Hyderabad E-Prix: Penske wins dramatic inaugural race

DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne managed to hold off a late charge from Envision’s Nick Cassidy to secure the inaugural race win in India’s Hyderabad E-Prix.

It was a good launch from Jaguar’s Mitch Evans who cut across the track once the lights went out, to defend his lead from second-placed Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske). Despite the double world champions best attempts, Evans was able to keep the DS at bay as they entered the turn three hairpin.

On lap 2, Maserati’s Edoardo Mortara crunched into the rear axle of Envision’s Nick Cassidy and lost his front wing as a result. Without Mortara’s front wing, the Swiss driver dropped down the order from eighth to P19.

The fifth lap was where a few drivers activated their first bout of attack mode. Vandoorne took a three-minute 3 min boost, Hughes’ strategy saw him benefit from a two-minute allowance while Muller opted for a one-minute boost in his first take. Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis took his first two-minute allowance of the added energy a lap later.

Evans surrendered his race lead on lap seven as he activated his first two-minute bout of attack mode, at the same time Envision’s Sebastien Buemi slipped up the inside to snatch away the lead from Vergne, who quickly returned in second place.

As Evan’s attack mode ran out, on lap 9, Buemi yielded track position to go through the attack mode sensors, initiating his two-minute boost, and managed to return to the circuit ahead of Evans.

A lap later, Vergne – who inherited the race lead when Buemi took attack mode – ventured through the attack mode section. Although he handed the lead back to Buemi, Vergne had a good exit to return to the racing line ahead of Evans.

Lap 13 remained an unlucky number for Jaguar as the two drivers took themselves out. Sam Bird tried to slip up the inside at the turn three hairpin but his chosen line was dirty and the Briton struggled to slow the car down and side-swiped his teammate, Evans on the exit.

Unfortunately, both Mahindra’s Sacha Fenestraz and Maserati’s Maximilian Gunther were victims in the incident as they found themselves trapped on the run-off area with nowhere to go.

Following the drama for Evans, Vergne utilised his second – and final – bout of attack mode to mount a charge for the race lead. The Frenchman managed to do just that on lap 15 as he blasted past Buemi down towards turn three to take the lead with ease.

On lap 23, the safety car was deployed after McLaren’s Jake Hughes was seen stranded on the apex of turn four. It was later seen that Hughes lost control of his Gen3 car on the exit of turn three, after he applied the throttle. Hughes soon reported, over his team radio, the cars mirror had gotten stuck under the wheel which resulted in the crash.

After they removed the stranded McLaren from the track, the race went back to green flag running at the end of lap 25.

However, drama struck at turn three on the restart as McLaren’s Rene Rast outbroke himself and rear-ended Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis. Rast lost his front wing as a result of the contact while Dennis suffered rear wing damage.

Both the McLaren and Andretti drivers peeled into the pit lane. The Andretti driver was able to return to the circuit, albeit at the back of the pack. On the other hand, Rast soon joined the retirement list which consisted of: Hughes, Bird, Dan Ticktum (NIO 333), Evans and Kevin Van Der Linde (ABT).

Despite a late charge from Cassidy, who moved up to P2 with significantly more energy to play with, Vergne was able to efficiently recover enough power to keep the Envision driver at bay into the final corners.

Podium:

1. Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Penske
2. Nick Cassidy, Envision 
3. Sebastien Buemi, Envision (pending possible penalty – overpower) 

That’s it for the article; Hyderabad E-Prix: Penske wins dramatic inaugural race!

What is your opinion on the first race in India? Let us know in the comments!

Read more Formula E here:

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• Formula E Diriyah E-Prix Preview
• FE Mexico E-prix: Dennis secures first win of 2023
• NIO 333 take the covers off their Gen3 racer
• ABT Sportsline reveal Gen3 car as they return to Formula E

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.