Sam Bird introduced McLaren to victory lane for the primary time within the Sao Paulo E-Prix with an exciting last-lap overtake on Mitch Evans. The two drivers swapped the lead all through the ultimate few laps of the season’s third E-Prix, and in the long run, Bird was in the proper place to dive into flip ten to steal the lead from Evans on the finish of the ultimate lap.
Last yr, Bird and Evans had been Jaguar TCS Racing teammates, and the drivers’ familiarity with one another led them to race one another cleanly.
On the ultimate lap, Evans was dropping energy, saying that the automobile was dealing with like a Gen 1 model; this opened the chance for Bird to make the overtake within the second to final nook of the race. Bird entered Turn 10 on the surface and dove by the nook to the within line, passing Evans and solidifying his lead into the ultimate flip. Bird would go on to complete half a second forward of his former teammate.
“I had to target the beginning of the year to get a couple of podiums,” Bird stated. “I didn’t expect to win. It was a great race between me and Mitch, my old teammate, it was really fair.”
Bird did one step higher than a podium by bringing McLaren their first victory in Formula E’s Gen 3 period within the season’s fourth spherical.
This was Bird’s first win for the reason that 2021 season and his first with NEOM McLaren. Bird is among the few drivers who’ve been with Formula E since its maiden season in 2014, and this was his twelfth win in collection historical past.
Oliver Rowland accomplished the rostrum, giving Nissan their first double-podium of the season.
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