The first Formula E Madrid E-Prix provided thrills to the miles of spectators who flocked to Jarama, culminating in Da Costa’s second victory with Jaguar.
The first half was highly strategic, initially led by Nick Cassidy in the Citroën, who had secured pole position and made a perfect start, quickly edging out Nyck De Vries in the Mahindra, who had started on the front row.
A consistent Dan Ticktum, the ever-present Pascal Wehrlein in the Porsche, joined by his teammate Nico Müller, Edoardo Mortara in the other Mahindra, and a little further away, Maximilian Gunther in the DS Penske, and occasionally even Jean-Eric Vergne in the other Citroën, quickly entered the battle for the top spots.
The Pit Boost would have changed things profoundly… with the drivers splitting into three different groups, leaving room for hometown hero Josep Martí, with his Cupra Kiro, as the sole leader and with a respectable lead, much to the delight of the Spanish spectators.
However, Martí wasn’t called to the pits for his mandatory Pit Boost at the right time and missed the opportunity, so when he returned to the track, he was sucked into the dense pack.
Da Costa, starting third, was the first to pit for his Pit Boost on lap 12. He pushed hard for the next few laps, activating Attack Mode and catching up with the leading drivers as the Pit Boosts continued.
Everyone in the top spots in the final part of the 23-lap race had kept Attack Mode for the final laps, with the exception of Sébastien Buemi, who had to give up immediately and let his rivals go in contention for the win.
With about five laps to go, a train formed between Da Costa, Ticktum, Wehrlein Evans, and Mortara, with a slightly larger gap.
Evans made two moves to pass Wehrlein and Ticktum and was ready to attack his teammate Da Costa, while Ticktum overtook Wehrlein and joined the two Jaguars.
In the final laps, Mitch Evans tried everything to pass Da Costa, who defended himself very well, but then came the warning from the pits to “don’t overdo it,” which made the New Zealand driver’s face darken.
In fact, on the podium, he wasn’t at all happy despite his second place… but he immediately made it clear that his anger wasn’t against Da Costa… and to a good understanding…
Formula E offers a spectacle until the last lap… and Madrid was no exception. In the final meters and at the final chicane, Pascal Wherlein pulled off his perfect move and managed to overtake Dan Ticktum in the final meters before the finish line, taking third place.
Edoardo Mortara could only content himself with watching the spectacle from the privileged position of fifth place; but he didn’t have the strength to attack anyone.
His teammate, Nyck de Vries, compromised his race when he was in the lead due to contact with Wehrlein, which was subsequently penalized by a penalty.
Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing) finished sixth after a late comeback. Jake Dennis (Andretti Formula E) and Nico Mueller (Porsche Formula E Team) finished seventh and eighth, respectively, while Pepe Martí (Cupra Kiro) scored points with ninth place. Joel Eriksson (Envision Racing) completed the top 10.
With these results, Pascal Wehrlein takes the lead in the drivers’ standings, 11 points ahead of Mortara. Da Costa climbs to fourth place. Jaguar has closed in on Porsche in the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ standings: it now only has four points in the former and three in the latter.
On the podium, we witnessed the historic scene of King Felipe IV of Spain handing the trophy and winner’s medal to Portuguese driver Antonio Felix Da Costa, who was beyond beaming with happiness, especially since this Jarama circuit is about a five-hour drive from his home, so his family, friends, and many fans came…
António Félix da Costa, No. 13, Jaguar TCS Racing, said:
Back-to-back wins, a 1-2 for the team – that doesn’t happen often! Massive congratulations to all the boys and girls back in the UK providing us with these cars. It’s kind of a home race for me – I have a lot of friends and family here – and it’s a bit of a dream day. We’re both winners, we both wanted to win, we just got different messages. We’ll work it out. I’m happy for Mitch [Evans] – he must have done an amazing race, I’ve got to go back and watch that because he came from the back! I’m happy with what we executed today, and it’s a dream day.
Mitch Evans, No. 9, Jaguar TCS Racing:
I should have won the race, but I don’t want to take anything away from António [Félix da Costa], he drove a mega race. A 1-2 for the team and the team got the result they wanted. I was playing the long game and I had a good energy advantage that got me in the fight during the pit window, especially towards the end. I was surprised to be in the mix but with my energy advantage it was going to be a good finish. It still was, just not the result I was hoping for. It is what it is, but a great 1-2 for the team.
Pascal Wehrlein, No. 94, Porsche Formula E Team said:
I think with what happened very early into the race with [Nyck] De Vries [hitting the back of my car], it damaged the car quite badly with my rear wing just hanging and touching the tyre, I wasn’t expecting to finish on the podium today but even better we did! Who knows what would have been possible without that contact and a proper car intact and not damaged. In the last couple of laps I just had to accept that I was not in the fight for the win. I backed off a tiny bit because I was down on energy, but still kept myself in a position for exactly what happened on that last lap between Dan [Ticktum] and Mitch [Evans], and I could take the podium and good points.
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will continue with Rounds 7 & 8 in Berlin on 2 & 3 May 2026 at the Tempelhof Airport circuit.
You can read and/or download the official final standings, the Drivers’ Championship standings, the Teams’ Championship standings, and the Manufacturers’ Championship standings at the following links.
#MarceloPadin #theEMNteam
Photo Credits: BMF – Mitsuaki Futori
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