A last gasp overtake from veteran Sam Bird saw the Englishman claim NEOM McLaren’s first ever win in FIA Formula E after an action-packed São Paulo E-Prix.
Starting in fifth, Bird used all of his experience and guile, plus some well-chosen early Attack Mode options, to nab victory from the Jaguar of Bird’s former team-mate Mitch Evans.
Oliver Rowland also produced a stunning final lap to jump from fifth to third – after starting 11th – to take Nissan’s second consecutive podium finish, with pole-sitter Pascal Wehrlein fourth, and Jake Dennis fifth after a fine drive from 10th on the grid.
The DS Penske duo of Jean-Éric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne could not maintain their qualifying pace, dropping down to finish seventh and eighth respectively. Max Guenther made good use of two Safety Cars to undo his grid and time penalties to finish a superb ninth place. Sebastien Buemi also drove brilliantly, recovering from a poor 18th to finish 10th. Title-leader Nick Cassidy crashed-out of the race at the halfway point.
Bird, who told Motorsport Week yesterday that he was hopeful of McLaren successes soon, becomes the second-oldest race-winner in Formula E history.
How the race unfolded
At lights-out, everyone made it cleanly through turn one, with Evans getting the jump on Vergne, and Wehrlein maintaining his lead. The sister Porsche of Antonio Felix da Costa made the earliest progress, working his way up from eighth on the grid to lead on lap three with Wehrlein opting to take Attack Mode along with Vandoorne, who dropped to sixth.
Bird showed early progress also, muscling past Wehrlein at the start of lap four for second place, trading the lead with da Costa after both drivers opted for Attack Mode, but the race would be neutralised by the Safety Car, sent out after the front wing of Norman Nato’s Andretti flew off after the Frenchman tagged the back of Lucas de Grassi’s Cupra. Guenther, who started at the back through a grid penalty, took his accompanying time penalty at this moment.
Racing would resume on lap nine with the Porsches of da Costa and Wehrlein leading first and second, but both opted to take Attack Mode, handing the lead back to Bird, but Evans would take the McLaren at the second chicane. Dennis was making quiet progress of his own, joining the leading pack at the midway point, with Rowland working his way to seventh place. Guenther was quickly weaving his way through the pack with much precision, reaching the top ten soon after. The peloton-style race that was widely predicted became a reality, with much of the field in close proximity.
Title-leader Nick Cassidy’s race ended on lap 16, the Kiwi a helpless passenger into the barriers after the Jaguar’s front wing got caught under the front tyres. This brought out another Safety Car, which stayed out for four laps. When racing resumed, a period of concertina effect appeared with the race settling down, but a racey-looking Evans began to dice with Bird for the lead, and went in-front on lap 28. With three added laps due to the Safety Car’s two appearances, there was still an enormous amount up for grabs.
Evans looked to be falling further into the clutches of Wehrlein, who seemed to be in possession of more energy, but the German’s challenge would dissipate, and would also need to fend off challenges from Dennis. Rowland made his way up to fifth and began to join in the battle for the final podium spot, as Evans and Bird began to pull away.
With the McLaren engineers requesting he cool the right side of the car, it seemed that Bird’s chance for victory was gone, but on the final lap, after pressuring Evans into a series of defensive moves, he bravely sent his McLaren around the outside of Evans at turn 10 to take the lead, and held-on around the final corner to claim his first win since 2021, and helping to add yet another racing category in which the illustrious McLaren name can boast victory.
In the midst of the drama, Rowland managed two last lap overtakes of his own to take both Dennis and Wehrlein for his second third place finish on the bounce.
Despite his DNF, Cassidy leaves São Paulo still top of the Drivers’ Championship, with Wehrlein now only four points behind in second. Evans’ first podium of the season elevates him to third with 39 points, a tally shared with Vergne. Dennis’ fifth place sees him one point behind, with Bird’s win helping him jump to sixth with 37 points. In the Teams’ Championship, Jaguar’s strong start and 100 percent podium run sees them top with 96 points, with Porsche second, thirty-five points behind. McLaren now sit in fifth with 55 points, with Penske third on 57.
