Season report
Opening rounds
The third generation of Formula E began in January in Mexico City with Lucas di Grassi taking pole position on his debut for Mahindra Racing ahead Andretti's Jake Dennis. Di Grassi led away at the start, before the race was interrupted twice: ABT CUPRA's Robin Frijns ran into the back of Norman Nato's Nissan, putting them both out of the race and breaking Frijns' wrist, before Sam Bird's Jaguar stopped to bring out another safety car. Dennis would take the lead off di Grassi on lap 12, building a gap before a third safety car was called when Edoardo Mortara lost control of his Maserati and hit the wall. Di Grassi could not pose a threat to Dennis on the restart, instead falling further back behind Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein. The German was also unable to close up to Dennis, who won the race by 7.8 seconds. Di Grassi put on a stern defense against McLaren's Jake Hughes to hold on to third place. [70]
At the Diriyah double-header, Kelvin van der Linde made his Formula E debut as a substitute for the injured Frijns. Envision's Sébastien Buemi took pole position in the first race ahead of Hughes and Bird. Bird soon overtook Hughes and then took the lead from Buemi on lap 7. The man with the best start was Wehrlein, however: starting in ninth, he made up three places on the opening lap, and then continued his climb to end up behind second-placed Buemi by lap 23. The German soon left the Swiss behind and started to work on race leader Bird. One unsuccessful attempt and four laps of good defending by Bird later, Wehrlein was able to take the lead. Championship leader Dennis too had a great race, starting eleventh and managing to work his way up the order. He also got by Bird to take second, but was then unable to find a way past Wehrlein. Only Dennis' fastest lap point in Mexico City separated him from Wehrlein, who was second in the standings. [71]
Hughes took his maiden pole position for the second Diriyah race, ahead of Jaguar's Mitch Evans and his McLaren teammate René Rast. The top three each led the race for a stretch during the opening part of the race, before Wehrlein was once again making the most of his Porsche powertrain's superior efficiency. He ticked off Hughes and Evans on lap 12 and 13, before Rast relinquished the lead to him when he took his Attack Mode. Dennis, who had started behind Wehrlein in sixth, followed him through to once again end up in second place. The gaps were then nullified as a safety car was called when ABT Cupra's Nico Müller hit the wall on lap 27. Wehrlein held off Dennis at the restart and then remained unchallenged until the finish to sweep both race wins and take the championship lead by six points, while Rast in third mounted a brilliant defense against Bird to take his teams' first Formula E podium. [72]
The next round, the inaugural Hyderabad ePrix, saw Evans take pole position ahead of DS Penske's Jean-Éric Vergne. Evans dropped back to third behind Vergne and Buemi early on after a mistimed attack mode activation. He then was in the wrong place at the wrong time when his teammate Bird attempted a move on the Nissan of Sacha Fenestraz on lap 13, outbraked himself and hit Evans, forcing both Jaguars to retire. Among the chaos, Envision's Nick Cassidy was able to rise to third place. Vergne took the lead from Buemi on lap 15 and Cassidy followed him through. Another safety car, caused by Hughes, whose mirror had come loose and lodged in his steering wheel, causing him to hit the wall, delayed the fight for the win. Despite having more energy than Vergne in the final part of the race, Cassidy had to settle for second. Buemi came home third, before receiving a penalty that promoted Porsche's António Félix da Costa to the podium. Wehrlein in fourth grew his championship advantage over a non-finishing Dennis to 18 points. [73]
Formula E made its debut in Cape Town for round 5. Fenestraz took his maiden pole position in Formula E, ahead of Maserati's Maximilian Günther. All four Mahindra-powered cars had to be withdrawn from the race as the manufacturer saw safety concerns with their rear suspension package. An early safety car because of Wehrlein crashing into Buemi saw Günther move into the lead, before Cassidy was next to take first spot. Günther clipped a wall on lap 21, forcing him to retire and elevating Da Costa and Vergne into contention. On lap 24, Da Costa pulled off a remarkable overtake on Cassidy for the lead. He then missed his attack mode activation, dropped behind Vergne and was able to pull the same brilliant move on Vergne to retake the lead and hold on for the win. Cassidy took the last podium place after Fenestraz crashed out on the final lap. With Wehrlein retiring and Dennis down in 13th after a penalty, Wehrlein's championship lead remained the same. [74]
Mid-season rounds
The São Paulo ePrix, round 6, marked the third new ePrix in succession. As Frijns returned to ABT CUPRA from his injury, reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne took his first pole position for DS Penske. A very energy-limited race saw multiple lead changes in the first half of the race, with drivers taking attack modes just to avoid leading the race and missing out on the slipstream. Vandoorne lost out, as he led too much and eventually had a big energy deficit, while Cassidy and Evans took advantage of that. Evans would take the lead from Cassidy on lap 32, holding off last-lap challenges from Cassidy and Bird to take his and Jaguar's first victory of the season. Championship leader Wehrlein had started 18th and was able to come home seventh, despite colliding with championship rival Dennis after the latter was hit by NIO 333's Dan Ticktum. This forced Dennis into retirement. With Dennis not scoring for the third consecutive race, Wehrlein extended his championship lead to 24 points. [75]
It was back to familiar surroundings for rounds 7 and 8 as the Berlin double-header was up next. Buemi took his 16th pole position, a new Formula E record, but was beaten at the start by Ticktum rocketing from fourth on the grid into the lead. While Ticktum slowly faded back in his inferior NIO, drivers were once again not keen to lead the race, preferring to drop back into the slipstream. The race was interrupted multiple times by crashes causing safety cars. One of these again involved Dennis, this time he hit the wall when he attempted to pass Günther for fifth place. This allowed the top four led by Buemi to build a slight gap. Evans was able to pass Buemi for the lead on lap 40, with both Bird and Günther also coming through on the final lap to complete a Jaguar 1-2 and the podium. Wehrlein came sixth, and with Dennis' fourth non-score in a row, he was overtaken in the standings by Cassidy, who came fifth to reduce the gap to Wehrlein to 23 points. [76]
The second Berlin race saw a wet qualifying that ended with a surprise ABT CUPRA front-row lockout, with Frijns ahead of Müller. The race was delayed because of protestors storming the grid, but when it got underway, the ABT CUPRAs were unable to keep up with the other leading cars and soon dropped back. While initially seemed to again be a race where leading was not the best strategy, Cassidy made just that work. He started eighth and was soon in the lead group, took first place on lap 25 and led until the end. Behind him was Dennis who scored his first points since Diriyah in January. Vergne completed the podium, but had to fight for it past Evans and Da Costa in the final stages of the race. Müller managed to salvage two points in ninth place, while polesitter Frijns fell back to seventeenth. With Wehrlein coming home in seventh, the gap between him and Cassidy in the standings was shortened to just four points. [77]
The Monaco ePrix began with Fenestraz on pole position, before a deletion of his lap time handed that to Hughes. He initially led away from Fenestraz, before Evans took the lead from the pair after the first round of attack mode activations that saw Hughes drop down to fifth. Meanwhile, Cassidy was working his way up the order after starting from ninth. He overtook the three cars of Dennis, Wehrlein and Günther into the hairpin on lap four, before taking the lead from Evans during the second round of attack modes. A late safety car to retrieve Günther's stopped car resulted in a flat-out five-lap sprint to the end, but Evans could not find a way past Cassidy before another safety car for a collision between Bird and Müller saw the race finish under caution. Cassidy's second consecutive win saw him overtake Wehrlein, who could only manage tenth, in the standings. Third was Dennis, who also closed up to Wehrlein in the standings, while Cassidy was now 20 points ahead. [78]
Two drivers made their debut at Jakarta: David Beckmann as a stand-in for Andretti's André Lotterer, and Roberto Merhi to replace Oliver Rowland at Mahindra. Günther took Maserati's first Formula E pole position ahead of Dennis. Wehrlein in third overtook Dennis right at the start, and then kept close to Günther to take the lead on lap four. After briefly falling to fourth behind Vandoorne, Dennis quickly climbed back to second and remained there as Wehrlein's main threat. These top three positions remained until the end of the race, while down in the lower reaches of the points, the two Jaguars collided again, forcing Evans to retire. Wehrlein took his first win since Saudi Arabia, while Dennis took his seventh podium of the season. Championship leader Cassidy could only manage seventh in an Envision car that lacked pace, so Wehrlein shortened his championship advantage to just two points. [79]
Günther took pole position again for the second race at Jakarta. While he dropped behind both Evans and Dennis during the first round of attack mode activations, he was able to repass Dennis the second time around after the Brit got stuck behind Evans during his second attack mode. Dennis then put pressure on Günther, but was unable to find a way by. Evans took his attack mode later on, but his pace afterwards was no match for the top two. Championship protagonists Cassidy and Wehrlein had a battle further down the order that resulted in the former sustaining damage to his front wing, forcing him to pit for repairs and out of the points. Günther took Maserati's first single seater win since Juan Manuel Fangio won at the Nürburgring in 1957. Dennis secured his fourth podium in a row in second, and Wehrlein came home sixth, enough for him to retake the championship lead by a single point over Dennis. Cassidy dropped to third in the standings, albeit just six points behind Wehrlein. [80]
Closing rounds
Dennis took pole position as Formula E debuted at the Portland International Raceway. The high-speed nature of the track meant that energy saving once again had top priority, with drivers often lapping more than 10 seconds off the pace in the opening part of the race. Dennis led until his first attack mode activation dropped him behind Nato. Cassidy, who had started tenth, steadily worked his way up the order to claim the lead shortly before the race was interrupted for a heavy crash after a brake failure for Müller. Da Costa then took the lead and started showing more pace in the final part of the race, with only Cassidy and Dennis able to hold on to him. These two were both able to pass Da Costa in the end, with Dennis then finding no way past Cassidy. The New Zealander took his third win of the season and also reclaimed the championship lead over Wehrlein, who could only manage eighth, by 18 points. [81]
Evans scored pole position in the first of the two races in Rome. After a safety car to clear away Lotterers crashed car, Fenestraz took the lead shortly before the race was red-flagged on lap nine after a multi-car shunt. Bird had lost control of his car though the flat-out turn six and hit the wall. His car was hit by Buemi and Mortara, Vandoorne hit the wall trying to avoid the wreckage and Da Costa, Di Grassi and Frijns also sustained damage caused by debris on track. All drivers escaped without injury, and fourteen cars took to the restart led by Fenestraz. Dennis took the lead on lap twelve as Fenestraz started dropping down the order. Evans retook the lead during the second round of attack mode activations. As the race after the red flag was one lap longer than Andretti had initially expected, Dennis was then forced to conserve energy, dropping him behind Cassidy and Günther in fourth. Cassidy grew his championship advantage to 15 points, while Dennis and Evans both overtook Wehrlein in the standings. [82]
Spare parts had to be shared throughout the whole paddock to ensure all cars could take part in the second race. Dennis took pole position and led Cassidy and Evans at the start. On the second lap, Cassidy attempted a move on Dennis. Evans behind him locked up, hit Cassidy and his Jaguar was flung atop Cassidy's Envision. Both drivers continued, but with extensive damage that eventually forced Evans to retire. Nato was second behind Dennis, but clipped the Andretti's rear and sustained damage to his front wing. This saw Bird move past him, where he started putting pressure on the race leader. Bird was unable to find a way by Dennis and dropped back into third when he activated his second attack mode. Despite having more energy, he then did not manage to pass Nato, who held on to second. The result saw Dennis retake the lead of the championship, leading by 24 points from Cassidy ahead of the final weekend. Evans, a further five points back, was also still in mathematical contention for the title. [83]
The final weekend in London began with Evans taking pole position, but a 5-place grid penalty for his crash in Rome meant Cassidy started first. Buemi took second place at the start and Cassidy initially looked set to take the championship fight to Sunday, as Buemi shielded him from behind while he got both attack mode activations out of the way early. But Cassidy let Buemi through to help his team in the teams' championship, and miscommunication between team and drivers led to the teammates hitting each other. Cassidy sustained damage and lost all chance to keep the championship fight alive. The race ended with two red flags in quick succession, first for Fenestraz crashing heavily into turn 16, and then shortly after the first restart when a collision between Nato, Buemi and Bird blocked the track in turn 19. After the second restart, Evans led Da Costa and Dennis home, before Da Costa was given a post-race 3 minute penalty for a technical infraction. Dennis sealed his, his teams' and Great Britain's first Formula E Drivers' World Championship. [84]
The final round of the championship saw Cassidy take his first pole position of the season. The race was heavily delayed because of heavy rain, but once things got underway, Cassidy led from Evans and Nato. The leading pair immediately pulled away from the pack, with no one able to match their pace. Dennis overtook Nato for third place, but was still almost a second per lap slower than Cassidy and Evans. In the final stages of the race, Evans stopped pressuring Cassidy for the lead and also dropped back. Cassidy dominated the rest of the race. His victory secured his runner-up spot in the Drivers' Championship. With his teammate Buemi finishing sixth, Envision Racing's secured their first Teams' Championship, ahead of Jaguar TCS Racing. Newly crowned champion Dennis cruised home to third in a race where, despite very tricky conditions, all 22 cars reached the finish line. [85]
At the start of the season, the Porsche-powered cars seemed the strongest, but as the season progressed, Jaguar and their customer Envision were able to catch up. The picture in the drivers' standings was similar: Dennis and Wehrlein were firmly at the front in the first part of the season, but Cassidy and Evans caught up to the pair while Wehrlein started to fade back. While Evans was never leading the championship, Cassidy was able to overhaul Dennis twice, before the pivotal crash in the second Rome race that put the title initiative back in Dennis' favor. In London, Cassidy and Envision then gambled away their slim chances by trying to win both championships at the same time, while Dennis just had to keep consistent to secure the crown.
