SAO PAULO — Britain’s Sam Bird claimed a stunning victory at the Sao Paulo Formula E; following a phenomenal last-lap overtake on former teammate Mitch Evans.
The triumph also ended 37-year-old Bird’s 37-race winless streak in the all-electric series.
The veteran driver, who has competed in every year of the series since it started in 2014, took the lead from Evans at the penultimate corner to beat the New Zealander by 0.564 of a second.
Bird (Neom McLaren Formula E Team) took victory at the Sao Paulo E-Prix with an outstanding last-lap overtake on Evans (Jaguar Racing).
After two safety cars, Bird held the lead but had to surrender it to Evans with a deficit in energy. However, the McLaren driver sat patiently in second and made an incredible move around the outside of Turn 10 on the final lap to steal the win.
Nissan’s Oliver Rowland took third place after passing Andretti’s reigning champion Jake Dennis and pole sitter Pascal Wehrlein at the last corner. Porsche’s Wehrlein was fourth and Dennis fifth.
Jaguar’s overall leader Nick Cassidy drew a blank after crashing into the wall on lap 16 with front wing damage while running in sixth place, with Wehrlein now only four points behind the New Zealander.
Cassidy has 57 points after four rounds, Wehrlein 53 and Evans 39. Jaguar lead the teams’ standings with 96 points to Porsche’s 61.
The win, in a race with two safety car periods, was the 12th of Bird’s career and first since New York in 2021 when he was with Jaguar.
“What a race that was, that was great,” he said according to Reuters.
“That was great, it means so much to everyone at Neom McLaren,” Bird said. “I think everyone can now see the progress that is slowly happening. A double podium for Nissan, they haven’t done that in years and years, so I’m delighted for that group. And also for my guys at Neom McLaren.
“I said on the radio ‘I think Mitch is struggling more than me with the temperatures’.” I was told to cool the car, then I saw the lift points and I thought ‘look, it’s now or never, I’ve got to go’.
“He defended the inside and gave me just enough room on the outside to have some kind of move. I don’t know how close it was to the wall, but it was fair racing and I got it done.”
Bird is the second oldest winner in the series’ history, behind Brazilian Lucas Di Grassi who was also 37 when he took his last win in London in 2022.
That gap between the top 10 runners wouldn’t get any bigger than it was prior to the Safety Car, with less than three the gap between Bird out front and Mueller in 10th.
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