11 teams and 22 drivers gathered in the mythical city of Rome for the Formula E E-Prix, a street circuit that honors emblematic monuments of the Italian capital.
The event, which welcomed fans after two years of pandemic, had a chaotic start after Oliver Rowland crashed into a wall, affecting other racers, which forced the appearance of yellow flags.
Once the accident was over, Mitch Evans, from Jaguar team, was the great leader of the opening day to give the first victory of the year to the British team. It was a round day for the squad with the fifth place of Sam Bird, who despite having started thirteenth, made a great comeback that placed him in the top 10.
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Evans led during the second half of the race and was able to withstand the pressure of Stofel Vandoorne – pole winner – and Robin Frijns in a nice fight that went to the Jaguar representative.
Mortara Still in the Lead
Despite not having a good start by being left out of the duel phase in qualifying, just like Bird, Eduardo Mortara had an important rebound that left him in seventh place.
The result allowed the ROKiT Venturi Racing driver to maintain the overall lead with 49 points, followed by Vandoorne with 46 and the 42 units accumulated by Frinjs.
Mercedes Squandered the Lead
After a solid qualifying stint for Vandoorne, it looked like he might take the win after completing both activations of the attack mode in the lead. However, the Jaguar drivers had already saved energy and started an all-out offensive, which also coincided with the slowdown of the Mercedes, DS and Frinjs, who failed to manage energy throughout the day.
This Sunday, Rome will host the second Formula E race scheduled in the city, where the defeated drivers will be looking for vindication, while Jaguar will have the mission to continue its ascent after Saturday’s important result.
Written by I Jhonattan González
