- Rowland climbs from eighth to first with an unconventional Attack Mode split.
- Drugovich earns his maiden Formula E podium; Wehrlein’s title lead evaporates.
- Evans heads the championship after Monaco, with four drivers separated by 27 points.
Oliver Rowland won the Monaco E-Prix on Sunday, climbing from eighth on the grid to take victory in Round 10 of the 2025/26 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
It was his second straight win at the street circuit and his first visit to the top step of the podium in nearly a year. The result has pulled him back into contention in the drivers’ championship, where he now sits 19 points behind new leader Mitch Evans.
From eighth to first: the strategy that unlocked the win
The win came down to a single tactical choice. Rowland split his eight minutes of Attack Mode into a two-minute burst and a six-minute block, rather than the standard four-and-four split most drivers use.
That left him with a significant power advantage in the closing stages of the 28-lap race.
He used it precisely when it counted. On lap 22, he passed Antonio Felix da Costa, who had exhausted his Attack Mode by that point.
A lap later, he went past race leader Edoardo Mortara, who was already serving a 10-second penalty, and used Mortara’s car as a buffer against the drivers behind.
Rowland crossed the line with just 5% battery energy remaining. He navigated two late full-course yellow periods without incident.
Speaking to the official Formula E website after the race, Rowland described how difficult it had been to stay patient.
“It was really difficult to keep disciplined,” he said. “I knew we had to keep higher in energy targets, but staying disciplined and staying out of trouble was key for us.”
In a statement released by Nissan, Rowland also pointed to Saturday’s race, where a puncture had ended his hopes early, as a reference point.
“The pace we showed gave us confidence heading into today,” he said. “I know if we can improve in qualifying, then we’ll be fighting towards the front for the remainder of the year.”
Chaos, collisions and penalties reshuffled the order
The race around Rowland was far messier. Mortara clipped da Costa at the chicane after the tunnel on lap one, sending the Jaguar driver spinning to the back of the field. Mortara received a 10-second penalty for the contact.
Da Costa spent the rest of the afternoon fighting back through traffic. He finished third, his recovery aided by a couple of timely full-course yellow periods that bunched the field. He described it as a race built on risk-taking.
Dan Ticktum, who had taken pole position, saw his afternoon fall apart in stages. He waited too long to activate Attack Mode, which hurt his strategy. A five-second penalty for speeding under a yellow flag did further damage, and he finished 14th.
Felipe Drugovich had a very different Sunday. The Andretti rookie benefited from the disorder around him and finished second, his first Formula E podium. He was visibly emotional on the cool-down lap and in the paddock afterwards.
“This is such a great thing to do here at this track,” Drugovich said. “I love this place, and I think every time I’ve been here, I’ve got a podium. A big thanks to the team that has stuck by me during the first few rounds, where I was nowhere near the podium.”
There were further retirements and penalties elsewhere. Cupra’s Pepe Marti hit the wall at La Rascasse after contact with Nick Cassidy and retired from the race.
Taylor Barnard collected a 10-second penalty for causing a separate collision and later slid into the barriers at Mirabeau while attempting to pass Evans.
Norman Nato, Rowland’s team-mate at Nissan, was the only other driver to retire.
Championship shakeup: Evans leads, Wehrlein stumbles
The Monaco double-header reshuffled the standings considerably.
Evans leads the drivers’ championship after finishing fourth on Sunday, having taken second on Saturday. His 19-point margin over Rowland is built almost entirely on consistency.
Mortara sits third, six points behind Rowland. Pascal Wehrlein, who arrived in Monaco as the championship leader, scored nothing across both races and fell to fourth.
He is now 27 points off the lead after finishing 12th on Sunday in a car damaged by multiple incidents across the weekend.
In the teams’ standings, Jaguar has extended its lead over Porsche to 26 points.
Jaguar entered the Monaco weekend with a two-point advantage. Porsche’s lead in the manufacturers’ championship has been cut to 12 points.
Star-studded Monaco paddock looks ahead to Sanya
The race drew a notable visitor to the paddock. Reigning Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris spent the weekend with the Andretti team, watching in support of Jake Dennis. It was his first Formula E race as a spectator.
“There are a lot of guys that I know racing here, and the racing’s always good to watch,” Norris told David Coulthard on the Monaco grid.
“Always chaos, always carnage and always unpredictable, everything you want from racing.” He also praised the standard of the field. “The level of drivers you have here is top,” he added. “It’s as good as you get.”
Formula E now takes a month-long break before resuming in Asia. The Sanya E-Prix in China on June 20 opens the second leg of the season.
With four drivers separated by just 27 points, the title fight is closer than it has been at any point in Season 12.
