Rowland salsa's to victory in Mexico City Formula E thriller

Oliver Rowland bounced back from losing victory in São Paulo, to win the Formula E Mexico City E-Prix. 

The Nissan driver had been leading the season-opener comfortably, believe a heavy penalty for a technical infraction saw him tumble down the order. 

He made up for it in Mexico City, where he capitalised on a late safety car to overtake the Porsches of Antonio Felix da Costa and Pascal Wehrlein. 

Rowland still had one-minute of attack mode to use when the green flag was flown after the first of two safety cars, giving him a huge advantage. 

Da Costa and Wehrlein completed the podium, ahead of Jake Dennis and Jean-Eric Vergne. Mitch Evans crashed out late on, with da Costa becoming the championship leader. 

Attack mode crucial again

On the starting grid, it was Pascal Wehrlein on pole position for the race he won 12 months ago. The last two winners in Mexico City – Wehrlein and Jake Dennis – have gone on to win the title. 

Wehrlein's team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa was alongside him on the front row at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Oliver Rowland and Jean-Eric Vergne started on the second row, with Nick Cassidy in last. 

As the lights went out on a dry circuit, it was the Porsches who made the best start and remained in first and second, Wehrlein ahead of da Costa. 

Mitch Evans dropped a couple places, whilst team-mate Cassidy made four spots from the back of the grid. In the opening laps, the pace remained steady with minimal overtakes having happened. 

Mexico City tends to be an unusual venue for Formula E, as it is not an energy-sensitive circuit, allowing the drivers to push for longer making overtaking difficult. 

With overtaking being difficult, lunges were required, although a collision in the midfield resulted in damage for Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara. He was forced to pit for repairs, as was Dan Ticktum prior to that.

Lap 12/36, and still the top five had yet to take a single attack mode; however, this changed the following lap when Dennis activated his first. This triggered Wehrlein and Vergne to follow suit a lap later. 

It created a moment of chaos, as the leaders all bunched up in the final corner. Wehrlein remained in the lead, although da Costa dropped to fifth after being overtaken by multiple drivers in attack mode. 

Da Costa was furious, whilst Dennis and Rowland slotted into second and third. In the opening use of attack mode, Dennis opted to take more time than Wehrlein, allowing him to gain the lead on Lap 16.

Dennis' time in the lead initially was short-lived, as da Costa recovered all the places he lost plus the lead when he then activated his first attack mode, courtesy of the additional power and four-wheel drive.

Rowland brilliance

As the race entered its final 15 laps, Wehrlein opted to be the first of the lead drivers to activate his second attack mode. At the time of activating it, the German had fallen to fifth. 

To ensure Wehrlein did not overtake, Dennis also activated his final attack mode a lap later in Lap 22, keeping the Andretti driver in second. A lap later, da Costa followed suit to remain in the lead. 

Da Costa looked comfortable, whilst Wehrlein in third capitalised on an error from Dennis to rise to second. 

For several laps, it appeared that Porsche was settled for a one-two; however, the Stuttgart-based team were delivered a huge setback on Lap 29, a safety car. 

Cupra Kiro's David Beckmann collided with Lucas di Grassi on the entrance to the Foro Sol section, with a vehicle recovery having been required.

The race restarted at the end of Lap 31, with Rowland having still had one-minute of attack mode to use. It saw him soar to the front of the pack almost immediately, with the Porsches being helpless. 

Rowland gained the lead just seconds before another safety car was triggered, as Evans found himself in the wall, losing him the championship lead. 

Again, the safety car period was short, with Rowland having restarted the race at the end of Lap 32. 

The British driver quickly built and advantage of half-a-second, enough to narrowly keep both da Costa and Wehrlein at bay.

He kept his lead for the final laps, crossing the line to claim a brilliant victory. Da Costa and Wehrlein held on for second and third, completing a factory Porsche two-three.