Miami ePrix – Mitch Evans clinches historic 15th career win as Nico Mueller and Pascal Wehrlein earn a dream podium for Porsche in tricky conditions

After a safety car start and 41 laps of drama, delight, and unpredictable weather, Mitch Evans won the Miami ePrix – a record 15th of his career.

Nico Mueller and Pascal Wehrlein completed the podium on a day to remember for the Porsche squad, who stood on the podium with a strong points haul. 

There were plenty of talking points throughout, with Felipe Drugovich and Antonio Felix da Costa colliding while fighting for the podium.

It was a difficult day for championship leader Nick Cassidy, finishing outside of the points in P16 with his title advantage down to just two points.

Next up, Formula E heads to Jeddah for a double header on February 13-14.

Pascal Wehrlein clinches the final spot on the podium, ending an incredible weekend for Porsche!

Wehrlein said: "It was a good race! We struggled a bit the whole weekend as we found an issue with the car, which probably compromised everything before the race.

"I think P3 was the maximum for us with the starting position, and it is a double podium for †the team, so there are a lot of points, so we can be happy with that.

"Nevertheless, with better qualifying, I think the win was possible.

"It is a lot of points, with 36 points this weekend, including Nico’s pole position, so it was one of our best weekends in terms of points collection.

 "It is still early into the season, and we are banking those points, which is important for the rest of the season!"

Although Nico Mueller was unable to convert pole position into victory in Miami, he still leaves this weekend with plenty of positives.

Mueller said: "Super pleased for the guys at Porsche, we have worked very hard to get myself integrated into the team quickly.

"In our third weekend, we have both cars on the podium, so I think we can only ask for a little bit more, but Mitch was a tiny bit better today.

"I think he really deserved the victory, so congrats to him! But I am pleased for our team, lots of points and a great day with pole position and P2 for myself, which is what we are building on!"

It was an emotional win for Mitch Evans, who took a deserved victory in Florida.

Evans said: "Towards the end, it came down to the attacks, but I just had some really good raw pace, which got me to the front without any attacks!

"I knew early on that I had a good car underneath me. I had really good traction, and I just want to thank the team.

"In these conditions, you never know what you’re going to get

"I knew from before my first attack that we had a good shot at the win!"

Speaking about clinching a record-breaking 15th win, Evans added:

"It’s special, and I want to keep going, obviously, as we are still missing the big one, the championship. It’s a huge testament to the team, but hopefully this is a good restart for the season, and we can continue on from 15 wins!"

It's the first win and first points of the season for Mitch Evans, who admitted that the "rain came at the best time" in a "high concentration race"!

It will be Evans’ 15th career win in the Formula E paddock, who becomes the driver with the most Formula E wins.

Mitch Evans continues to look flawless, extending his advantage to over three seconds over Nico Mueller behind. It will be a day which will enter the history books for the Jaguar team and for the Evans family. EVANS AND JAGUAR WIN!!

Following behind, it will be a double podium for the Porsche squad as Mueller and Wehrlein round out the podium.

So far, it has been the perfect drive from current leader Mitch Evans, with the British star’s lead remaining at over 1.5 seconds to Mueller behind. If the ePrix were to end right now, Nick Cassidy’s championship advantage would be reduced to just two points!

Cassidy is continuing to struggle with the Citreon driver now heading one lap down following a tough weekend in the office.

Due to the initial safety car start, the FIA have notified the teams that we will race until the end of lap 41. An extra two laps of drama await!

The final ATTACK MODE deployments are now being used; both Porsche drivers of Mueller and Wehrlein, have a few minutes of extra power to play with. Mueller has six minutes of deployment while Wehrlein has just two minutes, using it to his advantage as he sets the fastest lap.

Then, just one lap after his competitors, Evans enters the activation zone in order to respond with six minutes of usage!

There is still plenty of ATTACK MODE usages to be used here in Miami, most notably for rookie Pepe Marti, who has yet to use any! Is this the perfect strategy from the Cupra squad, or have they left it too late to take full advantage of the time gained?

It has been a busy weekend for Marti, who had the pleasure of taking part in Friday afternoon’s rookie practice session (FP0).

After all of the action and drama, Evans sits as the driver in the lead of the ePrix as we enter Lap 30 of the action. Evans is ahead of Mueller and de Vries, who round out the podium, while the FIA have confirmed a 10-second penalty for Felipe Drugovich!

It is now an important ePrix for Drugovich to finish; otherwise, his 10-second penalty will be turned into a grid penalty in Saudi Arabia.

Felipe Drugovich and Antonio Felix da Costa have collided on the circuit while fighting for position at the tricky Turn 13. There looks to be damage to Dragovich’s front wing as he entered the pits for some repairs after hitting the rear of da Costa’s machine. Meanwhile, da Costa is still running on the circuit, losing time and dropping to P6.

Mueller now hits the front yet again, with the drivers entering the final 50% of available energy. Behind the Porsche driver is da Costa and Evans in a strong afternoon for the Jaguar team, who are both battling on the circuit and are both trying to defend from Drugovich.

Ticktum has also been on the radio, describing the change of tyres as a "waste of time".

The battle at the front is beginning to heat up with the Porsche drivers continuing to look strong at the moment. However, the front-runners are beginning to lap a few drivers who have perhaps gambled on tyre pressures. The next driver ahead of them to lap is Ticktum, who enters the pits on Lap 24 with new tyres being put on the Cupra.

Antonio Felix da Costa is now leading the ePrix after an aggressive move on the front straight, receiving a black and white flag for the incident. Currently, da Costa leads Mueller and Drugovich while Evans takes the first of his ATTACK MODE usages in this ePrix.

Evans entered the ATTACK MODE zone in P7, using the first two minutes to get ahead of former world champion Pascal Wehrlein, Nyck de Vries and Felipe Drugovich to head into the podium positions.

Season 12 continues to be an incredibly difficult campaign for Dan Ticktum, who sits down in P19 – over 15 seconds adrift from Nato. Ticktum is yet to score points this season and showed his frustration after qualifying earlier this afternoon. Ticktum started the weekend positively, ending Friday quickest following a strong FP1 pace.

Meanwhile, his teammate Pepe Marti is P11, picking up one position so far after another strong showing for the Formula E rookie!

Already, drivers and teams are continuing to look at their energy consumption on Lap 15, with drivers already under 70% remaining. Currently, Drugovich is at 66%, while Mueller sits at 67%, this could be an ePrix all about energy conservation.

Still no further positions gained for reigning champion Oliver Rowland, with the Brit sitting P17 out on the circuit. Currently, Rowland is ahead of his Nissan teammate Norman Nato, who is down in P18. Overall, it has been a difficult weekend for the Nissan squad, who seem to be searching for the final piece of the puzzle!

Nick Cassidy is currently sitting in P10 as the field continues to spread out in Miami. Cassidy will need to find further pace soon with two ATTACK MODES still remaining. He sits just two places behind his Citroen teammate in what has been a dream start to the season for the French manufacturer. 

Meanwhile, the gap at the front is beginning to close, suggesting that the track is beginning to dry as the front-runners try to conserve some further energy. There are now five drivers in the lead group!

The top three drivers have broken away from the rest of the field thanks to their early ATTACK MODE usage. The All-wheel Drive that the drivers gain while in ATTACK MODE is expected to give a further advantage while conditions remain greasy.

Joel Eriksson has received an early black and white flag for cutting the chicane, something he will need to be careful of as this ePrix continues!