2023 Cape Town ePrix
| 2023 Cape Town ePrix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 5 of 16 of the 2022–23 Formula E season
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| Race details | |||||
| Date | 25 February 2023 | ||||
| Location | Cape Town Street Circuit, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa | ||||
| Course | Street Circuit | ||||
| Course length | 2.921 km (1.815 mi) | ||||
| Distance | 32[a] laps, 93.472 km (58.081 mi) | ||||
| Scheduled distance | 30 laps, 87.630 km (54.451 mi) | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Nissan | ||||
| Time | 1:07.848 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |
 Jean-Éric Vergne | DS | |||
| Time | 1:09.740 on lap 17 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Porsche | ||||
| Second | DS | ||||
| Third | Envision-Jaguar | ||||
|
Lap leaders | |||||
The 2023 Cape Town ePrix was a Formula E electric car race was held at the Cape Town Street Circuit in the city of Cape Town in Western Cape, South Africa on 25 February 2023. It served as the fifth round of the 2022–23 Formula E season and it was the first Formula E race held in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Background
[edit]History
[edit]Initially planned to be held in 2022, the race was canceled for unknown reasons likely related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Though not initially featured on the 2023 calendar, it was introduced after the cancellation of the Seoul ePrix.
Track
[edit]A 2.94 kilometres (1.83 mi) long street circuit was laid out in Cape Town's Waterfront district, near Signal Hill. [1] The track was believed to be "one of the fastest on the calendar".[1] In total, the track had 12 turns.
Championship standings
[edit]Pascal Wehrlein entered the fifth round of the season as the points leader in the Drivers' Championship by 18 points after Jake Dennis, who was only 6 points behind going into Hyderabad did not finish after having his rear wing clipped by René Rast.[2] TAG Heuer Porsche leads the Teams' Championship by 23 points over Avalanche Andretti.[3]
Summary
[edit]After Lucas di Grassi suffered a rear suspension failure in practice, all four Mahindra M9Electro chassis were withdrawn from the event with concerns about defective wishbones.[4][5] Sam Bird crashed in qualifying and did not start the race.[6]
Classification
[edit](All times in SAST)
Qualifying
[edit]Qualifying took place at 11:40AM on 25 February.[7]
| Group draw | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group A |  WEH
|
 BUE
|
 HUG
|
 DIG
|
 EVA
|
 DAC
|
FEN
|
 VAN
|
GUE
|
ROW
|
SET
|
| Group B | DEN
|
BIR
|
RAS
|
LOT
|
CAS
|
JEV
|
MOR
|
TIC
|
NAT
|
MUE
|
 VDL
|
Qualifying duels
[edit]| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| A3 | Nick Cassidy
| |||||||||||||
| A2 | Pascal Wehrlein
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| Sacha Fenestraz
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| Nick Cassidy
| ||||||||||||||
| A4 | Sacha Fenestraz
| |||||||||||||
| A1 | Jean-Éric Vergne
| |||||||||||||
| Sacha Fenestraz
| ||||||||||||||
| Maximilian Günther
| ||||||||||||||
| B3 | Mitch Evans
| |||||||||||||
| B2 | Sébastien Buemi
| |||||||||||||
| Maximilian Günther
| ||||||||||||||
| Mitch Evans
| ||||||||||||||
| B4 | Maximilian Günther
| |||||||||||||
| B1 | René Rast
| |||||||||||||
Overall classification
[edit]| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | A | B | QF | SF | F | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | Sacha Fenestraz
|
Nissan | 1:08:994 | — | 1:08:467 | 1:08:357 | 1:07:848 | 1 |
| 2 | 7 | Maximilian Günther
|
Maserati | — | 1:09:050 | 1:08:740 | 1:08:212 | 1:08.270 | 2 |
| 3 | 37 | Nick Cassidy
|
Envision-Jaguar | 1:09:007 | — | 1:08:446 | 1:08:465 | — | 3 |
| 4 | 9 | Mitch Evans
|
Jaguar | — | 1:09:025 | 1:08:429 | 1:08.568 | — | 4 |
| 5 | 25 | Jean-Éric Vergne
|
DS | 1:09:139 | — | 1:08.520 | — | — | 5 |
| 6 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein
|
Porsche | 1:09:100 | — | 1:08:598 | — | — | 6 |
| 7 | 58 | René Rast
|
McLaren-Nissan | — | 1:08:844 | 1:08:962 | — | — | 10[b] |
| 8 | 16 | Sébastien Buemi
|
Envision-Jaguar | — | 1:09:040 | 1:11.937 | — | — | 7 |
| 9 | 33 | Dan Ticktum
|
NIO | 1:09:171 | — | — | — | — | 8 |
| 10 | 10 | Sam Bird
|
Jaguar | — | 1:09:217 | — | — | — | —[c] |
| 11 | 17 | Norman Nato
|
Nissan | 1:09:263 | — | — | — | — | 9 |
| 12 | 27 | Jake Dennis
|
Andretti-Porsche | — | 1:09:265 | — | — | — | 14[d] |
| 13 | 13 | António Félix da Costa
|
Porsche | 1:09:441 | — | — | — | — | 11 |
| 14 | 1 | Stoffel Vandoorne
|
DS | — | 1:09:500 | — | — | — | 12 |
| 15 | 5 | Jake Hughes
|
McLaren-Nissan | 1:09:493 | — | — | — | — | 13 |
| 16 | 48 | Edoardo Mortara
|
Maserati | — | 1:15:775 | — | — | — | PL[e] |
| 17 | 36 | André Lotterer
|
Andretti-Porsche | 1:09:975 | — | — | — | — | 15 |
| 18 | 3 | Sérgio Sette Câmara
|
NIO | 1:10:083 | — | — | — | — | 16 |
| Source:[8] | |||||||||
Race
[edit]The race began at 16:03 on 25 February.[7]
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | António Félix da Costa
|
Porsche | 32 | 42:25:403 | 11 | 25 |
| 2 | 25 | Jean-Éric Vergne
|
DS | 32 | +0.281 | 5 | 18+12 |
| 3 | 37 | Nick Cassidy
|
Envision-Jaguar | 32 | +1.808 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 58 | René Rast
|
McLaren-Nissan | 32 | +2.208 | 10 | 12 |
| 5 | 16 | Sébastien Buemi
|
Envision-Jaguar | 32 | +2.656 | 7 | 10 |
| 6 | 33 | Dan Ticktum
|
NIO | 32 | +3.209 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | 1 | Stoffel Vandoorne
|
DS | 32 | +4.210 | 12 | 6 |
| 8 | 17 | Norman Nato
|
Nissan | 32 | +8.582 | 9 | 4 |
| 9 | 36 | André Lotterer
|
Andretti-Porsche | 32 | +8.755[f] | 15 | 2 |
| 10 | 5 | Jake Hughes
|
McLaren-Nissan | 32 | +10.475 | 13 | 1 |
| 11 | 9 | Mitch Evans
|
Jaguar | 32 | +14.183 | 4 | |
| 12 | 3 | Sérgio Sette Câmara
|
NIO | 32 | +14.914 | 16 | |
| 13 | 27 | Jake Dennis
|
Andretti-Porsche | 32 | +38.846 | 14 | |
| NC | 23 | Sacha Fenestraz
|
Nissan | 31 | Accident | 1 | 0+31 |
| Ret | 7 | Maximilian Günther
|
Maserati | 20 | Accident | 2 | |
| Ret | 48 | Edoardo Mortara
|
Maserati | 1 | Accident | PL3 | |
| Ret | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein
|
Porsche | 0 | Accident | 6 | |
| DNS | 10 | Sam Bird
|
Jaguar | 0 | Did Not Start | ||
| Source:[9] | |||||||
Notes:
Standings after the race
[edit]
|
|
- Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
Impact
[edit]It was estimated by a city councillor that around R 2,000,000,000 would be brought to Cape Town from the event and those travelling to the city for the event. As well as being held in conjuction with the African Green Economy Summit, the event was on the same weekend as the 2023 Kyalami 9 Hours.[10][11]
Notes
[edit]- ^ 30 planned laps and 2 extra laps
- ^ Rast received a 3-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Jake Dennis in the Hyderabad ePrix.
- ^ Sam Bird qualified 10th, but withdrew before the race.
- ^ Dennis received a 3-place grid penalty for impeding Vandoorne.
- ^ Mortara failed to set a lap within the 107% time, but was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion.
- ^ Lotterer received a 5-second time penalty for failing to keep within 10 lengths of the safety car.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Track revealed for Formula E's first Cape Town ePrix". Formula E. 4 March 2022. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022.
- ^ "Vergne seals remarkable win in Hyderabad". The Official Home of Formula E. 11 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ "2023 Formula E Standings and Results in Motorsport". AutoSport. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ "Mahindra Racing and ABT CUPRA withdraw from Cape Town E-Prix". Formula E. 25 February 2023.
- ^ "Mahindra explains suspension issues which caused Cape Town Formula E withdrawal". Motorsport.com. 25 March 2023.
- ^ "Bird withdraws from Cape Town E-Prix". Motorsport Week. 25 February 2023.
- ^ a b "2023 Cape Town E-Prix - ABB FIA Formula E World Championship". The Official Home of Formula E. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ "Qualifying". Formula E. 26 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- ^ "Results". Formula E. 25 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
- ^ Isaacson, David (26 January 2023). "'Formula E grand prix is Cape Town's biggest event since 2010 World Cup'". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ "Kyalami 9 Hour and Cape Town E Prix to thrill Mzansi this weekend". TimesLIVE. 21 February 2023.
