Formula E: Antonio Felix da Costa stripped of Misano E-Prix win, Oliver Rowland victorious after DQ

Porsche's Antonio Felix da Costa has been stripped of his win at the inaugural Misano E-Prix, with Oliver Rowland of Nissan the new winner after initially losing out by four-tenths in a thrilling duel.

A frantic race saw the drivers bunched up for the majority of proceedings and it was not until Lap 25 that Rowland pulled the pin and broke away from the field. Da Costa - who climbed from 13th place - was the only driver able to go with him and claimed the lead one lap later.

With an energy advantage, he held Rowland at bay from there and took the chequered flag to make it six different winners from six races so far this season.

However, the celebrations were short-lived - and for a bizarre reason through no fault of Da Costa. A throttle damper spring mounted on his Porsche was "not found in conformity" with the race regulations, leading to a disqualification.

Reflecting on the stewards' decision, Da Costa wrote on Instagram: "Throttle damper spring was an original part from Spark that was used all of last year and been removed from the rulebook without notification to the teams... how many other cars out there are on this spring?"

The new result sees Da Costa drop seven places in the world championship standings to 13th.

Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) held the lead from pole position at lights out, but already on Lap 1 the positions were chopping and changing. This continued as the wide track at Misano allowed the drivers to go side by side and the field stayed bunched up with the order changing through every corner.

With the field so close together, the race was almost inevitably marked by collisions. Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team) and Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing), who went into the race as championship one and two, came out worst of it with front wing damage forcing them to pit stop. Sam Bird (Neom McLaren Formula E Team) too saw his race effectively ended by a puncture caused by debris on the track.

Halfway through the race, there was still no separating the field with no one inclined to make a break. However, Da Costa started to look in a prime position with an energy advantage of two or three per cent over his opponents.

Going into the final couple of laps, Da Costa, Rowland and Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske) had managed to stay at the sharp end of the pack for a prolonged time. Finally, Rowland made a break on Lap 25 and put around half a second between himself and the field.

Da Costa swiftly reeled the Nissan back in and overtook for the lead on Lap 26. While Rowland stayed in the slipstream to search for an opportunity to reclaim the position, Da Costa was in control.

Prior to being awarded the race win - his first since 2020 - Rowland said of his podium finish: "Amazing, I think we had a mega start to the year. We felt like [the podiums] were ... not fortunate, but we maximised everything and coming here it was going to be a little bit more tricky on a high efficiency track.

"But I'm pleasantly surprised - the car was mega, the energy management was good, and we had one of the best paces out there, so I'm really confident and really happy.

"I had to adapt because I had wanted to save quite a lot of energy, but then people got quite hungry in the beginning and I was down in 12th or 13th. And then I realised being 12th or 13th was not good because people were being rather optimistic.

"So I decided to come back up towards the front, sit around fifth or sixth and then when I got the information that the energy was good, I decided to go into the top three and I think me, [Jean-Eric Vergne], and Antonio [Felix Da Costa] worked quite well, blocking the track a bit as a three which was quite tactical. And then Antonio [Felix da Costa] didn't want to go, so I went and for me second was a good result today."

Behind, Jake Dennis (Andretti Formula E) was challenging Vergne for third. While the defending champion couldn't make it stick on track, he benefited from a five-seconds penalty for Vergne, awarded for causing a collision with Cassidy, and inherited the final podium spot.

"We've always got very efficient power trains, so P1 and P3 for Porsche is a special day for us," Dennis said. "From my side, I was confident going into the race, but it's been a real struggle for me this weekend. We've been one of the slowest cars all weekend over one lap. And then the boys gave me a good car for the race, a good strategy, and good awareness from myself and we've got the podium. Overall, really happy.

"Probably a bit of the same again tomorrow: start towards the back and then come through, but overall very happy and on a day like today to get a podium when you're not feeling good in the car, those are the times to score big.

"I didn't plan to leave [deploying attack mode] so late, but just the way everything was working out I had to and the race was getting faster and faster and that allowed me to not lose too many positions after taking it. I felt like I could have a couple of moves on [Jean-Eric Vergne], but I suffered with some brake issues on the last two laps, so I had to consolidate and knowing he had the five-second penalty, it was a P3."

Maximilian Guenther (Maserati MSG Racing) continued a great run of performances in third at his team's home event while Dan Ticktum (ERT Formula E Team) recorded a season's best finish in fourth. Pole sitter Evans was fifth, with Vergne post-penalty in sixth.

Norman Nato (Andretti Formula E) concluded the race in seventh ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne (DS Penske), Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan Formula E) and Lucas Di Grassi (ABT Cupra), who rounded out the new top 10, following the disqualification.

Four podiums on the bounce and now the championship lead, Rowland is certainly the driver on form.

The Brit enjoyed an error-free drive while his direct championship opponents missed out in the frantic action. The world championship is firmly going in his favour.

1/28: EVANS HOLDS FIRM FROM POLE - Evans hangs on to the lead at lights out and there are no incidents down the order.

5/28: DISASTER FOR CASSIDY - With the field so bunched up, here's the first inevitable collision with Cassidy coming out the worst of contact with Vergne. His front wing is damaged and he is forced to a pit stop.

6/28: PIT STOP FOR WEHRLEIN - The championship leader is next to be hit by a collision, also with Vergne, and suffer front wing damage. He drops down the order and heads to the pits.

14/28: WAITING STAGE AT THE HALFWAY POINT - We are halfway through the race now and it feels like we're still waiting for things to kick off properly. The field is running in a bulk and no one looks inclined to try make a break.

19/28: ADVANTAGE DA COSTA - Looking at energy management, Da Costa is still looking in the best position. He is currently running third and has deployed all of his attack modes.

25/28: ROWLAND PULLS THE PIN - For the first time this race, there is a bit of a gap at the front with Rowland having pulled around six tenths on the field.

26/28: DA COSTA TAKES LEAD - Da Costa hunts Rowland and pulls off an overtake. No one looks able to challenge the duo at the moment.

28/28: DA COSTA WINS IN MISANO - Da Costa manages to hold Rowland at distance and brings the win over the line. Rowland secures his fourth successive podium in second with Dennis completing the top three.

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