Jaguar on top, Cupra Kiro’s livery and more things you missed at the Madrid E-Prix

In the same week that the paddock combined to air their complaints to the FIA, there was bound to be some drama in the Madrid E-Prix.

A sold out crowd watched on at the famous Circuito de Madrid Jurama, including King Felipe VI, who saw a race fit for royalty as Antonio Felix Da Costa, Mitch Evans, Pascal Wehrlein and Dan Ticktum were separated by less than a second at the finish line.

But it wasn’t just the frantic ending which caught the eye. There was plenty of other drama and moments to watch, starting with CUPRA KIRO’s livery.

CUPRA KIRO’s special livery in Madrid E-Prix

As if enough eyes aren’t on Ticktum when Formula E comes to town, CUPRA KIRO returned home in style last weekend – presenting a special livery dedicated to the El Raval district of Barcelona. To say it stood out would be an understatement.

The usual yellow was blended into a camouflage-like design, which very nearly allowed Ticktum to sneak his way onto the podium.

In fact, if it wasn’t for Evans’ stunning finish, pushing 0.186 seconds ahead of the Brit, then he would have enjoyed his first podium of the season.

Nonetheless, there are plenty of positives to take for KIRO, who earned points on the board courtesy of both their drivers with Pepe Marti finishing ninth in his home race.

After taking until the fifth race of the season to earn double points, they’ve now done it in back-to-back races all whilst looking the part in Madrid.

Jaguar secure double podium finish

How do you even begin to predict this season? It’s taken until the sixth race of the campaign for there to be a repeated winner and that came courtesy of Da Costa in the Madrid E-Prix. Having won in Jeddah, the Jaguar driver once again picked up victory and wasn’t too far ahead of his teammate this time.

Unless your name is Wehrlein, Da Costa may feel as though there’s nothing wrong with a friendly rivalry between teammates. 

This time, it’s Evans who Da Costa finds himself battling. Whether any similar disagreements appear remains to be seen, but Jaguar won’t mind if it results in a 1-2 like in Madrid – especially since Evans surged from 16th.

It’s certainly done the standings no harm, either. Whilst Porsche’s Wehrlein still finds himself at the top of the Drivers’ Championship on 83 points, he’s closely followed by Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara (72 points), and then Evans (65 points) and Da Costa (64 points).

As for the Teams’ standings, just four points now separate Porsche at the top and Jaguar in second. With things only set to heat up, the gap remains the exact same in the Manufacturers’ Championship.

What is going on with Oliver Rowland?

It takes an almighty effort to become a champion in Formula E and Oliver Rowland doesn’t need telling that. As he is now finding out for himself, however, it would take a historic effort to retain that status.

Only one driver in 11 full seasons of FE have retained their crown, and that was Jean-Eric Vergne in S4 & S5. As things stand, it looks as though Rowland is destined to become the latest to fall short of matching that record.

The fact is that Nissan are not the force that they were last season and once again had their issues in the Madrid E-Prix. For the third time in the first six races, they failed to score a single point with a suspected front powertrain issue ending Rowland’s hope from the off.

Following an overpower penalty at the start line, the champion never truly stood much of a chance and was forced to settle for a dire 16th place finish.

Rowland is now seventh in the drivers’ standings and is enduring a disastrous title defense. Nissan, meanwhile, are sixth in the teams’ standings and fifth in the manufacturers.

With over a month until they return to the grid in Berlin, they simply must show some of the same fight that saw Rowland pick up his first Formula E title last season.