Lights Out! Every Race Start of the 2026 Formula E Season

Two championships on the line to be decided for one last time. Let's see who will excel this time. The five red lights are coming on then here as we get ready to fight into the night in Tokyo. Who will fly in Shanghai as the lights go out and we go racing? 20 of the world's best drivers will be taking to the grid. 30 laps of action, over 9,000 horsepower on the grid. It's time to send it to the Samodrome as Formula E Season 12 is go. Good start from Dennis. Nice one as well from the front row for Dan Ticton as we come down towards the first corner. They keep an eye out from behind as well with Edo Mortara jogging through and the two Mahindras collide down at the first corner. De Vries into the side of Edoardo Mortara at Turn 2 and it looks like one of them might be out of the race. Absolute mess from Mahindra there. Absolute mess. One of them, I think, will be out of the race as we see Dan Ticton slowing. Ticton got hit, I believe, as well by Nick de Vries. And I think Nick de Vries got that completely wrong. He hit everybody going down into Turn 1. Yeah, it was like a game of Skittles coming down towards that first corner. Now here's the real pitch point on this circuit into Turns 4, 5 and 6. They're going 2x2 in the middle of the pack. You've got Nico Muller who is on the inside of the Jaguar there of Mitch Evans. We come through on board here with Oliver Rowland. Rowland, of course, did not have a particularly brilliant qualifying. He sits behind Taylor Barnard, P12 at the moment. Meanwhile, the sharp end of this one, Dennis still occupies the lead, followed by Berlein and Mortara, despite the contact with his teammate down at Turn 1, is in P3. Mortara did not stop. You have to stop. If you miss Turn 1, you have to stop on the run-off between Turn 1 and Turn 3. And he did not come to a full stop. He's going to get a bounce on that. Yeah, brake start under investigation. No surprise there popping up on our timing screen there and here. De Vries is somehow still in this one. He's sitting in P6 with Mitch Evans close behind. He also didn't stop going through the run-off. Mahindra, absolute disaster from both their drivers. And that was all triggered by Nick De Vries. Yeah, not great at all there for the two Mahindras. Let's see what the outcome of it is. We begin the second lap out of 30 here though at Sao Paulo. Berlein sitting there in second position, closely followed by Mortara. has made his way up into fifth place, starting from P6. So he's made one position up from where he started. Ticktum is in the pit lane then at the end of that first lap. So he would have got a puncture then from Nick De Vries hitting him in the rear left. Let's have a listen. I've been given a puncture, rear left. Yeah, you called it absolutely right there, James. Have you got the lottery numbers for next Thursday while we're out here as well? No, but I could see the cards at the front of the grid, unlike Nick De Vries. Yeah, unfortunate there for Dan Ticktum to have been caught up in that drama. We'll wait and see as we see what the outcome is. Let's have a look down towards turn one. So De Vries just outbrakes himself, clatters into the back of Ticktum. Mortara, innocent party in that one. But either way, both of them didn't really come to a stop. So I actually think Nick De Vries did try and stop. Edo Mortara actually didn't go through the bollards, which is what the FIA wanted the drivers to do and didn't stop at all. So De Vries actually didn't stop. He didn't come to a complete stop. So I think both Mahindra drivers are going to be under investigation very soon. Yeah, that's, I mean, that's unacceptable from the world championship level drivers. Sorry, race one of the world championship. You don't want to be seeing that. That's a shame, a massive shame for Dan Ticktum, who's not done wrong all weekend. Let's see Edo Mortara's view of it. He's going to get stage right. Yeah, and clatter from his teammate. He's lucky he didn't get a puncture himself there with contact on the front right tyre. But as you say, didn't come to a stop in that one. There's Pepe Marti, 20th and last on the grid. Green flag is Wayne at the back. Barnard on the left. Sebastien Buemi on the right-hand side as he lines up on pole position for the first time since 2023. Thumbs up from Idris Elba as we wait for the five red lights to come on. 36 laps, about to go racing. We celebrate the 150th race of Formula E as we squeeze time for a milestone in Mexico. As we go racing, good start from Barnard off the front of the grid. He pulls alongside and tries to challenge against Sebastien Buemi. Down towards the first corner, but Buemi chops his nose off and goes deep. He's gone off straight down at turn one. So Barnard through and into the lead. Buemi is out of contention for the victory and the race isn't even a corner old. Unbelievable. He's obviously had to brake on the inside, on the dirty part of the track, but for a driver of his experience, he will be disappointed with that. That's a bit of disappointment there for Sebastien Buemi. So it's Barnard that leads from Mortara. Nico Müller's up into third place. He's side-by-side with Mitch Evans as we come through the complex then into turn eight. Then on the run down and towards turn nine. This is now a big braking zone and an overtaking opportunity. You can see Mortara going for the defensive line there and very big action in the background as we come in towards that right-hander. I think that was da Costa there having a bit of an elbows-out moment with somebody else. I think it was Werner, wasn't it? His former teammate at Porsche. So no love lost between those two if any of you have seen the documentary from last year. So yeah, not surprised to see them getting their elbows out. Yeah, Felipe Drogobic was also making some moves right up the back of the field. He's in 16th position from where he started on the grid down in 17th to one position gained. And as we come to the end of the first lap, it's Taylor Barnard that lead. Edo Mortara in second, but keep an eye out for Nico Müller as Mortara goes for that sort of defensive line down the start-finish straight, goes back into the traditional racing line as we come in towards turn one. Yeah, tyre pressure is going to be key in this one. I think some of the drivers that are further back, the likes of Roland, Dennis, Verne, Tictum, etc., they're all going to think about maybe an early attack mode in this race to get it out of the way so they can cycle through, get track position whilst the field is all bunched up on the opening few laps. You can see a fair amount of smoke on the grid with all these burnouts that have taken place. Might take a moment or two for that to clear. Yeah, but that already suggests the track's starting to dry, isn't it? You wouldn't see these sort of levels of burnouts if the track was covered in water. No, absolutely not. So we wait for the green flag to be waived then and then the five red lights to come on. After five laps under the safety car, we are about to go racing here in Miami as the five red lights are now coming on. It's time for a masterclass then as the lights go out and we go racing. What can Drogovic do from the front row of the grid? What about Niko Müller? He gets a good start from pole position, drags down towards Turn 1. Keep an eye out for Taylor Barnard on the outside there in the DS Penske. Müller's deep, Drogovic is on the inside, challenging for the race lead. They're all scrabbling, trying to find grip. Drogovic looks to the outside as you've got Antonio Pinzta-Costa in the mix there. He is side-by-side with the Mahindra of Nick de Vries coming through into Turn 4 and straight into an early attack mode then for Felipe Drogovic. He wants to get maximum traction, maximum grip, and cycle through and challenge for position, which he's already doing as we come on the run into the left-hander. If it stays damp, that's an absolutely brilliant strategy call potentially. Let's see how this one plays out. He's gone for two minutes, so not a longer one. He's leaving himself six minutes towards the end of the race. I think that's a really clever move as we see the Jaguar coming down the inside. That's Evans. Evans alongside Norman Natto. But yeah, Drogovic now in the lead. So he's out-dragged Nico Miller with that extra 50 kilowatts, with that four-wheel drive, on the run-out of Turn 11, he's taken the lead. And I think this is the point where he needs to make hay, right? He's got all of this extra ability to make a gap in these tricky damp conditions, and I think he's going to go. He's very deep. Look at how bunched up it gets through Turn 13. We're expecting a proper concertina effect through there. This was a dry race. We were expecting it to be a packed race, lots of energy, lots of drivers squabbling, changing positions for the first two-thirds. That strategy call has gone completely out of the window here as we now begin lap six of the race, the first at full racing speed. But that's a disappointment there for Mahindra. Let's see what will happen then. The green flag is waved at the back. 19 starters ready to take to the circuit for 31 laps of action, which is ready to begin here in Saudi Arabia. On the left-hand side is Eduardo Mortara. On the right-hand side is Maximilian Gunther. It is all eyes on the lights as five of them come on, and we wait to see who will command on the Cornish coast. As the lights go out and we go racing, big burnout from Edo Mortara. And that means that, you can see Pascal Bertline taking evasive action and Barnard going through on the outside, side by side with the two DS Penskis for the lead down into Turn 1. So it's good to the lead from teammate Taylor Barnard and Mortara making an absolute shocker of a start, Mayan right down in the middle of the pack. It looked like Mortara was only in two-wheel drive there. He burned out so much. It was like the four-wheel wasn't activated for the start. Yeah, I mean, it's super, super disappointing for him. He's down in seventh place now. But I'll tell you what, well done to all the drivers getting through that first sequence with no real damage. Mortara on the fight back already here against Jake Dennis, looking for the inside line and then the outside line subsequently into the bus. Dr. Keaney side by side with the Porsche, moves Nico Muller out of the way, and Muller then dropping down to play. So Mortara, as you can see, on the fight back, very aggressive in the opening lap. He has to do it while the field is now bunched up. It's a case of damage limitation. And there is a problem and a retirement for Zane Maloney in the lowly Yamaha app. Looks like he is going to be out of this race before it has begun, and that surely is going to bring out a safety car unless they can get it recovered. It's down at turn seven. Where's that? It's sort of mid part of the first sector. I don't know if there's going to be a gap in the wall. We'll wait and see whether they can get that car recovered, but not ideal at all. Clearly some contact there for Maloney. Meanwhile, look at this. On the inside for Pascal Berline looking to make some moves on Taylor Barnard's third place. Can't do it into the final chicane. Yeah, he had a little look there, but you have to be fully alongside to make a move into any of those tight chicanes. So up at the front, Max Gunther, last year's winner here, of course, in Jeddah in the lead. So yellow flag there, down at turn seven. This is race control speaking. We go full Corsillo in three, two, one. And then it's eyes on the red lights. Formula E, it's time to get rowdy in Saudi as the lights go out and we go racing. Good start from Mortara off the front row. Nice one from Dennis as well. Keep an eye out for Da Costa looking on the outside of Dennis as we come down towards turn one. Side by side with Verne and Roland into the first corner as well. Into turn two we go. Da Costa on the inside of Dennis. Gets the move done by the looks of things on the exit of the corner. And then Dennis has got the inside line though as we come down into turn four. He's not giving that one up, but it's still Mortara that leads and we're still two by two for fourth place there as well. Yeah, and we've got to be careful as we run it along the wall there, but great defending by Dennis. That gives Mortara just a little bit of breathing space as we get halfway into this first lap. Yeah, Verne shuffled off to the runoff area on the exit of turn five. Dennis going to the outside of Mortara down into the bus stop chicane. Could he make that stick? Not quite through there. Mortara lives to fight another day and holds on to the race lead. But now in the background, you've got Tipton who's made a position there on Sebastian Buemi. Zayn Maloney's up a couple of places from where he started in that first sector as well as Wehrlein is shuffled down to ninth. And look at that, Dennis going for the race lead. Roland looking on the inside. They're all lifting and coasting, trying to jostle for position as we come in towards turn 13. So it's now Roland in the Nissan that hits the front. Mortara's relegated down into second. Da Costa's on the inside of the Swiss driver into the penultimate chicane. Are they going to make it through without contact? Nearly, just about. Mortara does manage to retain second place. Tension in the air for the drivers as they sit there waiting with eager anticipation. The red light's now about to come on. Who will be El Matador in Madrid? As the lights go out and we go racing. Good start from Casti. Nice one from De Vries as well. Look at Da Costa going side-by-side with the Mahindra as they come down towards the first corner. Mortara also jostling for position as well. He is side-by-side with Norman Natto. Casti with the lead. Da Costa to the outside and off onto the grass into the gravel there is the number 23. That's the Nissan of Norman Natto who's in some bother down at Turn 1. Yeah, big shame for Norman Natto there. Qualified so well, but up at front, yeah, Nick Cassidy, Nick De Vries, Antonio Da Costa, Linus Stern. Yeah, Da Costa got a good start. He tried to go around the outside of Nick Cassidy and in the end did quite get a good enough exit which allowed the Mahindra of Nick De Vries to go into second place. Oh, watch Dan Tickton. He's made a great start and is now battling wheel-to-wheel with Edo Mortara, Tom. Yeah, fantastic there for Dan Tickton. New livery on that Cupra-Kiro. Looks slightly different to what you might expect, but that's opened the door here for Pascal Berline to send it through on the inside down at Turn 7. Can he get the better of Mortara? He's got the inside line and now he's got the place then, so that's great for the Porsche driver. Not bad also there for Dan Tickton who still sits side-by-side with Mortara. Downing towards Turn 9. We're about to head on the run down the toboggan, if you like, hill into the left-hander. On board we ride with Tickton and he still sits alongside Pascal Berline. But he's got ahead of Edo Mortara, so that's one position gain. Is he going to try and go down the inside of Pascal Berline? He is. Is he going to make it stick? No, he's not. The other thing to note from the race start, it just came up on our screen, Zane Maloney, the Lola driver, has got a drive-through penalty for some kind of infraction. Here he comes into the pit lane. Yeah, the team would have known about that prior to the start of the race, given that he's serving it at the end of this first lap. That's not ideal for Zane Maloney. Points were the plan here today for the Barbadian driver. The end of lap 1 then. Cassidy it is that leads. De Vries in second. The Costa over the line there in third position, followed by his former teammate Pascal Berline. Ticktum defending there from Edoardo Mortara. Just behind Mortara, you've got Gunter and then Jake Dennis. Olly Roland's not had a particularly brilliant impression on this race. Lost the position from 8th on the grid down to 9th. There is Edoardo Mortara. There is Norman Natto right at the very back of the grid. Lucas di Grassi alongside. Green flag then is waved at the back. Here is your championship leader, Pascal Berline. Will he be able to command himself to victory? Or will Edoardo Mortara take the hindrance first victory in a very long time in Formula E? We now wait for the five red lights to come on as we get ready for a barnstormer in Berlin. As the lights go out and we go racing. Good start from Mortara. Nice one as well from Pascal Berline. But look at Oliver Roland coming through on the outside. He's side by side with Berline up the front row. And then you've got the Citroën on the inside there as well as they go two by two into Turn 1. But Edoardo Mortara manages to retain the lead. Olly Roland through into second. Berline down into third place. Cassidy still side by side with Dan Ticktum in the Cupra Chiro as they come on the exit of Turn 3 through Turn 4. And now on the run into the heavy braking zone of the hairpin of Turn 6 and 7. I think Roland and Berline will be very happy this phase of the race. Just sitting behind Edoardo Mortara saving as much energy as possible. Side by side there in the background as well. You've got Felipe Drogobic who's going toe to toe with Nico Bulle in the pink Porsche. Xavier Loni also looking to the outside there of Nick Cassidy. Can't quite make anything stick as they come through the exit of Turn 9. A textbook start there for Edoardo Mortara. He's leading from the front but is he going to try and hold that position for the rest of this sort of first stint while we're expecting drivers to conserve energy, Katie? Yeah, very respectful racing from everyone. No one's really trying anything special. I think everybody's really concerned with the energy and not wanting to waste energy battling on too early. It's also worth saying that no driver has retired at all from the last two Formula E races so maybe we're on to something there. I really hope you're not tempting fate. Side by side with Drogobic and Muller down into the first corner. You've got Ticktum as well and there is Xavier Loni on his inside. Cassidy looking to try and attack as well as he's got Ticktum now to his outside. It will flick to the inside line as they come through into the right-hander and Ticktum manages to hold position in front of Cassidy there for now and also in front of Xavier Loni as well. So Muller there in seventh place as we ride on board with him. Yeah, in the race that we had last year, Pascal led from the front and actually it was to his detriment so I wonder how confident he is to just either lead or just drop back in the top five. Well, tension rises in Sempol Hall as we await the five red lights to go out and we go green in Germany. Good start from Wehrlein, good start also from Taylor-Barnard who will lead as we come down into the heavy braking zone of Turn 1 and Turn 2. Look at Nick Cassidy on the outside of Taylor-Barnard, DS Penske. Then you've got a move on the inside there. That's a 10-0 finish to Costa getting three abreast with the lonely Yamaha Ramps as well as the Andretti but through into Turn 1, Wehrlein does hold on at the front from Taylor-Barnard. Then it's the two sit-throughs of Cassidy and Wehrlein as we come out of the first sector and blast our way down in towards Turn 6 and 7. Everybody's well-behaved so far and look, nobody wants to lead this motor race. Pascal Wehrlein deliberately going super wide and allowing Taylor-Barnard there into the lead. So out of Turn 6 and 7 we go. Look at Nick Cassidy, look at Jean-Éric Vergne, the two Citroëns lining a stern on the outside of the corner as we come in towards Turn 9 and 10. It really does bottleneck up and funnel through here again. Still three wide there with the likes of Joel Ericsson to Costa as well as Zayn Maloney. Nick de Vries and then Wadim Oltara in the two Mahindras also involved in that one as well. And you wonder whether the two Citroëns might try and work together here in the opening stages if they're going to have the opportunity to do so. They really have to. You're going to have to work with your teammate on here. You've got such a big advantage if you have two of them at the sharp end of this field. You want to maintain the top five position just so that you stay away from a bit of the jungle as Sam was describing earlier. Anywhere around sort of 10th to 14th place. So Taylor-Barnard it is that now leads from Nick Cassidy at the end of lap 1. Jean-Éric Vergne in third place. He's now on the inside of Pascal Wehrlein who we ride on board with. Now for those who are tuning into Formula E for the first time and wondering if these drivers are going flat out, they're not at the moment. They're just biding their time. It's a very energy-sensitive race this in that drivers are going to have to regen energy over the course of it. That's why they're not driving flat out and that's why you'll see overtakes looking pretty easy in the first stages of this race as the two Mahindras cycle their way through to the front. You've got de Vries there on the outside of Nick Cassidy and Wadim Oltara on the inside of the other Citroën of Jean-Éric Vergne. But they're just biding their time here, saving energy in the opening stages of the race and then there'll come what we call a go point. The pace will come down and the drivers will start to get on with things. The lap time will come down to what we're expecting full race pace to be. So their drivers are lined up on the grid. It's a 29-lapper here in Monaco and we're now waiting for that green flag to be waved at the back and those red lights to come on ahead of action beginning. Second row of the grid, Max Gunther on the left and then Mitch Evans on the right-hand side, the winner from the 2024 race here in Monte Carlo. What will happen, though, as we get ready to go green and go racing as the five red lights are about to come on, the car liveried in the Masters of the Universe is on pole position, but who will be the master of Monaco as we go green and go racing? Good start from Tictum. Nice one as well from de Vries as we head down towards the first corner. Look at Gunther on the inside, side-by-side with Mitch Evans. The two Porsches line astern as Jean-Éric Vergne gets pushed over onto the kerb with Da Costa sliding in behind. But as we come up the hill for the first time, it's Tictum who leads from pole position with de Vries close in tow. Yeah, absolutely nailed the start and now he'll comfortably be able to feel where the car is, get some heat in those tyres and get into the picture of this race. All fairly sensible on the run to the first corner as well. Everyone conscious of the fact that there can be contact around here. Yeah, but Gunther having a look down on the inside of Evans there and he has got in front of Mitch Evans now. The two Porsches side-by-side, Tom, as they come through the Fairmont hairpin. Can't quite work out which one's in front from this angle. Verline just in front of Nico Müller actually through there and de Costa was trying to nip at the heels of Joel Ericsson as they come down through into Portier. So Gunther up into third place there. Evans down into fourth position and Tictum already trying to push the pace at the start of this race as we head down into the Nouvelle Chicane for the first time. Gunther's looking very seasoned. I feel like their strategy is to maybe get out in front, burn up a bit of energy and think about an earlier pit stop. Let's see, but he certainly has energy about the way Gunther's driving on this opening lap. Martin was having a look on Jake Dennis for 14th place into the chicane as well. Oh, I have a puncture. Oh, Mitch Evans has got a puncture. What a shame for the Kiwi. The 2024 race winner with a puncture. Clearly then there was a bit of contact presumably between himself and Max Gunther on the opening lap. So, well, he's not coming to the pit lane at the end of the lap. I was expecting him to go stage right then. Well, it can only be two things. He actually sees it on his display or he feels it. The car would start to crab if you've got a reduction in the pressure on one of the tyres. But he's not pitted. Exactly, so it could be a field sensor rather than an actual reality. Yeah, clearly the car feels okay for Mitch Evans as we blast up the hill through Beau Ravage and in towards Casino Square for the second time. Then it's Dan Tickton who sits in the race lead at the moment. Half a second or so, the advantage he had over the timing line from Nick de Vries. Talking to drivers, team members down on the grid. It was a tricky task because it was absolutely jam-packed here in Monaco. Here's Oliver Rowland, P8 on the grid for the reigning world champion. Not been a particularly brilliant day at the office so far for the Nissan team or indeed weekend, I should say, rather. Both drivers outside of the points here yesterday as here are the two lowly Yamaha apps which complete the grid then. Lucas di Grassi getting a couple of points on the board will be very happy with that and he would like to make some forward progress but from 19th on the grid it's going to be a particularly tricky task. Fingers crossed though in the Cupra-Quiroa pit box then as they await their destiny here on the streets of Monaco. It's 28 laps of action about to begin as we await for these five red lights to come on. It's time to send it in. Sain de Vos as the lights go out and we go racing. Good start from the front row and nice one as well also from Jean-Henri Vergne as well as Eduardo Mortara. Down into Sain de Vos we go and it's Dan Tickton that leads. Then into second place is Antonio Felix da Costa. Side-by-side action further back there as well with Mitch Evans. He's going toe-to-toe. With Felipe Drogovic's Andretti as they come up the rise through Beau Rivage into Matiné and Casino Square for the first time. Tickton, a textbook start as he leads the field. Yeah, and straight away you can see he's controlling the pace everywhere that he can back out of it save energy and not have to run the risk of someone going side-by-side. He's going to do it. Evans on the outside there of Felipe Drogovic. We saw him going two-by-two with the Andretti down into Sain de Vos. Drogovic is trying to get the advantage here over Jean-Henri Vergne into the Fairmont hairpin as well. This is where it concertinas up and we see a bit of action there with Drogovic being squeezed to the inside by the Citroën driver and just has to slot in behind the Frenchman for now. Yeah, the challenge you've got for everyone else in the pack is you don't know what pace Tickton's going to drive. So, by the time you react the concertina effect that's where it gets challenging for them and look at them now they're sort of two-three wide sometimes into the chicane around the outside Jean-Henri Vergne. Oh, front wing damage and spins around and it takes Da Costa in all of that drama. What does Da Costa have to do to get some luck in Formula E? He's facing back in the right direction but he plummets down the order on lap one. We were just saying, weren't we? But the first lap that concertina effect you can get caught out and I think there Jean-Henri Vergne was side-by-side with Mortara. They didn't realize how slow Da Costa and Tickton in front were going and unfortunately they made contact. Yeah, you can understand if it happened on the left-hand part of the chicane but on the right it's such a short run between the two that I can only imagine that Tickton went particularly slowly at the apex which then had that knock-on effect. Oh, he's getting scrappy here in the mid-pack as well. You've got side-by-side with Nico Müller and Jake Dennis the two Porsche-powered cars. The Andretti now in front of the factory machine as they come across at the timing line. We begin lap two. It's Edoardo Mortara that's now leading the race. Tickton's dropped himself back down into third place and I wonder if that's a strategic call to try and save energy in the opening stages. Of course he led yesterday for too long expended so much energy and then had to save it later on put him on the back foot. Yeah, exactly that. I think we saw it last year as well with Taylor Barnard you know where he led a lot of that first 15 laps and you do end up about one and a half percent two percent down which then comes back to bite you late in the race or when you want to use the attack mode. This is the DaCosta move, David. Yeah, so just completely rear-ended as the two behind side-by-side fighting each other and then they've just completely forgot about the fact that DaCosta's there so we're going to see Mortara. It's Mortara that actually got into the back there of DaCosta, wasn't it? Yeah, he was trying to sort of play side-by-sides with his teammate and well, unfortunate for DaCosta. Yeah, it wasn't his teammate of course it was Jean-Luc Vergne that they were side-by-side but I don't know if Mortara might be in trouble for that because ultimately he did make contact and send DaCosta into a spin but he seems to have been noted there by race directions under investigation let's wait and see what the outcome of it is. Marti meanwhile goes toe-to-toe with the factory Porsche of Nico Muller as he manages to try and squeeze himself back inside the top 10. He started pink 10 lost a couple of places on the opening lap and there you can see the confirmation about that investigation for DaCosta and Eduardo Mortara a couple of laps ago. Here we go then it's time to bring the hype in high as the lights go out and we go racing Jay Dennis takes off from pole position look out though for Filippo Drangovic on the inside on the outside there you've got Mitch Evans trying to challenge for position Tickton on the inside and Mick de Vries as they come through the first corner down in towards turn 12 into the last turn we go and then we will start on the start finish straight and begin the first lap so it is Jay Dennis that leads and you can see Nick de Vries trying to challenge there as well he's looking to try and make some ground up in the opening stages against Nick Cassidy's Citroen but through the first couple of corners we go it's Dennis from Drangovic then you've got Mitch Evans then Dan Tickton in P4 still side by side with Cassidy and Nick de Vries as they jostle for places up the inside they go into turn 4 Roland's there on the outside as well in this and can he make anything stick on the Mahindra the door's kind of half open on the inside but I think he's going to run out of room and maybe run out of momentum no he is through on Nick Cassidy I think for position there well Pascal Wehrlein's a big winner there he got a nice little gap through as Nick Cassidy and de Vries were getting into each other so nice clean start there from Pascal that's exactly what he and Porsche needed yeah Roland through actually on de Vries I beg your pardon so he's up into seventh place after starting in P10 de Vries down into ninth position so not a great start from P5 on the grid for the Mahindra driver the winner from the first race in Monaco but we'll see if he can make some forward progress as this race continues he's got a yellow flag out down at turn 9 we're hearing a crunch of carbon fiber in our headset there as well and I wonder if someone's lost a bit of body work or had some damage just looking at Lucas di Grassi he's right off the tail end of the field there as well so he might have been in some bother as according to our driver tracker on the screen we can see in our commentary box at the moment end of the first lap though Dennis still leading from Drogobic right then it's all eyes to the lights as the green flag is waved at the back 29 laps of action to come here in Shanghai and let's see what will happen as the lights will get ready to go out Evans on the left-hand side of the picture Pascal Wehrlein on the right-hand side all action in the pit boxes as the heart rates begin to rise as does the tension as the five red lights come on who will fly in Shanghai as the lights go out and we go racing good start from Evans off the front row but Wehrlein with the best as they come down towards the first corner keep an eye out as well for Jake Dennis coming through on the outside of Evans into Turn 1 side by side they go and the Andretti looks like he's going to get the better of Mitch Evans as they head through the first corner Da Costa also up there he is going toe-to-toe with Maximilian Gunther the outside line will then switch to the inside line as we come down into Turn 3 but it's Wehrlein that leads but look in the distance at those dark grey clouds this is going to be absolutely critical in the opening stages to make progress if the rain hits yeah you're going to want to get yourself to the front I mean we might even see people from the back trying to push and almost drive flat out to get to the front to keep that track position top in towards the left hander of Turn 6 we go Da Costa there on the inside Gunther pushed to the kerb on the outside but Wehrlein with a brilliant start to this race as we were expecting so it's two Porsche powertrains inside the top two positions and then they're all jostling for places behind Burns in the mix there and the Citroen going side by side with Felipe Drogobic there's Gunther still with Da Costa looking to his inside then looking to his outside coming through into the bottleneck section of the lap on the brakes in towards Turn 10 this is where we've seen so many drama and a couple of spots of rain there on the camera lens as well the Andretti team were anticipating rain right at the very start of this race and is it now just starting to be a light sprinkling over this Shanghai circuit? I think James is right they're racing really hard through that back chicane now I think they're trying to get to the front because the visibility is so bad if you get in the spray if it really rains and you're in the spray there's just nothing you can do to try to move forward Guemi on the inside of Jean-Luc Vergne as they go through into Turn 1 so the big winners and losers Felipe Drogobic up three places likewise Oliver Roland and Nico Muller right from the very back of the field Maloney's into the pits as is Norman Natto they had a 10 second stop go penalty each because they basically had to change so many components they got a 43 and 60 place grid penalty respectively and because they couldn't serve all of those it's then turned into a 10 second stop go so they'll be hoping for a safety car to hopefully bring them back into contention later on in this race two Jaguars there with Maximilian Gunther splitting the two in fourth position as they head out on the run in towards Turn 7 and 8 Smoke might take a few moments to clear there right at the very back of the field you can see confirmation on the timing tower Mitch Evans not taking to the start of this race owing to that technical problem thwarting any opportunity for the Kiwi and his championship challenge hangs in the balance here some smart drivers there doing the burnout on the dry piece of tarmac underneath the bridge it goes across the circuit yeah just to get the heat for the tyres and try and make sure that it stays there for as long as possible a bit of the smokes are now clear from the rear of the grid there's a legacy of that but the green flag is waved at the back then it'll be 24 laps of action ready to go green as we wait for the five red lights to come on Formula E gets ready to charge forwards in China as the lights come out and we go racing good start from the front row nice one as well from Wehrlein keep an eye out for Roland he looks like he might get swallowed up here by Nico Muller down to Turn 1 we go Drukovic holds off the challenge from Taylor Barnard Wehrlein slots his way into third place side by side there behind as well with Mortara looking to get the better of Zane Maloney as they come through the right hander of Turn 1 and straight into attack mode for Taylor Barnard, Marty, Mortara and De Vries as they come through the first couple of corners that's okay you can do that as we've started the race already under the safety car so they're trying to make profit with these two attack mode deployments and make ground whilst the field is now bunched up yeah that all-wheel drive system is going to help them so much whilst the pack is close together they don't want to see the guys at front running away with it smart, smart move by them Zane Maloney with a big send on the inside of Jake Dennis down at Turn 6 that is the Cuprichiro of Ticton straight on down at Turn 6 as well still a few drivers being caught out from that here this weekend on board we ride with Eduardo Mortara he's in all-wheel drive he's in attack mode at the moment and he's going to be coming through this field like a freight train as will Pepe Marti because they're right on the back of two drivers of Nico Muller and Oliver Rowland who are in two-wheel drive let's see how they'll be able to make it stick and how soon they're going to be able to put that extra power and grip into effect well another good reason to use the attack mode now is because the delta is so much bigger in the wet than the dry if we're expecting the track to be drying up they can make more of a difference now than the drivers can if it stays dry and that's a big if a bit of a spray there on board with Eduardo Mortara just behind Pepe Marti Marti making his way through on Nico Muller and then Mortara going for a big send on the outside meanwhile we are side by side here for second place with Wehrlein and Taylor Barnard Barnard with the inside line Wehrlein goes for the outside I think he was forced into attack mode there if nothing else goes for a four-minute deployment Hurley-Dawes and a lot of other drivers including Dennis and Maloney also following suit so they're trying to do what we saw yesterday get that offset and go for a lap longer to then try and cycle back through the drivers who went on the first racing lap because they'll of course run out of energy sooner right there green flag is waved at the back as we wait for the smoke to clear and look at the packed grandstands there on the right-hand side of this start-finish straight what is going to happen when the lights go out and when the checkered flag will fall in 36 laps time the five red lights are coming on then here as we get ready to fight into the night in Tokyo as Jake Dennis leads away from pole position followed by Wada Mortara look though at Da Costa coming through on the outside as they break down into turn one a squeeze there for Mortara on Da Costa side by side with Muller behind with Taylor Barnard as they go two by two over the crest of the hill down the hill in towards turn three we go and Da Costa just holding off the advances for the time being of Muller who's getting pinched on the inside of turn four and Barnard attacking again with the inside line subsequently into the next right-hander as he looks to try and find his way through this first sector goes left, right, left, right you have the inside for one corner the outside for the next it is wheel-to-wheel racing in the first part of the lap as we look like we've got some damage on the front of Nico Muller's car there yeah it all pinched up didn't it going through turn four into turn five and I think that Muller is going to be dropping through like a stone as well he's going tumbling down the timing tower and tumbling down the order of results as well he's got his teammate Pascal Wehrlein directly behind who he'll let through without too much bother but I wonder if that's the legacy of the contact that we saw in the first few corners yeah it looked like the car was maybe moving a little bit funny I don't know if he's got suspension damage or whether it is a potential puncture but something is definitely not right over at that Porsche garage there but look what he's done now Katie the top two have already built out a gap as it all sort of fumbled behind yeah the pace looks quite fast actually at the beginning of this race I wasn't expecting them to be racing so hard at this early stage obviously still they've got to manage the energy even though it is a pit boost race general consensus is that it's going to be quite difficult to overtake here in Tokyo if you're starting further down the order I'm thinking of the likes of Evans and Roland in particular in that championship fight making your way through the field in terms of overtaking on track will be quite tricky as we see Muller coming into the pit lane and also there Nick De Vries as well so I assume he was involved in some bother there in the opening stages of that one but they're both coming into the box we'll wait and see what the upshot is Buemi and De Vries under investigation according to our timing screen for a collision at T7 right okay well that's all good and all is fair then so we're ready to get action underway after one lap behind the safety car on the left-hand side on pole position is Eduardo Mortara directly to his right is Antonio Felix da Costa what will happen when the chequered flag is about to fall Pascal Wehrlein now second in the championship down in 11th on the grid after a challenging time in qualifying needs to make forward progress here in the E3 to capitalize on it and get himself back into championship contention who though will triumph in Tokyo as the five red lights come on the lights come on and we go racing Mortara away well likewise Antonio Felix da Costa keep an eye out for Mitch Evans and also Dan Tickton coming through on the outside da Costa looks to try and tackle Mortara can't quite manage it down into Turn 1 so the pole sitter holds the race lead as they funnel their way through the first couple of corners they're scrabbling for grip and trying to find traction as they head down the hill in towards Turn 3 through the left of Turn 4 the top three or four places staying pretty much as you were there for Mitch Evans as well he started in seventh on the grid and he's made up a couple of places into P5 he got a really good launch off the line he went to the outside and won it gave him the inside for two and he managed to pick up a few positions there so for the championship leader that instantly just increases that buffer to the drivers behind him one place down for Pascal Wehrlein from where he started there just behind his teammate just behind him is his teammate rather Nico Muller so Wehrlein there as you know has just reset he's gone up into 11th place as you can see there on the graphics so through in towards Turn 10 and 11 we go you can see Natto with a flurry of cars behind him De Vries, Rowland, Verne, Pepe, Marti etc but actually my surprise there James pretty calm in the first couple of corners yeah very well behaved from everyone out there I think they know how treacherous this race is going to be they know that they need to stay clean but look at the gaps that the first three are opening up already yeah so two attack modes to remind you in this E3 as well unlike what we had yesterday so the drivers get two deployments of it and they have a total of eight minutes and in those two deployments they can use it in the following formations six minutes and two minutes two minutes and six minutes or four minutes and four minutes we are though expecting a bit of rain to continue to fall here as we look at the drivers blasting down the start finish straight at the end of the first full racing speed lap but it's 38 laps then and we are ready to see what will happen at the XL tension in the pit boxes as these drivers and teams sit on the precipice of greatness red lights are on then it's time for lights out in London as Pascal Berline leads them away from pole position and we blast down towards the first corner Muller going side by side then with Mitch Evans look though at John O'Byrne trying to challenge on the inside as they go three abreast down into turn one Da Costa on the outside as he concertinas up but Berline holds the lead followed by his teammates side by side there with Dan Tictum for third place as they come through the first series of corners Tictum on the outside trying to challenge against Mitch Evans for P3 can't make anything stick though but crucially a clean few corners at the front of this race it doesn't look like there was any contact really between any of the drivers as we mentioned there Berne pretty assertive with where he positioned the car and now they're sort of stretching out so they're out of the danger zone yeah it's quite rare isn't it we get through that first sector of the lap without any incident off the line a bit of smoke coming off the back there of Da Costa's Jaguar as I saw through the chicane let's keep an eye on that but up at the front it is controlled by the two Porsches yeah one and two formation exactly how they wanted to start this race so they managed to maintain their grid positions Dennis you can see there in P5 that's exactly where he started Ericsson the sort of loser off at the start down one place at the expense of Jean-Éric Berne in the Citroën Dennis who's already had some bother here today in qualifying received a reprimand as did Nick de Vries after those two were having a bit of a tête-à-tête out there on track and Dennis felt like he was impeded by Nick de Vries ultimately de Vries as you can see down in 10th position as we come to the end of the first lap on the left hand side is Nick de Vries on the right hand side is Eduardo Mortara two championships on the line to be decided for one last time let's see who will excel in London as the lights go out and we go racing de Vries away from pole position followed by Eduardo Mortara who ducks into the wheel tracks of him on the inside there is Taylor Barnard looking to try and challenge against Nico Müller can't quite make anything stick as he concertinas up through the first couple of corners some drivers nearly coming to a stop but a textbook start for the two Mahindras at the front of the race as da Costa there is going side by side yeah Tictum go really sideways there and in fact they're still side by side so we'll see when they come into this very tight chicane whether they survive but up at the front as we expected the two Mahindras ahead of the two Porsches yeah Mahindra sitting in fourth place in the team's championship now within 10 points of third for Andretti so a lot on the line for that manufacturer the two Porsches there in third and fourth place here for Wehrlein and Müller as it stands for now they're trailing by five points in the team's championship but of course it's all eyes on the driver's championship for Jake Dennis he started in P16 he's actually dropped a place here DC he's down in 17th yeah we didn't see that far down the grid to see where that happened but as we mentioned everyone has survived and expect to see the pace being controlled by De Vries in some of these tight twisty sections it's a bit of deja vu for Mitch Evans isn't it he spent the early part of yesterday's race just staring at the back of Nico Müller's gearbox and he's finding himself in that same position with Wehrlein breaking away so Müller once again playing the rear guard for his teammate I spoke to Dan Tickton down there on the grid he said expected to be a fast-paced race expect drivers to go for some early attack modes for Lucas di Grassi a 10 second stop go penalty Lucas box box