Nyck de Vries took a chaotic Saturday victory in Monaco, winning a crash-filled Formula E race that saw Dan Ticktum lose out after starting from pole and then falling foul of a late penalty. Mitch Evans finished second and left Monte Carlo as the new championship leader, while Pepe Martí inherited third for a maiden podium after Ticktum’s sanction.
Monaco’s chaos
The opening race of the Monaco double-header was exactly the kind of street-circuit pressure cooker Formula E is known for: tight walls, constant traffic and very little room for recovery after a mistake. Early contact between Jake Dennis and Nick Cassidy at the Nouvelle Chicane brought out the safety car, while further incidents later in the race left several frontrunners damaged or delayed. That chaos kept reshuffling the order and made strategy just as important as raw pace.
De Vries’ timing
De Vries did not lead from the start, but Mahindra’s strategy and his own pace in the middle phase put him in position to strike when it mattered. The key moment came when Ticktum delayed his Pit Boost stop, which left him exposed once de Vries had already completed his mandatory service and was able to push hard on cleaner track. From there, the Dutchman controlled the closing stages and converted the opportunity into Mahindra’s first Formula E win in years.
Ticktum’s heartbreak
Ticktum looked set to turn pole into a breakthrough win for Cupra Kiro, and he led early after a strong launch. But the late collision with António Félix da Costa and the resulting penalty changed everything, dropping him outside the podium positions. It was a harsh ending to a race in which he had shown the speed to fight at the front.
Championship picture
Evans’ second place was enough to move him into the championship lead, while the podium for Martí gave Cupra Kiro a major result to celebrate. Behind them, Felipe Drugovich, Sébastien Buemi and Joel Eriksson filled out the upper end of the classification, with several bigger names losing ground after punctures, contact or penalties. Monaco once again proved that in Formula E, the race is often won not just by pace, but by staying upright and making the right call at the right time
All images supplier by Tom Lloyd – Lxco.photo
