Season report
Opening rounds
For the fourth time, the championship kicked off at the Riyadh Street Circuit in Diriyah. Stoffel Vandoorne took pole position and led from the start, as António Félix da Costa retired in a four-way fight through the first corner of the race. Vandoorne controlled the first half of the race, surviving a safety car and the subsequent restart as Oliver Rowland was pushed into the wall in turn 16 ten minutes into the race. When he attempted to activate his second attack mode, he missed the sensors and was overtaken by his teammate Nyck de Vries, who started third and overtook Jake Dennis at the start. The latter was then also overtaken by André Lotterer, but managed to get by him again to keep a podium position. De Vries remained largely unchallenged in the second half of the race and led Vandoorne home in a Mercedes 1-2. Rookie Oliver Askew ended his debut race in eighth place and scored four points. [47]
The second part of the Diriyah double-header again saw a Mercedes take pole, this time it was de Vries. He held the lead during the early stages of the race, but was later passed by Lucas di Grassi around the outside in turn 18, with the latter's team-mate Edoardo Mortara also coming through one lap later. Mortara was then able to also overtake di Grassi, as de Vries lost his momentum and slid down the order, eventually ending up in tenth. Robin Frijns passed di Grassi for second with ten minutes remaining, but a battle for the lead was disrupted as a safety car was called to recover Alexander Sims, who lost control of his Mahindra through turn 5. A relatively slow recovery meant the race ended under yellow flag conditions. Mortara left Diriyah leading the standings, four points ahead of de Vries. [48] [49]
Two weeks later, Formula E returned to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. Pascal Wehrlein put his Porsche on pole and covered Mortara at the start of the race. He was then overtaken by Mortara after he took his first attack mode, and later also by Jean-Éric Vergne, who passed both Porsches in two laps. After the second round of attack modes, the Porsche pair in third and fourth had the most energy remaining and capitalized on that: both overtook Vergne on lap 25 and two laps later Wehrlein regained the race lead, with his teammate Lotterer in second place. Mortara dropped back behind both Techeetahs, as Porsche used team orders to seal their 1-2 finish. Wehrlein's win promoted him to third in the standings, behind de Vries and Mortara. [50]
A one-month break followed before the next round at the Circuito Cittadino dell'EUR in Rome. Mercedes seemed to be back on form, with Vandoorne taking pole and de Vries third on the grid. Vandoorne held the lead from Frijns, as both Rowland and Maximilian Günther hit the barriers on the first lap, bringing out a safety car. Frijns and Vandoorne continued to battle for the lead, overtaking each other multiple times as both used their attack mode activations, while de Vries was forced to retire with a technical issue. Mitch Evans, who started ninth, had made his way up past six cars and overtook both leaders to claim first place. Frijns dropped back to fourth, but overtook both Vergne and Vandoorne in the last two minutes of the race to regain second place. [51]
The double-header in Rome continued with Vergne claiming his 14th pole position. He pulled away from the start, while Dennis started dropping back behind him, allowing Lotterer and Evans through. Championship leader Mortara had to retire after clipping the wall and ruining his suspension. The safety car was then deployed as Antonio Giovinazzi's car stopped on track, with Evans capitalizing on his Jaguar's speed on the restart and overtaking Vergne for the lead. He was then overtaken by Frijns and Lotterer, who both led for short stints, before a second safety car was brought out for the retired Sims. Evans took his attack mode late in the race and managed to regain the lead, holding onto it until the end to seal a double win in Rome, ahead of Vergne and Frijns. Vergne took the championship lead after Rome, albeit only by two points, while de Vries' pointless weekend saw him slipping back. [52] [53] [54]
Mid-season rounds
The sixth round of the season was held on the historic Circuit de Monaco. Evans built upon his recent form, dominating qualifying and sealing pole position. He led away from Wehrlein and Vergne, controlling the pace in the early stages. Wehrlein passed Evans as the latter took his attack mode, but had to defend from Vergne and sustained damage to his car, forcing him to retire and bringing out a full course yellow. This hurt race leader Vergne, who had just taken his attack mode, and allowed Vandoorne and Evans to pull away in first and second place. Vandoorne befell the same bad luck, as shortly after his second attack mode activation, a safety car was called to recover Lotterer's Porsche at Sainte Devote. Vandoorne managed to control the restart and led until the chequered flag, ahead of Evans and Vergne. This promoted him to the championship lead, six points clear of Vergne. [55] [56]
The championship went to Berlin next, setting up camp at Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit. The first half of the double-header, held on the traditional layout, began with Mortara claiming his maiden pole position. He held position at the start, while championship leader Vandoorne dropped down to twelfth. Mortara controlled the race, only dropping back to second for half a lap after picking up his attack mode. Behind him, multiple drivers fought for the podium positions, including a resurging Vandoorne. Mortara dropped behind Vandoorne and Lotterer for his second attack mode, but once again he retook the lead shortly after. Vergne had overtaken Lotterer and Vandoorne for second, but an attack on Mortara didn't work out. Mortara was then able to draw out a gap and win in front of Vergne and Vandoorne. [57]
For the second race in Berlin, the reverse track layout was used, but that didn't stop Mortara getting pole once again. At the race start however, it was de Vries who shone, getting away brilliantly from third and making quick work of Frijns in second and Mortara in first. Like Mortara the day before, de Vries lost the lead to take attack mode, but got back into first place quickly. Mortara, who had briefly dropped to fourth, overtook Vandoorne and then da Costa to slot back into second place. The top ten mostly sat as they were for the last part of the race, de Vries from Mortara, di Grassi and Vandoorne. At the end, di Grassi had to save energy, allowing Vandoorne to take his second third place in a row. This meant he solidified his championship lead, now twelve points ahead of Mortara and 16 ahead of Vergne. [58]
Next up was the inaugural Jakarta ePrix, held on the streets around the Ancol area. Vergne claimed his 15th pole position, a new record, and led his teammate da Costa at the start, with Evans in third. A safety car was deployed after only a lap to recover Rowland's car, and Evans took second place at the restart when da Costa made a mistake at turn 7. The leading pair remained the same after the first attack mode activation, while Mortara used the boost to gain third place. Vergne used fanboost and attack mode to draw out a gap to Evans, who managed to keep second place through his second attack mode and set off after Vergne. On lap 31, Evans caught Vergne unaware and made his move into turn 7, to gain a lead he didn't relinquish again. Mortara came third, having closed up to the pair in the final stages of the race. Vandoorne's fifth place meant the standings closed up: his lead was now only five points ahead of Vergne, with the top four within twelve points. [59]
The cancelled Vancouver ePrix was replaced by a scorching hot Marrakesh, with da Costa claiming pole around the Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan, while championship leader Vandoorne struggled with brake problems and only managed 20th on the grid. In the race, the lead trio of both Techeetahs and Mortara were unchallenged at the start. Mortara took the lead from da Costa after the first round of attack modes, while Rowland was on a mission through both attack modes, overtaking four cars to slot into second place, behind Mortara. The two Techeetahs later flew back by Rowland, who then dropped back into the field. They took turns attacking Mortara in the final stages of the race, but no one managed to overtake him. Mortara held on to his third win of the season, ahead of da Costa and Evans, who snuck by Vergne on the final lap. Vandoorne crucially managed an eighth-place finish, but Mortara now led the standings by eleven points. [60] [61]
Closing rounds
New York City welcomed the teams and drivers with fickle weather conditions around the Brooklyn Street Circuit. Nick Cassidy took pole position, after rain hit during group B running. The race began in dry conditions, with Cassidy defending from Vandoorne, while title contender Vergne had a spin during the opening lap. Cassidy managed to regain his lead after losing it to di Grassi during the first round of attack mode, and continued to lead the pack. Vandoorne, who had momentarily dropped back to fifth, climbed back up the order, eventually rising up to second place. This was short-lived, however, as di Grassi quickly retook that position, also allowing Frijns to gain third place. With ten minutes left, heavy rain hit the circuit. The leaders hit the wet parts first and Cassidy, di Grassi and Vandoorne all slid off into the barriers at turn 6. A red flag was thrown, and after a restart was ruled out, Cassidy was awarded his maiden win on countback, ahead of di Grassi and Frijns. [62]
Cassidy was fastest once again in qualifying for the second New York City ePrix, but received a hefty penalty following the repairs after his crash the day before. Da Costa inherited pole and was unchallenged at the start, leading Sims and Vandoorne, while Lotterer stalled on the grid. After the leading group all took their single attack mode, the top six remained unchallenged, before Vandoorne took second place from Sims. The latter was then also overtaken by Evans, who slot into third. Da Costa remained on top, bringing home a first win of the season both for him and for his team. Vandoorne's second place meant he overtook Mortara for the championship lead, eleven points now splitting the pair, as the latter had a horrible day, being forced to start at the back and only managing tenth place. [63] [64]
The penultimate location of the championship was the ExCeL exhibition centre in London. Dennis took pole on home soil, immediately having to defend from Vandoorne at the start. He prevailed, while Sam Bird and Mortara collided, the former retiring and the latter having to pit and dropping to the back. Sérgio Sette Câmara was the big surprise in the early stages of the race, overtaking de Vries for third place. He fell away later in the race, though, as de Vries got back by. Dennis remained first until the end, winning on home soil like last season, with Vandoorne coming home second and de Vries in third on the road, though he got a penalty after the race, promoting Cassidy to the podium. [65]
No one seemed to be able to stop Dennis in London, as the Englishman took his second pole around the ExCeL. He led di Grassi and Giovinazzi at the start, while Askew had to retire after contact with Rowland during the first lap. Vergne ended his race - and pretty much his title challenge - after contact, bringing out the safety car. During the first round of attack mode, de Vries was able to get past Giovinazzi for third, the latter then having to serve a drive-through penalty for overpower. Da Costa was shortly able to gain third place, but de Vries soon retook the place. Di Grassi started pressuring Dennis in the later stages of the race, gaining the lead through the final attack mode activation and Dennis unable to re-pass him. Evans had to retire with a technical problem and Mortara finished in 13th. This, together with Vandoorne finishing fourth, meant he now had a 36-point lead heading into the season finale. [66]
Seoul was the host of said finale, with a circuit around the olympic village and through the olympic stadium. Inclement weather was forecast for the whole weekend, and the first qualifying session was very wet throughout. Rowland mastered the conditions to take pole. The race started in damp conditions, and Evans had the perfect start, shooting from third up into the lead. An eight-car pileup into a wet penultimate corner caused a red flag, with Evans continuing to lead through the restart, from Rowland and di Grassi. Mortara's championship challenge came to an end as he retired with a puncture on lap 20. Evans was largely unchallenged through the rest of the race, with a full course yellow at the end to recover Sims' car cutting short any action. Evans' win meant the championship went down to the wire at the last race, even though a 21-point lead looked all but impossible to overcome. [67] [68]
Da Costa ended the last qualifying of the Gen2 era on pole, holding the lead on a now dry track. Mortara overtook him on lap 3, with Dennis following him through. Vandoorne sat comfortably in fourth, more than enough to seal the title. After a safety car was brought out to recover Günther's car, da Costa tried to make a move on Dennis for third, with the latter spinning the former around and then sustaining a penalty for the contact. This meant Vandoorne got second place over the line, with Dennis slipping back to third. Vandoorne took a deserved world championship, only winning once but being the most consistent among his rivals, scoring points in 15 of the 16 races. Mercedes ended the second generation of the championship and their Formula E commitment with back-to-back driver and team championships. [69] [70]
