Nick Cassidy took a debut Formula E victory for Citroen in the Mexico City E-Prix, the Kiwi driver making a charge from 13th on the grid to the win.
Cassidy made full use of his usual nous of working through the field to score a sensational victory, with Edoardo Mortara following behind in second place.
Reigning champion Oliver Rowland took third place, with Taylor Barnard fourth. Jake Dennis was fifth, with Pascal Wehrlein sixth.
Starting on pole, Sebastien Buemi looked to take a first win of the season after taking an impressive pole position earlier in the day in qualifying, while. Barnard, starting in second, was desperately looking on for his maiden victory.
As the lights went out, Buemi dove into the first corner, as Barnard challenged the Envision, racing alongside the veteran into Turn 1.
Buemi braked too late into the first corner, running wide, grazing the wall in the first turn, dropping through the order and enabling Barnard to take the lead.
Mortara moved into second with Nico Mueller close on his gearbox, taking a look at Mahindra on the start finish line.
Mitch Evans was comfortable behind the steering wheel of his Jaguar, joining in on the battle with the front-runners.
Further down the order, Jake Dennis and Maximillian Gunther fought for sixth place, with Dennis coming out ahead.
Pascal Wehrlein was the first driver to activate his attack mode on lap 4, giving him the extra boost that helped him climb through the field.
Mueller and Mortara made a joint dive for the lead on Barnard into the first corner. Barnard found himself slipping from the lead down to fourth as Mortara took the lead, followed by Wehrlein, whose attack mode pushed him into the fight, and Mueller took third.
On lap 8, Muller found himself on the gearbox of his teammate in second. In the final stages of the lap, he made the move stick, taking the lead from Wehrlein.
Attack Modes across the grid
Dan Ticktum was down in 9th, and he used his attack mode alongside Zane Maloney in 14th. Ticktum immediately used the extra pace to make it past Mitch Evans. Gunther and Dennis sat in sixth place on lap 10.
Antonio Da Costa, fighting at the front of the field, ran wide, had to slow significantly, and dropped through the order. He fell to sixth with Dennis on his gearbox by Lap 12.
Porsche was now dominating the race, with its powertrains accounting for four of the top five runners.
On Lap 16, Ticktum found himself in between a tight battle for sixth and seventh place, making light contact with those around him. As a result, he lost a few places, dropping to 10th.
Lap 17, and Nyck De Vries pulled off the track into a runoff area, bringing out a Yellow Flag. As Da Costa and Oliver Rowland fought for position with the Jaguar driver pushing the reigning champion wide, a Full Course Yellow was brought out.
As there was a struggle to remove De Vries’ car from the run-off area, the Full Course Yellow became a Safety Car.
The winner of the race at that stage was Pepe Marti. He was sitting at the back of the order but with 6% more energy than the race leader. On lap 21, Buemi dove into the pit lane.
Despite climbing up to sixth, the Envision driver had picked up a puncture. Forcing him to fall to the back of the grid after an impromptu pit stop.
On lap 22, the Safety Car came in, with Mueller leading the field back to race. He made a strong start early in the lap, holding on to his lead.
Back to racing
Barnard made a dive down the inside of Wehrlein, moving up into third on lap 23. The top three all had both of their attack modes left.
Da Costa ran wide, with debris coming off his Jaguar as he made contact with Maximilian Gunther, who was spun around and hit the Jaguar driver.
Ticktum was caught up in the incident with Gunther and Da Costa, and he went into the pits for an unscheduled stop, dropping to the back of the field.
Nick Cassidy, with his Attack Mode and more energy than those around him, took the lead from Mortara. The Mahindra wasn’t ready to give up the lead, keeping close to the Citroen’s gearbox.
On Lap 31, Barnard attempted to enter attack mode but missed the activation zone, falling to fifth.
Jake Dennis had 2% more energy than the drivers in front of him, and he set his sights on the lead. On Lap 33, Dennis lunged to the inside of Mortara, failing to make the move stick and instead picking up damage and losing his attack mode.
On Lap 36, with two added laps, Marti had made a move up to eighth. An impressive chargeback through the order for the rookie.
A final dive for the lead
Mortara was closing in on Cassidy, the gap coming down to just 0.313s on Lap 37. The top four were nose-to-tail into Turn 5.
Into Turn 9 the gap was down to just 0.1s as Rowland made a move into third place in the closing stages of the race. Mortara received a slipstream on the final lap but was unable to get close enough to Cassidy to get past.
Cassidy crossed the line to take the win, making it a Citroen debut win from 13th on the grid. Mortara was set to take second place, with the reigning champion Rowland taking the final podium position.
READ MORE – Formula E 2026 Mexico City E-Prix – Race Results
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