As we walked into the seating area of the circuit, we were amazed at how short the queues were (maybe because we were a little late!). The atmosphere around us was booming and you could hear the pundits everywhere. Even those outside of the circuit would be able to hear the pundits - which we did whilst we ate our lunch.
The atmosphere around us was booming
On the way to our seats, we emerged on the grandstand and were delighted to know we chose some of the best seats there. In front of us were the pits where we could see the cars coming in when they retired, we could see into the garages, we could see everything. To our right was a corner where the cars came round past the marina and then a straight straight in front of us. (it'll make sense when you read that last bit again!) On the corner, we could also see the boats which were docked for the race, sitting tranquilly unlike the occupiers who were excited just like the rest of us. Of course, there was a large screen for us to also see the rest of the race. The crowd was simply electric! (pun intended)
In terms of the race itself, the fight for the lead was quite the one to watch. Favourites going into the Monaco E-Prix were Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne (championship leader and French favourite for obvious reasons), Australian Mitch Evans as the only multiple-time winner this season, and the Dutch Robin Frijns as the second-placed driver in the driver's standings.
Although much more familiar with sister series Formula 1, Katie and I were not any less excited to watch our first Formula E race in-person. While overtakes weren't pulled off at the corner we were sat, it was cool to see them come from the last Swimming Pool chicane past us on their way to La Rascasse. Our position across the pit lane also made it convenient to watch all the cars that suffered power losses and retirements pull in.
Evans held the lead for Jaguar during the first fifteen minutes, then started coming under threat from Pascal Wehrlein. During the race, numerous drivers made use of attack mode - placed off the racing line at Turn 4 going into Casino Square - to challenge for the lead, and Vergne was one of the first to take it. Then while Evans and Wehrlein went off the line to take attack mode, Vergne took the lead, with the Aussie dropping down the table. Wehrlein quickly took back first, but ended up having to retire with power problems, leaving Vergne in clear air.
An ambitious lunge from Brit Oliver Rowland meant both he and Porsche's Andre Lotterer were left in the wall at Sainte Devote to add to the safety car time addition. After all of the chaos, it was Mercedes EQ's Stoffel Vandoorne who claimed first place followed by Evans and Vergne.
The two of us stuck around after the race to watch the podiums on the big screen. We also stayed for the national anthems - granted we didn't know any! Because we were so excited to be there, we just didn't want to leave. On our way out, we looked at the docks where all the boats were and snapped a few photos while the sun slowly sank lower into the sky. It was a great ending to a great race and day.