Safety Car scuppers CUPRA KIRO strategy in Shanghai
Mid-race Safety Car derails CUPRA KIRO’s strategy, with Dan Ticktum and Pepe Martí going unrewarded in Shanghai
CUPRA KIRO experienced a challenging first race in the double-header 2026 Shanghai E-Prix, with a mid-race Safety Car compromising the team’s strategy and ultimate points-scoring potential in China.
In Qualifying, Dan Ticktum advanced to the duels from Group B and secured fifth after setting the second-fastest lap of the Quarter-Finals but started from eighth due to a three-place grid penalty from the Sanya E-Prix. Pepe, meanwhile, lined up in 12th after missing out on the duels by just 0.050 seconds.
Both Dan and Pepe adopted an energy-saving strategy at the start of the race and ran in formation in 12th and 13th before pressing forward when the Pit Boost window opened on lap 14. After rising to fifth, Dan took Pit Boost on lap 17 while Pepe boxed from the lead on lap 18.
With Pepe rejoining in fifth and Dan 10th, both drivers activated their sole Attack Mode on lap 19 only for the Safety Car to be deployed later that lap. With their power advantage eliminated, the pair were unable to hold position when other drivers cycled into Attack Mode at the restart.
After pitting to fit wet weather-pressured tyres behind the Safety Car, Dan recovered to 13th with a late overtake on Oliver Rowland while Pepe finished 15th. Due to a post-race penalty for Edoardo Mortara, Dan was subsequently promoted to 12th while Pepe was classified 14th.
Dan Ticktum, Driver, CUPRA KIRO
“I don’t think we could have done anything more today. I think we got pretty much everything right, but our race was ruined by the Safety Car. We then boxed for high-pressure tyres still behind the Safety Car, and the pace was good in the wet and if we had the Attack Mode available during that phase, I think we could have made some serious progress and be close to the podium. Hopefully we can have a good result before the season ends because we’re overdue some luck.”
Pepe Martí, Driver, CUPRA KIRO
“To put it politely, we got absolutely screwed today. There was a decision made by race direction – according to information that they must have had which was not available to teams – which prompted them to make the decision to throw a Safety Car. It came out with six minutes of my six-minute Attack Mode remaining – so all of it – and both Dan and I lost the full deployment. It put us completely out of contention for any kind of decent result, and I dropped from fifth to 15th. Safety-wise, it was probably a good decision, but there were three cars on track who had taken Attack Mode and Dan and I were two of them, so it sucks to be on the wrong side of the coin. Overall, the pace was good today, and the strategy was on point – it was just the circumstances that put us at a disadvantage. We’ll come back stronger tomorrow and hopefully, we can have much better luck.”
Russell O’Hagan, Team Principal, CUPRA KIRO
“Today’s result is incredibly frustrating because we had called the race well, it was going to plan, and a lot of solid points were on the table. For us, the Safety Car deployment was unusual, that’s not to say incorrect, but it was not in keeping with what we would expect. As a team, it’s our job to try and manage variables and optimise probability. A big part of that is predicting how scenarios unfold, so it’s naturally very frustrating when something atypical has such a big consequence, as it did today. From that point on, with the Pit Boosts taken, and just a single Attack Mode activation available, and already lost, our race was over. As an attempt to rescue some points we elected to pit Dan to fit tyres with wet-weather pressures to offset the conditions, and while he did make up six places after rejoining, it ultimately didn’t alter the outcome and overall, there was very little we could do to recover the situation. Motorsport can be unpredictable, and sometimes luck simply isn’t on your side, but we need to understand the rationale behind the Safety Car deployment and if the decisions made today are what we should expect moving forward, or if they were unique. The encouraging takeaway is that we’ve shown that we have a competitive package this weekend. We can come back tomorrow to achieve the result we know we’re capable of.”
