Oliver Rowland has sped further clear of his rivals in the hunt for the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship crown, with a peerless performance in today’s Monaco E-Prix (3 May) yielding his third victory from six races in Season 11.

Rowland started second on the grid in the glamorous Principality having crashed in the final part of qualifying, and the Nissan Formula E Team star held station behind pole-sitter Taylor Barnard (NEOM McLaren Formula E Team) during the race’s early phase. After an abortive attempt to get ahead on lap 11, the championship leader hit the front next time around as his countryman straight-lined the chicane before giving way. 

Following a brace of Full Course Yellow interruptions – one to retrieve António Félix da Costa’s TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team single-seater from the Anthony Noghes barriers, and the other prompted by Mitch Evans’ temporarily stationary Jaguar TCS Racing car – Rowland took his first Attack Mode and endeavoured to put some clean air between himself and his pursuers.

The Briton came in for his Pit Boost at two-thirds distance, and despite falling to fifth as others deployed their alternative strategies, he kept his cool. Maximising the advantage of his second Attack Mode when he activated his extra power on lap 25, within a lap, he back was up to third. He subsequently made short work of Jake Dennis (Andretti Formula E) and Mahindra Racing’s Nyck De Vries to reclaim the top spot, ultimately taking the chequered flag more than two seconds to the good.

The 32-year-old’s sixth career victory in the pioneering all-electric series has carried him 34 points clear of his nearest adversary going into tomorrow’s second leg of the Monaco double-header.

In successfully scooping the runner-up spoils, 2020-21 champion De Vries returned to the rostrum for the first time since the end of Season 8, as the Dutchman and Mahindra proved to be a factor throughout. Fellow former title-winner Dennis held onto third notwithstanding a five-second penalty for over-speeding during a Full Course Yellow period, with the Briton grateful for the support of Andretti stablemate Nico Müller in the closing stages.

From 14th on the grid, the Swiss star was forced to pit due to a puncture on only lap three, but he then benefitted significantly by being in the box for his Pit Boost when the second Full Course Yellow was called. That good fortune catapulted Müller into the lead as the race entered its final third. He then held back the chasing pack to protect his team-mate’s podium position.

Edoardo Mortara snuck past Müller for fourth place on the finish line to cap an excellent day for Mahindra, with defending champion Pascal Wehrlein a frustrated sixth – although the German has now supplanted Porsche stablemate da Costa as Rowland’s nearest rival in the points table. The Portuguese ace’s challenge was ended when he came off worst in a three-wide crunch with Mortara and CUPRA KIRO’s David Beckmann on lap eight.

The latter’s team-mate – free practice pace-setter Dan Ticktum – slipped back to finish seventh after spending much of the race in close combat, with Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns, Stoffel Vandoorne for Monégasque outfit Maserati MSG Racing and DS Penske’s Maximilian Günther rounding out the top ten.

Pole-sitter Barnard wound up a disappointed 16th after late contact, with no points again for reigning Teams’ title-holder Jaguar, as Evans and Nick Cassidy – the most recent two winners in Monte-Carlo – took the flag well down the order.

Round seven of the season follows tomorrow (Sunday, 4 May) at 15:05 CEST.

Oliver Rowland, No. 23, Nissan Formula E Team said:

“You never know what to do with the strategy especially with these PIT BOOST races - it’s the second race but we kind of had a plan and we stuck to it. It was a bit trickier to pass Taylor [Barnard] to be honest, but we kept calm - even at the end I was pretty worried during that second ATTACK MODE: I dropped back to fifth and I was behind two Mahindras, and I was like ‘right now we need to get cracking’, but great job by the team and very well executed.

“I was thinking Taylor was pushing the barriers of the rules at some points, but fair play to him - in the end we got the job done so it doesn’t really matter. We’ve started the season really well, but it feels a bit different now. Normally you’d be looking forward to the champagne but you’ve already got one eye on tomorrow.”

Nyck De Vries, No. 21, Mahindra Racing said:

“It’s been an incredible day for us as a team, obviously I can’t thank them enough. They executed a great race during the PIT BOOST, and chose the right moments to go for it and take the ATTACK MODE so honestly a big thanks to them.

“It’s very nice to be on this journey together, we’ve come from far last year and we’ve constantly made little steps. It’s nice to give them this reward because they really deserve it. I consider it an advantage being at home, having my friends here watching me, and it’s nice to have them here to see what we accomplished today.”

Jake Dennis, No. 27, Andretti Formula E said:

“I was pretty stressed at the restart, I knew it was going to be pretty close with the Full Course Yellow, and sure enough when the penalty came I took it on the chin. I had to have a bit of help from Nico [Mueller] and obviously the pace was strong enough to create a gap, but it was such a tough race - there’s mentally so many different strategies going on.

“I honestly felt like we did most things perfect, it was obviously just the PIT BOOST situation: having to use the spare and then losing one or two seconds with that, and then we dropped too far back, but the car has been quick all day today and the boys really gave me a rocket ship. To be able to fight back through and get my first podium of the season - it’s been so long since Misano Season 10 - to repay them with a Monaco podium is always special. We’ve got to do it all again tomorrow which feels a bit weird, but I’m confident we can stand up here and try and take it to Oliver [Rowland].”