Antonio Felix da Costa executed a superb tactical performance to take his first Formula E victory for Jaguar TCS Racing, and his first since 2024, in the second race of the Jeddah E-Prix double-header.
The Portuguese driver timed his Attack Modes well, and amid a chaotic sequence of pack racing, battled hard but cleanly to score his first win since Portland in Season 10.
Sebastien Buemi and Oliver Rowland completed an all-veterans podium, with pole-sitter Edoardo Mortara’s challenge fading.
The Kiros of Dan Ticktum and Pepe Marti took an impressive double-points finish in fifth and sixth respectively, despite colliding in the closing laps.
Predictable peloton sees lead change multiple times
At lights out, Mortara got away well, with Dennis tucking in behind. But da Costa managed to get side-by-side into Turn 1. Dennis did not give up, however, and managed to hold second place.
At the penultimate chicane, Rowland found himself going from fourth to first, and duly led the race into Lap 2, with da Costa second.
Ticktum was up to sixth, but was quickly overtaken by Buemi, as Maloney was up to ninth, with Marti just behind.
Buemi was making considerable ground and overtook Rowland for the lead into Lap 4, as the lack of Pit Boost rendered a more peloton style race.
The Swiss, da Costa and Rowland were all closely bunched, with Jake Dennis keeping his interest just behind in fourth, with pole-sitter Mortara fifth.
Rowland decided to take a bit more initiative and took the lead into Lap 6, and the Nissan began to bunch up the pack, the first six cars separated by a mere 2.5 seconds.
One driver making steady progress was Wehrlein, who now found himself in seventh place, with Maloney and Marti still in the top 10.
At the front, Mortara decided to make a push and after a spell in fifth place, was now back in-front, but not for long, as Buemi scythed through both him and Rowland for the lead at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 9.
At the hairpin, Rowland swept around the outside of the Envision and back into the lead, as da Costa and Mortara contested third place, the Portuguese making it through, the pair somehow not touching.
Da Costa was then past both Buemi and Rowland to lead, with Ticktum now fifth, ahead of Dennis.
Buemi was back in-front at the start of Lap 11 with Rowland dropping down to fourth.
Lucas di Grassi was going for broke and was fifth by Lap 12, overtaking Rowland, as Mortara now got back into the lead ahead of Buemi and da Costa.
Mortara began Lap 13 four tenths ahead but Buemi was back in-front by the start of the next lap, with Jean-Eric Vergne making good ground and taking fourth off di Grassi at Turn 1.
At the midway point, Mortara was back in the lead and now led by six tenths, as da Costa continued to be racy, retaking fourth off di Grassi and then third off Vergne.
Mitch Evans was finally starting to make ground, and was no wseventh, ahead of Wehrlein who was now back to ninth, with Ticktum in between them in eighth.
Rowland was now back up to third and then second, and then first, as the pace of Buemi began to slow. Mortara was now a further five tenths back, as Rowland opened up eight tenths on Buemi.
Dennis’ interest in the race was over, as a puncture halted his progress. Rowland was still eight tenths of a second ahead, but da Costa halved the deficit into Lap 20, and then by the end of the lap, was leading and by half-a-second.
Rowland holds advantage but da Costa muscles through to score first Formula E victory since 2024
Rowland was maintaining a steady lead but da Costa sailed through into first place on Lap 20, and by Lap 22, was 3.2s ahead of Ticktum, who now occupied second place.
Crucially, both Ticktum and Rowland both held their two Attack Modes, with da Costa only possessing one. The Kiro and the Nissan duly took their first on Lap 24, with da Costa following suit, his lead now reduced to 2.1 seconds. Buemi in fourth, Mortara in fifth, Wehrlein in sixth and Marti in seventh all took Attack Mode. Only six drivers on the track on Lap 25 were not in Attack Mode.
Ticktum reduced the lead further to 1.7s with just five laps to go, but Rowland was swarming all over the back of him by the end of Lap 26 and took second, with Buemi then overtaking the Brit for third at the hairpin.
The jostling behind da Costa afforded him some leeway, and his lead was now 2.4s by the start of Lap 28.
Rowland fell behind Mortara but then retook the position, as Buemi now seemed to be the main challenger for da Costa with just two laps to go.
It was 3.4s by the middle of the penultimate lap, with drama ensuing behind.
The Kiros of Ticktum and Marti were battling for fifth place, but collided, the Spaniard going into the wall, but the pair managed to keep going and keep their positions.
For da Costa, it was all a breeze, as he took the chequered flag totally unchallenged to claim his first victory for Jaguar, and his first since Season 10.
With wins in back-to-back race weekends, the ‘Big Cat’ was truly purring again.
READ MORE – Formula E 2026 Jeddah E-Prix – Race 2 Results
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