Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing) made history at the Monaco E-Prix by winning the 9th edition of the most prestigious round of the FIA ABB Formula E World Championship on Sunday. His 3rd win in the Principality, after a perfectly controlled race in very tricky conditions (wet track at the start, drying out later), which he had started from 8th on the grid.

“I thought I’d never win again (in FE), and that my total number of victories would stay at 13. To win, you need success and a good car, and that was my case today. It was very difficult at the start of the race, but our strategy worked, using the Attack Mode at the best moments, and in the end I was able to extend my lead”, said the day’s winner before taking to the podium in the Princely Box, where H.S.H. Princess Charlene of Monaco presented him with the trophy he had long hoped to receive.

Buemi, one of the first FIA Formula E champions at the very start of this revolutionary and innovative discipline, had not won since the New York round in 2019. Since then, he has changed teams, joining the former Virgin team, and waited patiently for the planets to align once again. This happened on Sunday, under overcast skies, and he won by using, at the ideal moment, his Attack Mode to pass Oliver Rowland (Nissan) after the Port chicane, then Nyck de Vries (Mahindra) on the Ostende climb.

History will record that Buemi passed under the chequered flag before Rowland, winner of the 8th Monaco E-Prix on Saturday and starting from pole position for this 9th edition, with de Vries, his runner-up from the previous day, at his side. The podium was completed by Nick Cassidy (3rd), who made a fantastic comeback from 14th on the grid in his Jaguar. A Kiwi very happy with his third consecutive podium in Monaco, after his victory in 2023 and his 2ndplace in 2024, behind Jaguar team-mate Mitch Evans.

Rowland widens the gap

The race was led for a long time by Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske), but the Frenchman was swept up in the turmoil of mid-race, when the leading pack fought it out using Attack Mode all over the circuit, and when Rowland almost lost everything by attempting two very daring manoeuvers at the Port chicane, first against de Vries, then against Vergne. His hard passes didn’t pay off, so at the end of the race, having used up his Attack Modes credit, the Briton stayed well clear of Buemi and was content to secure championship points.

“I woke up in a very bad mood this morning, I don’t know why, and I thought that if I came away with ten more points, after my win on Saturday, that would be great. I wasn’t fast enough in EL3, but I really wanted to take points in the race. When I found myself behind JEV (Jean-Eric Vergne), I was impatient, because I thought he was deliberately slowing down the whole field. After cutting the chicane, I thought about giving up my place so as not to take a 5-second penalty, but when I saw all the cars in my rear-view mirror, I changed my mind”, Rowland recounted with a smile.

The Briton leaves Monaco with 46 more points than on Friday, in his FIA ABB Formula E World Championship leader’s suit, and a very comfortable lead over the TAG Heuer Porsche drivers: 115 points in total, compared with 67 for Antonio Félix da Costa and 66 for Pascal Wehrlein, who both missed their weekend in the Principality. There are still nine races to go, and Rowland has already won three out of seven. The next Formula E meeting is in Tokyo, in 15 days’ time. With two races again on the programme to score points, on Nissan’s home turf…