2023 Cape Town ePrix

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.

2023 Cape Town ePrix
Race 5 of 16 of the 2022–23 Formula E season ← Previous race Next race →
Race details
Date	25 February 2023 (2023-02-25)
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	Sacha Fenestraz	Nissan
Time	1:07.848
Fastest lap
Driver	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS
Time	1:09.740 on lap 17
Podium
First	António Félix da Costa	Porsche
Second	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS
Third	Nick Cassidy	Envision-Jaguar
Lap leaders

Background

History

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

Main article: Cape Town Street Circuit

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

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

After Lucas di Grassi suffered a rear suspension failure in practice, all four Mahindra M9Electro chassis were withdrawn from the event with concerns about defective wishbones.^[4][5] Sam Bird crashed in qualifying and did not start the race.^[6]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

(All times in SAST)

Qualifying

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

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

A3

Nick Cassidy

A2

Pascal Wehrlein

Sacha Fenestraz

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

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

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:

• ^1  – Pole position.
• ^2  – Fastest lap.
• ^3  – Started from the pit lane.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Pascal Wehrlein 80 2 Jake Dennis 62 3 Jean-Éric Vergne 50 5 4 António Félix da Costa 46 5 Nick Cassidy 43

Teams' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Porsche 126 1 2 Envision-Jaguar 84 1 3 Andretti-Porsche 80 4 McLaren-Nissan 66 1 5 DS 61

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Impact

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

1. 30 planned laps and 2 extra laps
2. Rast received a 3-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Jake Dennis in the Hyderabad ePrix.
3. Sam Bird qualified 10th, but withdrew before the race.
4. Dennis received a 3-place grid penalty for impeding Vandoorne.
5. Mortara failed to set a lap within the 107% time, but was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion.
6. Lotterer received a 5-second time penalty for failing to keep within 10 lengths of the safety car.