Sao Paulo E-Prix: Bird seals McLaren's first Formula E win with last-lap pass

Bird had led at various points during the Brazilian event having started fifth on the grid, but was forced to concede the lead to Evans six laps from the end as energy management and overheating became critical.

But on the final tour of the 34-lap race - which was extended by three laps following two safety-car periods - Bird made his move, having shadowed Evans.

Approaching the fast left-hand kink of Turn 10, Bird moved to the outside as Evans defended and he  completed the move around the outside into the 90-degree left of Turn 11 to take the lead on the penultimate bend.

It marks Bird’s first Formula E victory since 2021, when he won in New York with Jaguar, having lost his seat with the British brand for this season.

Evans took his first podium of the season in second, while behind there was a final corner change of position as Oliver Rowland made it back-to-back podiums for Nissan, a beautiful switchback on the final bend allowing him to pass both Jake Dennis and Pascal Wehrlein.

Polesitter Wehrlein was completely unchallenged off the line and pulled out a significant lead on the opening lap, while Stoffel Vandoorne maintained station behind in second.

Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, Stoffel Vandoorne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23, Antonio Felix da Costa, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images)

Evans jumped into third up the inside of Jean-Eric Vergne, but the big mover was Antonio Felix da Costa, who had moved into sixth from eighth by the end of lap one.

The Portuguese driver was flying and, by the end of lap two, had passed Bird, Vergne and Evans to move into third, which became the lead at the start of the third lap as Wehrlein and Vandoorne took the first of two Attack Modes.

The German only dropped to third while Vandoorne slipped to sixth as the peloton style of racing, where sitting in the slipstream to conserve energy and which had been so prominent in Brazil last year, once again returned.

By the time a safety car was deployed to retrieve debris off the circuit, notably Norman Nato’s front wing after contact with Nico Muller into Turn 1, Bird found himself as one of the only leading runners to have taken both Attack Modes.

It put him in a strong position as he sat in the slipstream of those in front, which was headed by da Costa, Wehrlein and Vergne when racing resumed on lap nine.

Over the next few laps, both Evans and reigning champion Dennis headed the field before dropping back after taking both Attack Mode activations and, by lap 15, Bird was back in the lead from Evans, Wehrlein and Dennis.

Behind the leading four, championship points leader Nick Cassidy had struggled to make progress from his starting position of ninth.

The Jaguar driver had damaged his front wing earlier in proceedings and it proved to have disastrous consequences as the offending bodywork became lodged under his tyre through the quick Turn 10 kink.

The loss of control sent him into the wall, bringing out a second safety car, which offered Bird and those behind the chance to save vital energy.

With energy management less critical once racing resumed, drivers noticeably defended their positions with overtakes few and far between.

But, with Evans suffering a battery derating issue due to the exceedingly hot conditions, the Kiwi lacked top speed and admitted he ‘was a sitting duck’ on the final lap.

Behind the top five, da Costa claimed his first points of the year in sixth ahead of Vergne and Vandoorne.

Maserati MSG’s Maximilian Guenther made a remarkable recovery after serving a 10-second stop/go penalty having been handed a 40-place grid penalty due to changing parts prior to qualifying.

The German finished ninth with Sebastien Buemi completing the top 10 as both he and Envision team-mate Robin Frijns suffered with overheating tyres.

Race result:

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Points	Retirement
1	S. Bird McLaren	8		34	53'03.071			25
2	M. Evans Jaguar Racing	9		34	+0.564 53'03.635	0.564		18
3	O. Rowland Nissan e.Dams	22		34	+3.540 53'06.611	2.976		15
4	P. Wehrlein Porsche Team	94		34	+3.629 53'06.700	0.089		15
5	J. Dennis Andretti Formula E	1		34	+3.722 53'06.793	0.093		10
6	A. Felix da Costa Porsche Team	13		34	+5.567 53'08.638	1.845		8
7	J. Vergne DS Penske	25		34	+6.006 53'09.077	0.439		6
8	S. Vandoorne DS Penske	2		34	+6.817 53'09.888	0.811		4
9	M. Gunther Maserati Racing	7		34	+8.085 53'11.156	1.268		2
10	S. Buemi Envision Racing	16		34	+8.610 53'11.681	0.525		2
11	S. Fenestraz Nissan e.Dams	23		34	+9.277 53'12.348	0.667
12	E. Mortara Mahindra Racing	48		34	+9.762 53'12.833	0.485
13	L. di Grassi Team Abt	11		34	+10.819 53'13.890	1.057
14	N. de Vries Mahindra Racing	21		34	+13.677 53'16.748	2.858
15	J. Daruvala Maserati Racing	18		34	+14.379 53'17.450	0.702
16	S. Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team	3		34	+17.511 53'20.582	3.132
17	D. Ticktum ERT Formula E Team	33		34	+17.884 53'20.955	0.373
18	N. Nato Andretti Formula E	17		34	+18.889 53'21.960	1.005
19	R. Frijns Envision Racing	4		34	+19.124 53'22.195	0.235
dnf	J. Hughes McLaren	5		31	+3 Laps 49'27.979	3 Laps			Retirement
dnf	N. Müller Team Abt	51		25	+9 Laps 41'45.422	6 Laps			Retirement
dnf	N. Cassidy Jaguar Racing	37		14	+20 Laps 22'38.676	11 Laps			Retirement
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