Round 9 of the FIA Formula E World Championship took place on the iconic streets of Monaco in front of packed grandstands and under beautiful blue skies, marking a special home race for the Citroën Racing Formula E Team. Despite the hard work behind the scenes, the final result fell short of the level the team knows it can achieve.

It proved to be a challenging start to the Monaco double-header, with both drivers struggling to unlock performance in the narrow operating window of the tyres during qualifying. With margins tighter than ever in the championship, Jean-Éric Vergne secured P9 on the grid, while team-mate Nick Cassidy started from P16, both narrowly missing out on progression to the duels.

The first race of the weekend presented a unique strategic challenge, featuring Pit Boost alongside a single six-minute Attack Mode window. Managing energy, track position, and timing proved critical on a circuit where overtaking opportunities are limited.

In the race, both drivers fought hard but were hampered by penalties with Cassidy receiving a 10-second penalty following contact with Jake Dennis, ultimately finishing P9. Vergne, meanwhile, was handed a five-second penalty after an incident involving Nico Müller. The Frenchman later suffered a suspected puncture and used the resulting pit stop to serve his penalty, ensuring a clean slate heading into tomorrow’s race. He finished the day in P16.

Despite the result, the team gathered valuable data and insights from the opening race of the weekend. Looking ahead, Round 10 will bring a different strategic dynamic, with an extended eight-minute Attack Mode that must be used in two separate activations, allowing teams flexibility in how they deploy it.

Citroën Racing Formula E Team will be aiming to convert today’s learnings into a stronger performance as the Monaco double-header continues.

Citroën Racing Formula E Team Principal Cyril Blais said:

“Not our finest day, but one where we’ve learned a lot. Monaco always presents a complex challenge, especially with the added strategic elements like Pit Boost and Attack Mode. Both drivers did what they could in difficult conditions, we will work hard overnight to improve and analyse the data from today. The focus is on resetting now and coming back ready to fight for Round 10.”

Citroën Racing Formula E Team Driver Nick Cassidy said:

“Not my best day. I felt off in practice and struggled to understand why, especially as I’ve been strong in qualifying recently, so that was frustrating. The incident with Jake was unfortunate, I have to accept the stewards’ decision. I’ve been vocal about moving under braking, and looking at it just me in that incident, I did that, so the penalty is fair. I just hope we see that applied consistently going forward. There’s plenty to work on overnight, but I’m still confident we can come back stronger tomorrow.”

Citroën Racing Formula E Team Driver Jean-Éric Vergne:

“It was a difficult race for us today. We struggled to get the tyres into the right window from the start, and that made things very challenging in both qualifying and the race. The contact and the puncture didn’t help, but we made the call to use the stop to clear the penalty and focus on tomorrow. There’s a lot we can learn from today, and we’ll come back stronger.”