Maximilian Günther sealed DS Penke’s first one-two in Saturday’s FE race in Shanghai, with fast and frantic track action.
Pit Boost and Nissan’s lack of pace were the talking points coming into the Round 10 race on Saturday in Shanghai.
From last in practice on Friday to pole position Maximillian Günther looked primed to take a victory.
Oliver Rowland and Nissan however, had seemingly lost their dominant streak, starting back in sixth. Sensing an opportunity, Taylor Barnard put his car second on the grid. He eyed his first victory of the year after a challenging weekend in Tokyo.
Nick Cassidy enjoyed his and Jaguar’s best qualifying of the season, but team-mate Mitch Evans was rooted to the back of the grid.
Meanwhile, the added component of Pit Boost would add another element of unpredictabilty alongside Attack Mode.
With Shanghai a permanent facility, the wide track provided a unique opportunity to overtake and make up ground.
Race start in Shanghai
At the green light Pascal Wherlien caught Günther and Barnard napping to sweep into the lead at Turn 1. Further back, 4 cars went wide approaching Turn 3, but it was Barnard who lost out, dropping from second to seventh.
No one wanted to lead the race despite holding the coveted spot, as energy saving began. Rowland’s lack of pace did not seem to show itself, as he took a turn in the lead.
Nick Cassidy was involved in a crash with Edo Mortata and Jean Eric Vergne, but all very quickly recovered. Mortara and Cassidy pulled into the pits after the incidents to retire. Barnard’s front row start now looked a distant memory, the Briton having fallen to 15th place.
The field began to settle down by lap 5. Stoffel Vandoorne, starting lower down the order used his Attack Mode and climbed through the field. However, contact with Rowland saw the Nissan run wide at Turn 1, causing Nyck de Vries to take the lead.
Championship contender Barnard made contact down the order, and took to the grass but saved the incident.
Tactical Attack Mode deployments
Frijns, Buemin, Mueller, Wherlien and Da Costa took their Attack Mode on lap 8. Former race leader Wherlien now languished down 11th, but began to rise through the order quickly.
Rowland and De Vries had yet to take their Attack Modes, and were soon falling victim those who took an early deployment. Frijns and Lucas Di Grassi were now ahead of him.
The field battled hard, with race positions changing almost corner to corner. The Pit Boost window was about to open, and this would be when Attack Mode would be used by those who had yet take it.
Mueller was the first to pull into the pits for his stop. The top two reacted to this by immediately taking their Attack Mode. The lower top ten responded by all taking to the pit lane.
Two groups now formed. The now lower top ten led by Mueller were 53 seconds ahead of Rowland and de Vries, with the top two yet to stop. Wherlien was less than a second behind the leading duo.
Rowland and de Vries pitted on Lap 17, as the drivers in 11th downwards all took Attack Mode,, as the Nissan and Mahindra lay motionless.
The two groups converge
At pit exit, Rowland emerged just in front of the group led by Mueller. However, the Andretti had 16 seconds of Attack Mode remaining and powered past Rowland.
Günther’s early race tactics worked wonders, as he took the lead of the race. Wherlien was now second, with Frijins third, and Rowland in fourth. Frijns deployed his second Attack Mode but was unable to improve.
With ten laps to go, Barnard dived into the Attack Mode zone a lap later, taking almost four minutes. He moved into the lead by the end of the lap. Günther and Wherlien battled behind, with Günther emerging victorious.
Barnard immediately pulled a gap on the rest of the field. Rowland, and De Vries took their final Attack Mode, with Günther also taking his. The gap to the leader stood at 2.4 seconds, but it began to come down fast.
Rowland comfortably took the lead on lap 24, with a minute of Attack Mode remaining. Günther had two minutes remaining, and demoted Barnard to third, sizing up Rowland,, He took the lead with just 4 laps to go.
Further down the order, Dan Ticktum had progressed through the field, and was now impressive fifth. But aggressive defending from Barnard dropped Norman Nato into the clutches of Ticktum. The Cupra Kiro driver moved into third after Barnard won out in an intense battle with Rowland.
Ticktum and and Barnard were now locked in a duel for second place. Ticktum almost overshot the the first corner. Vergne came from nowhere to steal second place at the final corner, with Barnard settling for third.
Out in front, unaware of the intense action behind him, Max Günther took his second win of the season. The DS Penske garage erupted into raptures at securing the team’s first one-two finish.
Session classification
- Maximillian Günther
- Jean Eric Vergne
- Taylor Barnard
- Dan Ticktum
- Oliver Rowland
- Norman Nato
- Sam Bird
- Nick de Vries
- Sebastien Buemi
- Robin Frijns
- Stoffel Vandoorne
- Pascal Wherlien
- Antonio Felix Da Costa
- David Beckmann
- Nico Mueller
- Jake Hughes
- Jake Dennis
- Lucas di Grassi
- Zane Maloney
- Mitch Evans
- Nick Cassidy
- Edoardo Mortara
