Formula E: End of an Era

FORMULA E 12

END OF AN ERA

A dramatic final weekend in Seoul signalled the end of Season 8, which also marked the end of Formula E’s ‘Gen2’ era. As the series prepares for a new generation of fully electric street racing next year, we take a look back over a season that delivered classic races, thrilling action and moments to remember forever.

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Reigning Formula E World Champion Nyck de Vries began his title defence in the best possible way, as the Dutchman came out on top in Saudi, pipping teammate and pole-sitter Stoffel Vandoorne to the top spot in the first race of the season. De Vries’ success in Diriyah would be one of only two wins in what was ultimately a disappointing season, finishing ninth overall in the Drivers’ Standings. In the second race of the weekend, ROKiT Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara ignited a tense battle for the Championship that would stretch right until the final day. Mortara displayed great pace throughout a narrow street circuit and became an early title favourite.

DREAM START IN DIRIYAH

MAGIC IN MEXICO

It was a dream weekend for the Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team in Mexico City, as the team secured its first ever win in the series. It was a maiden victory for Werhlein, too, who had qualified in pole position earlier in the day. Porsche executed their gameplay perfectly to engineer a one-two finish for Werhlein’s teammate, Lotterer, who pipped DS Techeetah’s Jean-Éric Vergne to second place. It was redemption for Werhlein who had come agonisingly close to securing his first win in the series a year prior, also in Mexico for the Puebla E-Prix. It was undoubtedly an historic moment for Porsche, but there wouldn’t be too many other opportunities to celebrate throughout the weekend, as the manufacturer struggled to keep up with the leading pack of Mercedes EQ and ROKiT Venturi Racing. Despite being unable to grab a place on the podium, a fifth-place finish was enough for Edoardo Mortara to retain his place at the top of the Drivers’ Standings, as the series prepared for the European leg of the season.

Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans enjoyed a perfect weekend in Rome, as the Kiwi secured back-to-back wins to catapult himself to the top of the Championship.

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In Round 5, Evans climbed from ninth on the grid to bag his first win of the season, with Mercedes EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne once again failing to capitalise on his pole position. A huge crash on the very first lap provided Evans with the perfect opportunity to jump up the order and ultimately to the front of the grid. Once he secured the position, he never showed any signs of letting it slip and eventually cantered to his first win of the season, finishing five seconds in front of second placed Robin Frijns. If Saturday’s win was slightly fortuitous, then Evans’ win on the Sunday was simply down to strategy, as he executed his Attack Modes brilliantly, activating both of his extra power boosts at the very last opportunity to push his way to the front of the pack. A late Safety Car threatened to ruin all his hard work, but the Jaguar man remained calm and held off a late surge from DS Techeetah’s Jean-Éric Vergne to take the top spot on the podium.

EVANS CONQUERS THE ETERNAL CITY

VANDOORNE SHINES IN MONACO

Mercedes-EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne raced to victory on the streets of Monaco to secure his first win of the season. The Belgian managed his energy perfectly throughout a stuttering Monaco E-Prix and emerged on the right side of a full-course yellow to get the better of Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, who was looking for his third win on the bounce following his pole position. Vandoorne, who had come so close to winning a number of races this season, had to wait patiently to lead the race, eventually coming out in front after Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein was forced to retire due to technical issues. Locked in a tense battle with Evans for a large portion of the race, Vandoorne kept his cool to lift himself to the top of the Drivers’ World Championship, ahead of DS Techeetah’s Jean-Éric Vergne who finished third.

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Having failed to land a podium finish since his victory on the opening weekend, Mortara returned to winning ways as Season 8 headed to the iconic Tempelhof Airfield in Berlin. As the season reached the halfway point, the victory came at the perfect time for the Swiss-Italian, as Evans and Vandoorne had begun to grab a hold of the championship. The weekend got off to the perfect start for Mortara as he grabbed his first ever FE pole position, a result that even surprised ROKiT Venturi team principle Jérôme d’Ambrosio. There were more surprises in qualifying, as Mahindra’s Alex Sims and DS Techeetah’s Jean-Éric Vergne setting the exact same time, down to a thousandth of a second. As Sims went first in the duels, he went through to the finals, much to the frustration of JEV. During the race, Mortara adopted a similar strategy to Evans’ in Rome, using both of Attack Modes towards the end of the race in order to be able to hold on to his lead and claim his second win of the season.

MORTARA BOUNCES BACK IN BERLIN

In Round 8, Mortara landed a second Formula E pole position in as many days, but unlike the previous day, the ROKiT man was unable to turn that into a victory, as Mercedes’ Nyck de Vries enjoyed more success in Berlin, a city where he claimed his first Formula E World Championship. Stoffel Vandoorne added another podium to his tally with a third-place finish, gaining ground on Jaguar’s Mitch Evans who could only muster a P5 and P10 across the weekend.

JAGUAR JOY IN JAKARTA

Mitch Evans bounced back from his disappointment in Berlin to win the first ever E-Prix in Indonesia. Evans managed the race, and the heat, brilliantly, saving his final Attack Mode of the race until the very last moment to snatch the win off Jean-Éric Vergne, who has still yet to win a race this season. A dramatic, three-way battle in the last lap of the race saw Vergne apply a tonne of pressure to the New Zealander, a scuffle which allowed Mortara to close in. With Mortara all over the back of Vergne, the Frenchman aggressively defend his position instead of attacking Evans, and the trio finished the race in that order and within a second of each other. While Vergne is still to win a race this season, this result saw him move closer to Championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne. Mitch Evans now sits in P3 behind Vergne, and Mortara in P4, with only 12 points separating the four drivers.

FORMULA E 16

ROKiT Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara continued a run of great form to claim his third win of the season in intense conditions in Marrakesh. Mortara held off strong competition from the DS Techeetah pair of Jean-Éric Vergne and polesitter Antonio Felix da Costa to reignite his title fight. Having qualified in second place, Mortara kept constant pressure on Da Costa and timed his Attack Mode’s well to eventually build a sizeable lead from the chasing pack. With the majority of the grid opting to use their extra power boosts early on, the race soon became a straight battle between the drivers. The closing stages of the race soon boiled down to strategy, particularly for DS Techeetah. With Mortara leading the race, second placed Da Costa allowed teammate Vergne to pass through, meaning the Frenchman would take the championship lead if things stayed as they were. However, in typical Formula E fashion, the landscape changed quickly and with only a few laps remaining, Vergne’s pace was unable to cope with Mortara’s, who had began to peel away. Da Costa was confident in catching the ROKiT man and urged his team to instruct Vergne to let him through. Vergne obliged and Da Costa put his foot down, closing the gap in front almost instantly. Mortara held on, however, to claim a victory that lifted him to the top of the drivers’ standings, ahead of Jean-Éric Vergne who just finished outside the podium positions following a late surge from Evans.

MORTARA MASTERS MARRAKESH

Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy claimed his first ever Formula E victory in a chaotic New York E-Prix that was cut short due to rain. As Cassidy battled with Lucas Di Grassi of ROKiT Venturi Racing and Mercedes EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne, the Envision man remained cool and executed his Attack Mode strategies well to lead the pack for the majority of the race. As the race entered its closing stages, it had been planesailing and relatively uneventful until a sudden downpour saw a number of cars skid, causing a multi-car pile-up. The puddle was placed directly on the braking zone of Turn 6 and caused leader Cassidy, di Grassi, Vandoorne, Mortara and a number of other drivers to fly straight on and into the barrier. The race was red flagged and after a lengthy delay, the decision was made from race control to end the race with just over seven minutes remaining on the clock. On countback, the results were taken as of the lap prior to the one in which the stoppage was called, as per article 41.9 of the regulations – meaning the victory was given to Cassidy, with di Grassi and Frijns rounding out the podium.

BIG DRAMA IN THE BIG APPLE

The events on Sunday were much more straightforward, as DS Techeetah’s Antonio Felix da Costa claimed his first win of the season as he led from start to finish in Round 12 on the streets of New York. Starting from pole, Da Costa took his opportunity with both hands and cruised across the finish line. Stoffel Vandoorne of Mercedes EQ regains his position at the top of the drivers’ standings with a second place finish, jumping 11 points in front of Mortara who endured a disappointing weekend in the Big Apple.

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Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis led from start to finish in his home race as he made it two wins in two years at the London E-Prix. It was dominant victory from Dennis, who qualified in pole ahead of Mercedes’ Stoffel Vandoorne, to claim his and Avalanche Andretti’s first win of the season. In Round 14, ROKiT Venturi’s Lucas Di Grassi spoilt the party for Jake Dennis as he secured the win in the final race of the London E-Prix double-header. In the last race before the final weekend of the season, all eyes were on the championship leaders, with Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, ROKiT Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara and championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne of Mercedes EQ all qualifying outside of the top ten. Vandoorne, Evans and Mortara had all began to surge up the field, with Evans eventually working his way up into fourth, helping to close the gap in the drivers’ standings to Vandoorne. However, as the race entered the closing stages, Evans’ car lost all power into Turn 12 and ran off track. Evans looked visibly dejected as Vandoorne’s fourth place finish put him almost out of reach in the championship.

LONDON’S CALLING

SIGNING OFF IN SEOUL

Despite claiming yet another victory in the first round of the Seoul E-Prix double-header, Jaguar’s Mitch Evans was unable to prevent Mercedes EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne claiming his first ever Formula E World Championship. Evans pushed until the very last moment, and after setting up a title decider with his victory in Round 15, the Kiwi needed another win and for Vandoorne to finish eight or lower on the final day. However, that outcome seemed almost impossible after Evans qualified in 13th, with Vandoorne in fourth. Although Evans battled his way up to seventh on the grid, Vandoorne crossed the line in second place behind Edoardo Mortara, comfortably wrapping up the Drivers’ Championship. The win also sealed the Teams’ Championship for Mercedes EQ, with the German manufacturer claiming its second title in as many seasons.