Circuit: Misano World Circuit Laps: 35 Length: 4.226 km

HOW THE RACE UNFOLDED

Evans made the best possible start from pole, leading into Turn 1, but this was the last moment of normality, with a heavily-predicted peloton-style race coming to fruition, and with bells on.

Cars at some points were four abreast on a track much wider than usual for Formula E, and racing resembled a booze-fuelled gaming lobby, the constant changing of order likely to have been hard for the drivers to keep-up with, let alone the fans watching. Similar to last year’s affair in Portland, overtaking was at a premium but academic, as a balance between track position and battery conservation becoming the primary thought for the drivers. Sébastien Buemi led the early moments, with Cassidy also joining-in. Da Costa led early-on having sailed through the order, with Cassidy’s race effectively over after colliding with Vergne, the Frenchman receiving a five-second penalty for the incident.

One lap later, Vergne was getting close with Wehrlein this time, the second Porsche receiving damage of its own and, like Cassidy, being forced to pit. At this stage, Sam Bird moved into the front, electing to take a strategic approach similar to one he took in São Paulo, opting for Attack Mode early on and switching the lead several times. His NEOM Mclaren team-mate Jake Hughes, who was forced to start at the back after being disqualified from his fourth spot on the grid after qualifying, found himself in eighth on the eighth lap.

Vergne, despite his penalty effectively blowing his chances of a victory, still made a race of things, performing a double-overtake to lead at a third distance, with Dennis now up to fourth. Buemi was still in contention, meanwhile, leading on Lap 13.

Tokyo victor Günther was in the wars on Lap 15, launching over the sausage kerbs as he did in qualifying. Bird looked to be firmly in contention but on Lap 17, a puncture would bring his chances to a swift end.

At this stage, Rowland could now be taken seriously as a contender for victory, leading several times of over the course of the next ten laps. Behind the main leaders, the ERTS of Dan Ticktum and Sergio Sergio Sette Cámara made their way into the top six, their energy-saving impressive. Cassidy would opt to retire the car, already well out of contention.

As the race entered the final few laps, Rowland and da Costa began to pull clear of everyone else, the winner now almost a certainty between the two. Da Costa had been able to streak clear and create a buffer that would be enough to prevent Rowland from seriously challenging his leading position on the final lap. And with speculation swirling like the coastal Adriatic winds around his future at Porsche, da Costa made a serious statement by taking the chequered flag for the first time since Cape Town last season.

Rowland spoke to Motorsport Monday both before and after the race, and after initially brushing-off considerations that he is a championship contender, after the race, he seemed to begrudgingly accept the label.

“I still find it hard to believe,” he said. “But my excuse all along has been that we’re going to be less competitive in the long, efficiency type of circuits, and we had probably one of best efficiencies on the grid today in terms of numbers and percentages, and we seem consistent, with four podiums in a row. That’s not going to last forever, but we’ll have to start considering ourselves there to maybe be in it at the end.”

The race was a disappointing one for Vergne, who had shown considerable one-lap pace and seemed in genuine contention, but the penalty put paid to any hopes of a victory this time, and the Frenchman was incandescent about the decision.

“I don’t think it as [fair],” he said. “I’m due to speak to the stewards, but let’s put it this way: I think it was the most unfair penalty I’ve ever had in my career – karting, everything.”

Look at the race – nobody at the front finished with a front wing.

“Everybody hit me, left, right up, I had Pascal on the back of me, and the only penalty for a guy when I actually left him [Cassidy] space, if I didn’t, he’d have ended-up in the wall, and I was ahead of him!”

The overtly peloton nature of the race divided opinion, with da Costa telling media that: “If the fans at home and here are going crazy and enjoying it, I have nothing to say – change nothing.”

However, other drivers did not share this view, with Sam Bird telling us after the race that it was “too extreme,” adding: “Tomorrow will be better because it’s two laps less, so it should be better but it will still be high end.”

CIRCUIT