Sebastien Buemi delivers wet Monaco shock to end five-year victory wait

Today at 10:06

Sebastien Buemi prevailed in a wet second Monaco E-Prix of the weekend, to end a five-year victory drought.  The Swiss driver started from seventh and mastered the tricky conditions at the Circuit de Monaco, whilst chaos pursued around him.  Championship leader Oliver Rowland extended his lead after finishing in second, although was set for victory until incidents with Nyck de Vries and Jean-Eric Vergne.  Jaguar's Nick Cassidy claimed a surprise podium, recovering from 13th on the grid to end a near one-year podium wait. Opening wet stages Remarkably, all 22 drivers started the first completely wet race in years, with McLaren having repaired Sam Bird's car following his heavy qualifying crash – he started from the pit lane.  It was pole sitter Oliver Rowland who made the best start, with Nyck de Vries having remained in second. Minimal moves took place in the opening laps, as the drivers searched for grip.  Many drivers chose to activate their first attack mode in the first few laps, due to the immense grip advantage four-wheel drive gave.  By Lap 7, all of the top 11 drivers had used their first attack mode, with the exception of Rowland. Jean-Eric Vergne had taken the lead, although only due to using his first attack mode.  De Vries was in third, before a first neutralisation of the race was introduced after Lucas di Grassi found himself in the Portier (Turn 8) barrier. He failed a late dive on Jake Dennis. The full course yellow required was short-lived, yet gaps appeared throughout the field. A second was almost needed after Dan Ticktum flew down into the Mirabeau run-off, yet performed a remarkable U-turn to rejoin at the back. At the front, Vergne had a 2.8s lead after 12 laps over Rowland, whilst de Vries was a further two seconds adrift; however, Rowland still had the advantage of having both attack modes left.  That advantage intensified on Lap 13 as a safety car was deployed for Nico Müller, who hit the wall at Massenet after finding himself off line.  Similarly to the early full course yellow, the safety car was short-lived, with the race having resumed behind Vergne on Lap 15. The DS Penske driver retained the lead at the restart. As the laps ticked away, Vergne's strategy of slowing the pace was clear, in an attempt to push Rowland into the pack with his two attack modes to take. Buemi surprise Lap 18, and finally Rowland took his first attack mode. Crucially, he lost just one position to de Vries, making it, on paper, simple to swoop into the lead.  However, heading into the Nouvelle chicane, Rowland had to skip across the corners, following a failed battle with de Vries. Despite the frustration, he moved ahead along the start/finish straight.  He was immediately onto the back of Vergne, whilst de Vries behind fell to fourth taking his final attack mode. Lap 19 and, again, drama occurred at the Nouvelle chicane, as Rowland tried to go around the outside of Vergne.  He, again, failed to make the corner, but remained ahead of Vergne. He immediately tried to return the position, but it allowed de Vries into the lead instead.  The Dutchman tried to escape, whilst Sebastien Buemi in attack mode joined. Remarkably, the Swiss driver overtook both Rowland and de Vries to take the lead.  Buemi in attack mode still, built a 3.3s lead by lap 24, whilst Rowland dropped behind Vergne to avoid a penalty. He was quickly overtaken, though, by the Nissan driver once his final attack mode was activated.  De Vries was also overtaken by Rowland, before a surprise Nick Cassidy moved into third due to a well-timed final attack mode himself. Antonio Felix da Costa also got past the Mahindra driver. It meant that once all attack modes had been taken, Buemi led from Rowland, Cassidy, da Costa and de Vries with three laps remaining. Experience played key for the Season 2 champion, who extended his lead to claim a shock victory in the Principality. Rowland extended his championship lead in second, with Cassidy completing the podium. Da Costa and de Vries completed the top five.