Sam Bird overtook Mitch Evans at the penultimate corner of the race to win his first Formula E-Prix since New York in 2021, whilst Evans’ teammate and championship leader Nick Cassidy crashed out in a chaotic race in Sao Paulo.

A 37 race winless streak ended with a monumental overtake to match the occasion.

McLaren’s first win in Formula E was a memorable one as the team will now truly believe they can fight at the front with the likes of Jaguar and Porsche. They sit two points behind DS Penske and 4 points behind Porsche, 4th in the constructor’s championship.

Jake Dennis will feel unlucky he couldn’t fight for the win as his car’s temperatures increased to a critical level. He was passed by Oliver Rowland and Pascal Wehrlein at the final corner finishing down in 5th, whilst the Nissan driver achieved another podium to start 2024.

Antonio Felix Da Costa finally scored points in 2024 finishing ahead of both DS Penskes. Following his front row performance in qualifying, Vandoorne would have wanted more than an 8th place finish. Maserati’s Max Gunther somehow got points in 9th ahead of Sebastien Buemi, who started 18th.

Sam Bird renewed at McLaren

There were lots of people questioning Bird’s place on the grid last year. He was in a big team and did not perform like his teammate Evans, crashing the Kiwi out a couple of times last year. Jaguar axed him in favour of in form driver Nick Cassidy, with the Brit looking elsewhere.

Rene Rast’s exit from McLaren opened a door to him. He has gone on to not just prove that he is back, but that he deserves a spot on the Formula E grid. His overtaking was clinical and the way he overtook Mitch Evans was scarcely believable; around the outside of a fast corner before completing the move again around the outside of a corner where overtaking is hardly ever seen.

He is the real deal this year and is proving to be both dangerous and clinical, of which he was only the former last year. Sam Bird was the answer McLaren needed-an experienced driver who will hopefully continue this form and push the team further alongside their young talent Jake Hughes.

Jaguar are beatable in 2024

So far, Jaguar have had it all their own way. Nick Cassidy had 3 podiums in a row with a win and Mitch Evans scored points in all 3 races. In Brazil, as much as it looked Porsche may have had a chance to capitalise on their errors, Evans was still there and Cassidy was getting useful points.

However, this weekend they snapped. Whilst Mitch Evans got a well deserved second place, it should have been a win. The way Sam Bird overtook him around the outside would have been humiliating and somewhat damaging to Evans, considering it was his ex-teammate whom he dominated last year that overtook him.

As for Cassidy, even he expected a bogey weekend to come soon. After he won in Diriyah in race 2, he said he was waiting for a bad weekend. It has happened for him and his 19 point lead is now only 4 points ahead of Pascal Wehrlein.

Max Gunther’s unbelievable fightback

Another brilliant performance in qualifying meant Gunther would have been starting in 3rd for the Brazilian E-Prix. However, a gearbox and inverter change put him to the back and in addition, he would receive a 10 second stop go penalty. With such a disadvantage, he would need a miracle.

He got exactly that. A safety car put him back in touch, but he was still in 22nd. Cutting his way through the pack, he fought to finish in 9th. This is truly unbelievable and if any of the big teams are looking for a driver, Gunther is here displaying incredible grit and determination in a Maserati.

Andretti and Envision not firing on all cylinders (or batteries)

Two big teams who are underwhelming in the early parts of this season are Andretti and Envision. Envision’s case is not being helped by the fact they are having consistent hot and cold weekends points-wise, and qualifying down in 18th and 19th does not help.

Andretti are having similar issues to last year. Jake Dennis is performing well and is scoring points for them, but the second driver is having issues. Norman Nato is pointless over the last two races and only has 9 against Dennis’ 38. This is a weakness that is costing them in their battle for constructors’ glory.

Battery saving causes chaos, but is it likeable?

Max Gunther will be incredibly thankful that this was a race full of battery saving. The top 10 were often separated by 3-5 seconds and the same was for the rest of the field. It gave him that confidence that he could complete moves regularly and make his way through. On the other hand it meant Pascal Wehrlein could not storm into the lead after his brilliant start as slipstream and battery saving go hand in hand.

It added excitement, but some will say it felt fake. We want drivers to be able to push all the time, but the current battery technology does not allow it. We do not want to sounds like broken records and greedy because it produced and excellent race, accompanied by the fact drivers kept breaking their front wings due to the close proximity action.

Brazil produced one of the great Formula E races of all time yet again and one of the best race finishes you will ever see. We do not have to wait long for the next bit of racing action, as Formula E heads to Tokyo making its debut in Japan!