2021 Formula E Monaco ePrix: Da Costa triumphs in last lap thriller
Formula E took to the legendary streets of Monaco for Round Seven of the 2020-21 season and, as it turned out, fans across the world got to witness some incredible, top-notch racing that culminated in a very unique result!
By Divyank K. Bansal
A last-lap overtake for race victory and the top six finishing as they’d started! The action in Monaco indeed lived up to its reputation…
Formula E took to the legendary streets of Monaco for Round Seven of the 2020-21 season and, as it turned out, fans across the world got to witness some incredible, top-notch racing that culminated in a very unique result – the top six drivers crossed the finish line in the same order as they had started in! And, to top it all off, polesitter and defending Formula E world champion Antonio Felix da Costa pulled off a mesmerising last-lap overtake on Jaguar’s Mitch Evans to reclaim the leader’s spot and crossed the finish line ahead of the rest.
Overall, though, the battle for the top spot – throughout the race – was among the top three drivers – DS Techeetah’s da Costa, Envision Virgin Racing’s Robin Frijns, who had started from second on the grid, and Jaguar’s Evans behind him. The trio ended up trading places on quite a few occasions but what made da Costa’s win all the more stunning was the fact at some stage during the race, both Frijns and Evans seemed poised to take the chequered flag.
For Evans, unfortunately, an energy shortfall during the final stages of the race proved to be detrimental, forcing him to go on the back foot and defend. And if da Costa’s overtake wasn’t enough, losing second place to Frijns by an eye-watering margin of just 0.024 of a second only increased Evans’ heartache.
As for Frijns, the Dutchman had every reason to revel in his second-place finish as, after Monaco, the Envision Virgin Racing driver leads the overall drivers’ championship with 62 points. In the constructor’s battle, however, the Mercedes-EQ FE team is still leading but only by a narrow margin of just two points, over Jaguar Racing.
The Monaco outing was definitely not a one to remember for Mahindra Racing, with Alexander Sims suffering a DNF and his teammate Alex Lynn only able to salvage a ninth-place finish.
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