It has been a rough ride for Nick Cassidy since narrowly missing out on the Season 10 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship crown last summer, but the Jaguar TCS Racing star was in a class of his own in today’s Shanghai E-Prix (1 June) as he consummately conquered the conditions to reach the top step of the podium for the first time in more than a year.

Round 11 of the 2024/25 campaign got underway behind the safety car due to heavy rain over Shanghai International Circuit, with a rolling start releasing the 22-strong field at the beginning of lap eight. Cassidy had already proven his prowess in the wet by topping the timesheets in both FP3 and the ‘Group’ stages of qualifying – earning him pole position – and in the race, the New Zealander would again prove to be untouchable.

Immediately activating his first Attack Mode – like the majority of the top ten – Cassidy scampered away from the chasing pack, spearheaded by Porsche pairing António Félix da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein, who subsequently swapped places by dint of the German deploying four minutes of extra energy and his team-mate just two.

Despite climbing to second, however, the defending champion was unable to hold a candle to the runaway leader, who exploited his remaining six minutes of Attack Mode in the closing stages to extend his advantage to over ten seconds – an eternity in a series in which races are frequently decided by the blink of an eye.

Having been forced out of contention by a clash after lining up fourth on the grid 24 hours earlier, the result was redemption for Cassidy, who had only registered four points finishes in Season 11 prior to arriving in China. His eighth career triumph has also vaulted the Auckland native from 13th in the Drivers’ classification up to seventh with five rounds of the campaign remaining.

While having no answer to Cassidy’s prodigious pace, Wehrlein and da Costa were nonetheless comfortable in second and third respectively – notwithstanding a brief off-piste moment for the former. The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team duo duly joined their Jaguar rival on the rostrum to catapult the German outfit past Nissan Formula E Team to the top of the Teams’ table, as neither of the Japanese cars troubled the scorers.

Indeed, it was a disappointing day for Nissan’s championship leader Oliver Rowland, who after starting 17th could progress no further than 13th at the chequered flag. With Wehrlein securing both the runner-up spoils and fastest lap, the Briton’s margin at the summit of the standings has been reduced from 86 points to 68, with 145 remaining in play.

At the scene of his maiden podium appearance in the all-electric single-seater series 12 months ago, Jake Hughes followed da Costa across the line to take fourth for Maserati MSG Racing, with Jean-Éric Vergne fifth for DS Penske. The Frenchman’s team-mate Maximilian Günther – Saturday’s dominant winner in Shanghai – was similarly running well inside the top ten when a red car stopped him on-track on lap 20.

The points finishers were completed by Andretti Formula E’s Nico Müller in sixth, the second Maserati entry of Stoffel Vandoorne in seventh – despite a wild late spin across a gravel trap – Robin Frijns (Envision Racing), Lucas Di Grassi (Lola Yamaha ABT Formula E Team) and birthday boy Taylor Barnard for NEOM McLaren Formula E Team.

Competitors will return to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta for round 12 of the campaign on Saturday, 21 June.

Nick Cassidy, No. 37, Jaguar TCS Racing:

“This weekend is a massive highlight. Really proud of all our guys. Qualifying form yesterday was huge for us, we were in the game, and I’m just proud that we’ve come back today and our pace was absolutely unbelievable - what a race. I feel like there have been so many wins that probably should have been ours at the end of last season that never happened, and it feels like we’ve been waiting a long time. That’s certainly on your mind when you go through the last couple of laps, and now to get that monkey off the back is awesome.”

Pascal Wehrlein, No. 94, TAG Heuer Porsche said:

“Very tricky conditions especially in the beginning, I think it got a little bit better towards the end, but our pace was good. Not good enough for P1, but quite far ahead of the guys behind. Personally I’m very happy about the result today because today was the first time that I felt like we were very competitive in the wet, which wasn’t the case in Tokyo and Monaco. I think we’ve found a good way there and in the end a happy ending for us.”

António Félix da Costa, No. 13, TAG Heuer Porsche said:

“It was very hard from inside the car - I felt like my balance wasn’t quite there and I really struggled with my rears, so it wasn’t enjoyable and it was very hard to keep the car on track. I was slow to be honest, but good enough for a podium - two cars from the team are on the podium so that’s always positive. I’m happy for Nick [Cassidy], he did a really good job, but we’ve got good points. Starting second and finishing third is not ideal - in the beginning I thought we had something, but then it was clear to me that I didn’t have the pace of the two cars in front, so it was all about bringing the podium home.”