Günther Wins In New York City After Brilliant Double Pass

Calum Gill 23:07 10/07/2021

Maximilian Günther has won the first race in the New York City E-Prix double header after a brilliant opportunistic double overtake.

With under ten minutes to go, polesitter Nick Cassidy (Envision Virgin) was coming under attack from Jean-Éric Vergne, Günther (BMW) and Lucas di Grassi (Audi), after the New Zealander had held the effective lead from the start. Vergne went for a move at the Manhattan Hairpin on Cassidy, and pushed both of them wide, allowing Günther to sweep through on the inside and gain the lead, one which he would hold to the end.

Vergne ended up finishing second, ahead of di Grassi, who also got past Cassidy. Robin Frijns in the other Envision Virgin was 5th, a result that sees him climb to the joint top of the standings, after Edoardo Mortara failed to score. Nissan scored strongly, with Sébastian Buemi in sixth and Oliver Rowland in seventh, ahead of André Lotterer's Porsche. Sam Bird (Jaguar) was ninth - with the fastest lap - and René Rast (Audi) rounded out the top 10. 

-As it happened

-Full event results

Mahindra's Alex Lynn dropped back massively in the race, falling from third on the grid to eleventh at the chequered flag. Reigning champion António Félix da Costa was twelfth, ahead of Mercedes' Nyck de Vries, who drops out of group 1 in qualifying for the first time this season. Mortara (Venturi) was fourteenth, ahead of his teammate Norman Nato, Tom Blomqvist of NIO 333 and the two Dragon cars of Joel Eriksson and Sérgio Sette Camara.

Günther's teammate Jake Dennis looked to be on course for a solid result, progressing from P15 on the grid to P9. But just as he gained 9th place, he slowed with a mechanical issue, forcing him out of the race. Alexander Sims (Mahindra) also retired with a mechanical issue.

Stoffel Vandoorne's failure to finish saw another race go by without Mercedes picking up any points, the Belgian retiring to his pit box with a power unit problem; his own title aspirations now look bleak. Mitch Evans’s title hopes also received another blow as his Jaguar appeared to cut out and strand him on track. 

Oliver Turvey (NIO 333) retired for the second race running with another mechanical problem. Pascal Wehrlein was the first of the retirements though, after he suffered suspension damage after contact with Lynn at the hairpin. Porsche's Wehrlein was attempting to activate attack mode, but hit Lynn, sending the latter into a spin. The contact forced Wehrlein to become the afternoon's first retirement.

What they said

Maximilian Günther, speaking to Formula E: "I was managing the race quite well, I had more energy than the two guys in front of me but it was not so easy today to overtake. I saw JEV fighting with Nick for the win and they both went wide at the hairpin and then I got this gap, and for sure went for it." 

2021 New York City E-Prix 1 Classification (38 Laps)