Oliver Rowland cemented his championship lead at the first round of the Monaco E-Prix, whilst Nyck de Vries made his first return to the podium for the first time since 2022.
Polesitter Taylor Barnard had been quick off the starting line, deftly holding onto the lead over Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, whilst Nyck de Vries quickly got the jump on Dan Ticktum to take P3. Although Rowland maintained P2, he soon got on the radio reporting a strange noise in his car, stoking early fears of a technical problem.
Lap 3 saw Nico Müller head to the pits, requiring a new rear right tyre. He quickly dropped down to the back of the pack, a slow pit stop adding insult to injury.
By Lap 4, Andretti’s Jake Dennis had slipped past Robin Frijns to take P6, hunting down the top five.
Maloney and Cassidy opted to take their first Attack Mode early, activating the additional power boost on Lap 5. Meanwhile, Ticktum had a go at passing De Vries round the outside, but couldn’t make it stick. Ticktum’s shortcoming was to Wehrlein’s benefit, the Porsche driver easily moving past him up into P4.
Ticktum continued to slip back, his loss of momentum seeing him fall down into P8 by Lap 7. Not one to be outdone, Ticktum muscled his way past Robin Frijns — a bold and likely unpopular move. Ticktum continued to tear his way round the track, attempting another bold move on Nick Cassidy the following lap, that he couldn’t quite pull off.
A misjudgement from Antonio Felix da Costa on Lap 9 saw the Porsche driver put it in the wall at Anthony Noghes, bringing out the first full course yellow of the race. It’s a tough blow to Da Costa’s championship bid, the Porsche driver having been second in contention leading into the Monaco race weekend.
As the cars slowed to a safe pace, Taylor Barnard continued to lead the pack, followed by Oliver Rowland and Nyck de Vries. Da Costa’s teammate Pascal Wehrlein was P4, with Jake Dennis rounding out the top five.
Racing resumed on Lap 11, catching De Vries napping. Jake Dennis, however, was quick on the accelerator, leapfrogging both Wehrlein and De Vries to take P3 right as the green flag waved.
Rowland attempted a move on race leader Barnard into the Nouvelle Chicane. He couldn’t make it work, losing momentum in the process — but gave it another shot just one lap later, finally nabbing the top spot from 20-year-old Barnard.
Nick Cassidy was the first driver to take the mandatory Pit Boost, dropping to the back of the grid as he recharged. Dennis’ teammate Müller joined him in the pitlane, the pit window flung now wide open.
Another full course yellow was called as Mitch Evans ground to a halt on Lap 15. The Jaguar was quickly recovered and racing got back underway not long after. Barnard had recovered the lead from Oliver Rowland, but the Nissan driver soon took Attack Mode, using the additional power to jump ahead of the McLaren.
By lap 18, about half of the pack had taken their Pit Boost. Barnard was the first of the frontrunners to pit, dropping to P13 while Rowland, Wehrlein and De Vries remained in front.
Meanwhile, Andretti’s Nico Müller had played the game perfectly. Pitting under the full course yellow, Müller had worked his way up to P3, behind Beckmann and Hughes, the only drivers yet to pit.
With Beckmann and Hughes taking to the pits on Lap 19, Müller was now the race leader, with only nine laps to go and both his Attack Mode slots yet to be taken. Behind Müller was Cassidy, with Rowland in P3, De Vries in P4 and Dennis in P5. Barnard lost out in the scramble to take Pit Boost, falling all the way back to P6.
Cassidy, pushing hard, already had 9% less energy than the rest of the frontrunners. But the Jaguar driver didn’t seem to be holding back, continuing to hunt down Müller. He reigned in the pace a bit on Lap 22, falling back behind Rowland.
On Lap 23, Müller took his second Attack Mode, maintaining a 0.3s lead over Rowland. Nyck de Vries, in P3, took the opportunity to pounce, getting past Rowland and into race-winning contention.
The polesitter’s race all came undone on Lap 24, coming together with Wehrlein on the hairpin, sticking it in the walls. He reversed and got going, but was now firmly out of the points in P17.
By Lap 25, things were looking good for De Vries as he made a move around the Andrettis to take the race lead. But Rowland wasn’t out of contention yet. With his final Attack Mode under his belt, the Nissan driver made the charge on De Vries, snatching the lead from the Mahindra driver on Lap 26.
With four laps to go, Dennis was hit with a five second penalty for overspending under the full course yellow — paying the price for the move he made on Wehrlein and De Vries.
Rowland was a man in control, tearing his way around the Monaco circuit to open up a two-second gap over Nyck de Vries by Lap 27, in a healthy boost to Rowland’s championship aspirations. De Vries’ teammate, Mortara, was behind Müller in P5, promising a hearty points haul for Mahindra.
With Dennis falling foul of the stewards, Müller played the team game, opening up a gap behind his teammate to ensure Dennis would make it onto the podium.
Just one lap remained, with De Vries told by his team over the radio to “bring it home” — and he did, marking his first podium since 2022. But it was Rowland who crossed the line first, taking his maiden Monaco win. Third place was Jake Dennis, despite the penalty, with Mortara and Müller in P4 and P5 respectively.
Final standings
- Oliver Rowland
- Nyck de Vries
- Jake Dennis
- Edoardo Mortara
- Nico Müller
- Pascal Wehrlein
- Dan Ticktum
- Robin Frijns
- Stoffel Vandoorne
- Maximillian Günther
- Sam Bird
- Jean-Eric Vergne
- Lucas di Grassi
- Norman Nato
- David Beckmann
- Taylor Barnard
- Jake Hughes
- Nick Cassidy
- Sam Bird
- Mitch Evans
- Zane Maloney
- Antonio Felix da Costa
