MCLAREN’S Oliver Rowland bounced back from his qualifying mishap, where he hit a barrier, to win the first Monaco E-Prix race, extending his lead in the championship standings in the double-header weekend.
Despite starting second, Rowland managed to fend off Mahindra’s Nyck de Vries and both Andretti drivers to secure the win. His breakthrough came on lap 13, where he overtook McLaren rookie Taylor Barnard at the chicane on Monaco’s iconic streets. The tactical masterclass handed him his third win in six races this season, earning a sigh of relief from Nissan team principal Tommaso Volpe.
De Vries’ second-place finish delivered Mahindra their best result of the season, marking his first podium since London 2022 after a difficult start for the team. De Vries’ strong start allowed him to move ahead of Dan Ticktum, and he soon climbed the ranks during an Attack Mode and Pit Boost shuffle, where he displaced Nico Müller for second place, just as polesitter Barnard maintained the lead.
Andretti’s Jake Dennis secured the final podium spot with a strong team performance, despite picking up a five-second penalty for overspeeding in an attempt to pass De Vries and Pascal Wehrlein under yellow flag conditions.
Müller proved instrumental in Andretti’s strategy, holding position in fourth place when the race resumed under green flag conditions, enabling Dennis to retain his podium finish despite the penalty.
De Vries’ teammate Edoardo Mortara managed to pip Müller at the finish line, snatching fourth, while Müller settled for fifth ahead of Porsche’s Wehrlein in sixth, completing Mahindra’s strong points haul.
Another yellow flag interrupted proceedings on lap 15 due to a technical fault that sidelined Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, although he was able to rejoin at the back of the grid and finish the race.
Barnard and Dennis made their pit stop boosts on lap 19, allowing Rowland, De Vries, and Wehrlein to consolidate their positions at the front. However, Barnard’s bid for victory was thwarted when he collided with Wehrlein on lap 24, forcing him to reverse and rejoin at the tail end of the pack.
With the lead wide open, De Vries and Müller battled for control, but Rowland ultimately capitalised on his last Attack Mode activation on lap 26 to seal the win.
The only race retirement came from Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa, who crashed into the wall at Anthony Nogues on lap nine after misjudging an overtaking attempt up the inside of Mortara’s Mahindra.
CUPRA Kiro’s Dan Ticktum took seventh, Robin Frijns for Envision Racing came in eighth, ahead of Maserati’s Stoffel Vandoorn and DS Penske’s Maximilian Gunther, who came in ninth and 10th, respectively.
McLaren’s woeful results piled on with Sam Bird’s 11th place finish, then DS Penske driver Jean-Eric Vergne, Lola ABT’s Lucas Di Grassi in 13th, and Nissan’s Norman Nato in 14th.
CUPRA Kiro’s David Beckmann initially placed 15th but received a 33-second time penalty for incorrectly completing his Pit Boost procedure, converting a drive-through penalty to time.
Barnard finished 16th, ahead of Maserati’s Jake Hughes in 17th, Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy in 18th, and Sébastien Buemi in 19th. Lola’s Zane Maloney came to a halt after turn six, classifying him 21st behind Mitch Evans.
Following Round 6 of the FE Championship, Nissan’s Oliver Rowland leads the drivers’ standings. Meanwhile, Porsche holds a nine-point advantage over Nissan in the teams’ standings, 114 to 105, with Mahindra now third after De Vries’ podium – marking the team’s first since Mexico City in 2023. Nissan also leads Porsche in the manufacturers’ standings.
