make their way to the duals. This meant Vandoorne, Mortara, Fenestraz, Sette Camara, Dennis, Nato and Collet all exited qualifying after the groups.

With Cassidy, Frijns, Vergne, Hughes, da Costa, Bird, de Vries and Wehrlein all through to the duals, this is how they lined up for the quarter-finals:

Cassidy vs Vergne – Jean-Eric Vergne heads through to the semi-finals.

Hughes vs Frijns – Robin Frijns heads through to the semi-finals.

Bird vs de Vries – Sam Bird heads through to the semi-finals.

Wehrlein vs da Costa – Antonio Felix da Costa heads through to the semi-finals.

The duals dwindles the pack down to four drivers; Vergne, Frijns, Bird and da Costa. Frijns goes head-to-head with Vergne but misses out on his chance in the finals as the Frenchman sets the quicker time. Da Costa heads to the track next against Sam Bird, setting the better lap and taking the German team into the final of the duals for the weekend.

The former team-mates of Vergne and da Costa meet each other at the finals but, it’s Vergne who takes pole position from the Portland race winner. With a pole in Portland, JEV breaks the record for the most pole positions in Formula E.

Round 14

As the lights drop to commence the final race in Portland, da Costa flys off the line and finds himself side-by-side with Vergne into turn 1, but it’s the Portuguese driver who leads the race. After a disappointing race on the Saturday, McLaren would be looking for a better Sunday and their quick, catching pace was what they needed. Bird finds himself alongside Frijns who was running P3, the British driver getting ahead and slotting himself in behind Vergne. Bird wasn’t the only driver making impressive moves in lap 1, as de Vries storms the field to P6.

With one lap complete and all to play for, Mclarens pace really began to show as Hughes storms the grid into turn 1, clinching the lead of the race. The Mahindra driver of de Vries follows suit, sliding in behind Hughes to take second while da Costa drops to 6th. Buemi, who started the race in 17th, climbs the standings as he enters the top 10. Championship leader Cassidy finds himself slipping as he lands himself in 15th during the second lap.

Hughes holds the lead into lap 3 before dropping to P2 while de Vries drops to P3 as both drivers take their first attack modes. Vergne is next to take his during lap 4 where he slides in behind de Vries. Envision look to be having a phenomenal weekend after Frijol’s podium on Saturday while Buemi makes his way up to third on the grid. With Hughes taking his second attack mode in lap 5, he falls to sixth while Buemi takes the lead of the race. The Swiss’ success was short lived after he receives a drive-through penalty for a technical infringement in lap 9.

Buemi wasn’t the only driver who’s success felt short as de Vries falls down to 7th during lap 6. With the championship still at large, it’s another bad day for Wehrlein as he damages his front wing that lodges itself under is car, his front wheel beginning to smoke in-turn. Vergne returns to the front of the pack as Buemi takes his attack mode.

After impeccable speed and determination from the Papaya team, Bird’s return comes to an end as he heads off and on to the grass after Wehrlein’s front wing slips under the McLaren drivers car. Wehrlein heads to the pits.

It’s Caio Collet’s time to shine as he takes the fastest lap in his second race of Formula E in lap 7. Further up the grid, da Costa comes off track to take attack mode, dropping to 4th while Hughes retains the lead. The next driver to slot into 4th was ABT Copra’s Muller while his team-mate, di Grassi, runs in P7.

After a successful start, Hughes goes wide into lap 8, dropping to P4 while de Vries settles into 9th and Frijns into 10th. It’s not all lost for Mahindra as Mortara fights his way up to 4th. As we cross the line for lap 9; Vergne, Hughes, da Costa, Muller, di Grassi, Collet, Wehrlein, Dennis, Daruvala and Nato have all completed their attack mode. NIO’s Ticktum and Sette Camara continued to find good pace as the pair push through in twelfth and thirteenth.

Lap 12 sees a collision between Mortara and Hughes, with the McLaren receiving a 3 place grid penalty for London as a result. Portland grows increasingly worse for Hughes as he’s off to the grass at turn 6. Frijns comes off track to take his last attack mode, meaning it’s just Mortara, Dennis, Evans, Buemi and Bird with attack mode left.

Dennis, Collet, Cassidy and de Vries all head to the pits, with the front three changing their tyres and heading back out on track. Hughes follows suit and heads into the pits where he retires the car on lap 17. Frijns takes to the front where he leads the Porsches. Mortara finds himself in a second collision as he battles da Costa before going off track. Vergne manages to get ahead while Frijns works his way back up to P4.

A safety car is called on lap 18 due to debris on track with the drivers adding to the amount as they slow. Fenestraz receives a 5 second time penalty for forcing another driver off track before the safety car is released and racing resumes in lap 21. With Cassidy down in P17, Porsches da Costa makes the lunge on the restart to take the race lead from Frijns to secure crucial championship points.

Wehrlein and Evans battle down the start/finish straight into turn 1 as Evans gets ahead into lap 23. The Kiwi then finds himself side-by-side with Frijns before slipping ahead. 1 extra lap is added to the race as Bird comes into the pits to retire from the race, closely followed by de Vries to mark a double DNF for both McLaren and Mahindra. Buemi manages to clamber back to the top 10 after his penalty.

Wehrlein comes onto the radio, begging for Antonio to let Frijns past to save energy but da Costa receives team orders to stay in front and not give up the lead. As we head into the final lap, da Costa holds his position while Frijns continues all over the back of him.

Antonio Felix da Costa takes the win ahead of Frijns and Evans. With a podium for the Kiwi and Wehrlein in the points, Cassidy’s championship lead dwindles further.

With 3 race wins in a row, da Costa matches his previously set record and puts himself back into the championship battle. Cassidy continues his lead with 167 points, Evans jumps to P2 with 155 points but Wehrlein falls to P3 with the same points tally. Da Costa jumps to P4 with 134 points while Rowland ends the weekend in P5.

The final round of Formula E comes this month in London where it’s still all to play for. Who will win in season 10?