Formula E The End of an Era

Last weekend, the Formula e Season came to an end in Seoul, South Korea. But it wasn’t just the end of a thrilling season that saw me fully re-immerse myself in the electric racing series – it was also the end of the second generation of Formula e cars as the sport prepares to drive into the unknown with Gen 3 in 2023.

It was fitting then, that for its finale, the Gen 2 cars were the ones being driven for Formula e’s 100th e-Prix. The endings didn’t stop there however as a number of the drivers bowed out of Formula e following the final race and Constructors Champions, Mercedes EQ, also decided that they’d one-up Nico Rosberg in true Mercedes fashion and win both the Driver’s and Constructors’ Titles in back to back years before leaving the sport.

Despite the season being made up of 16 rounds, it feels weird that it’s already over – perhaps because it’s August and it’s still odd for a World Championship to end so early in the year. But for someone like myself who was initially a big Formula e fan before dabbling in and out of it for a few years, I was glad that I got back into it this year. It’s been good to watch a Championship where I don’t have any particular driver or team loyalties and can just enjoy the series for its pure racing action. Speaking of which…

Images: Formula e Media Centre

The fight to become World Champion was between at least four drivers at one stage with the 2021 Champion, Nyck de Vries, not among them. Stoffel Vandoorne, Mitch Evans, Edo Mortara and Jean-Eric Vergne all proved themselves to be worthy contenders but in the end, it came down to Evans and Vandoorne, with the title being decided in the very last race – the sixth time that’s happened in Formula e’s eight seasons.

Remarkably, despite being on the podium eight times this season, Vandoorne only won a single race – back at Monaco in May. It once again shows, as Nicki Shields liked to say throughout the year, that consistency is key if you want to win in motorsport – not necessarily winning. Although that does certainly help.

This feat is made even more impressive by the fact that Vandoorne beat Evans by thirty-one points – the third biggest gap to second place in Formula e history. Having worked his way up through Formula 2 to get into Formula 1, only to join McLaren at one of the worst times in their history and then to be let go, winning the Formula e Championship feels a lot like redemption for Vandoorne. That he should become Champion as Mercedes EQ leave the sport, the second generation comes to an end and that he single-handedly made sure Mercedes EQ won the Constructors’ Championship in the final round as teammate de Vries DNFd in both races makes it all that much sweeter for the Belgian. It’s been a long time coming but Vandoorne definitely earned it.

Images: Formula e Media Centre

But Stoffel was not the only driver to impress me this year. Mitch Evans and Edo Mortara deserved the Championship too, winning four e-Prix each. Along with two-time Champion Vergne, these three are surely going to be the favourites for next year’s title. But then again, this is Formula e and it is wildly unpredictable so maybe this will be as close as any of them get. I hope not though. Coming into the final two rounds, it still could have been possible for any of the three to beat Vandoorne and that fact alone shows why they should each be held in high regard, especially when you’ve all won more races across the season than the eventual Champion. There’s not much else you can do at a certain point. Edo also won the final race of the season which was even more enjoyable because he’s now won race #50 and race #100 in Formula e. I wonder if he’ll make it a hat trick and win race #150 too.

Nyck de Vreis also won two e-Prix with Pascal Wehrlein, Nick Cassidy, Jake Dennis, Antonio Felix da Costa and Lucas di Grassi all winning an e-Prix a piece. That’s ten different drivers winning sixteen different races – more than Formula 1’s been able to achieve so far this year with only four different drivers winning any of the thirteen races to date. It needs to be a heck of a crazy second half of the season if they want to get to Formula e levels and prove that their new regulations actually worked. To see Formula e achieve this so effortlessly is rather nice.

Dennis proved his love for his home race in London by finishing in the top two for both rounds while da Costa and di Grassi proved that the veterans of the sport have still got what it takes to win. The latter is also the only driver to have competed in all 100 races (Sam Bird sadly wasn’t able to do this too due to a broken wrist causing him to miss the final round of the season) and to score over 1,000 points in his Formula e career.

Wehrlein also gave Porsche their first win in the sport, back in Mexico City, in what has to be my favourite race of the year. It was a perfect showcase for the sport because there was close wheel-to-wheel racing from start to finish throughout the pack and proved that just because you’re a big name manufacturer, it doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed a win. Andre Lotterrer deserves a shout-out here too because he played the team game magnificently by staying behind Wehrlein to give the team not only their first win, but to make it a Porsche 1-2. For a driver who never won in Formula e, it must have been very tempting to make a lunge for that top spot. However, Lotterrer is a gentleman and a team player and reminded me of Monza 2021 at the Italian Grand Prix in F1 where Lando Norris was told to stay behind Daniel Ricciardo to ensure they got the win, instead of risking the creation of the ultimate nightmare for a racing team – to be leading a race and then to lose it as your drivers take each other out.

It was fantastic to get to race in places that Formula 1 doesn’t too. Indonesia, Morocco and South Korea were all sublime additions to the calendar and I hope we keep going back to them. They provided the variety in locations that F1 seems to be missing at the moment too which just goes to show that the old dog still needs to learn one or two new tricks. I know I keep making F1 comparisons and I’m trying not to but for a motorsport series that hasn’t always been treated (and still isn’t in some ways) with the respect it deserves, it’s hitting some home runs that F1 should – and are perfectly capable of doing – but simply aren’t and they deserve praise for that.

Images: Formula e Media CentreThe new qualifying format also proved to be a success with the battle brackets spicing things up nicely before the racing got underway. Attack Mode and Fan Boost too have continued to add an extra layer of spice to the racing, with more differing strategies at play and Fan Boost keeping the audience on the edge of their seat right until the end in case of a last-minute manoeuvre by their favourite driver. They are both something that W Series should look at to make their races more exciting too and to help that series grow too.

There were of course elements of the season that I didn’t like. Formula e prides itself on being a Championship that is held exclusively on street circuits. Yet in certain locations, it felt like they could only technically say they were at a certain city because the only way you could tell it was, Rome for example, as if it was pointed out to you on a map. For me, this was most apparent in Berlin (where we raced again at an abandoned airport for some reason), Rome (outskirts of the city where you can’t actually see any of the distinguishing features of Rome), New York (Manhattan is just visible in the background on certain shots if you’re lucky and it’s not directly in the city itself but it still counts) and London (where we have my least favourite track of them all where it takes drivers both inside and around the outside of the ExCel in what I guess is supposed to be an attempt at being edgy but seems naff to me). Hopefully, this is something that can be fixed as Formula e continues to grow and expand around the world.

A number of drivers also failed to impress me. Antonio Giovinazzi is at the top of that list as the ex-F1 driver didn’t score any points at all. In his defence though, the car he was given was terrible all season long. But still. Dan Ticktum is unsurprisingly on this list as he failed to justify his place on the Formula e grid all year long. Norman Nato (who stood in for Sam Bird in South Korea) beat Ticktum by simply finishing both races and finished higher than Ticktum has managed in many of this year’s races and that was after an entire year of not driving in the sport. It says it all really. Max Guenther, Oliver Askew and Sebastien Buemi were also drivers that didn’t tickle my fancy this year, with Buemi possibly showing that it’s time he tried his hand at a different form of motorsport as his peak in Formula e seems to have come and gone.

The eighth season of Formula e had plenty of memorable moments. From de Vries winning the opening race in Saudi Arabia to everything that happened in Mexico City, Mitch Evans’ bloody fantastic double race win in Rome to bring himself into Championship contention to the massive crashes we had in a rain-drenched New York and damp Seoul respectively and countless overtakes that put a grin on everyone’s face, there was more good than bad this year in Formula e.

What next then? Formula e will return in 2023 for its first round in Mexico City with the Gen 3 cars. McLaren are taking over the Mercedes team in what was a shocking and interesting twist to the Formula e tale revealed earlier this year. At the time of writing, it’s unclear if Vandoorne and De Vries will be McLaren’s drivers. Personally, I’d quite like it if they weren’t. Neither has anything left to prove in Formula e and should leave on a high. I’d quite like to see Vandoorne tackle Indycar next with de Vries replacing Latifi at Williams to get the shot at Formula 1 he thoroughly deserves. Time will tell if this actually happens.

Moreover, the drivers that didn’t impress me should all be replaced, either with some F2 drivers like Jehan Daruvala, Marcus Armstrong and Felipe Drugovich. Alternatively – and with McLaren showing that they not only collect drivers like Infinity Stones but also want to have more female drivers – I think at least one of their drivers should come from the old guard of W Series. Alice Powell, Emma Kimilinainen and Abbie Eaton all come to mind as ideal Formula e candidates and it would be great to see them get the opportunity to get to the next level of motorsport.

Images: Formula e Media Centre

Alexander Sims and Andre Lotterrer are also calling it a day on their Formula e careers with di Grassi replacing the former and leaving a spot open at Venturi. A seat at Porsche is a tempting prospect for any driver in or out of the sport. So much so, that the day after the Championship ended, Antonio Felix da Costa claimed it and jumped ship from DS Techeetah, leaving a seat open there instead. It’s a shame to see both go through. Sims didn’t have a lot of luck during his tenure whilst Lotterrer proved he could play the perfect wingman with his final two races sadly resulting in DNFs. But I doubt it’s the last we’ve seen of either of them in motorsport and I could see them both joining ELMS or WEC next year.

The final round in Seoul that marked Formula e’s 100th e-Prix very much marked the end of an era then. The off-season will be one to pay close attention to and a bit like Formula 1 this year, next year for Formula e is a bit of a step into the unknown. If there’s one thing that Formula e is good at though, it’s being predictably unpredictable – so I’m sure we’re in safe hands. One other thing is for certain. Following a renewed interest in Formula e and being treated to a pretty darn good season this year, I’ll be back with Formula e in 2023 too. Bring it on.

Author: Thiemo Albers-Daly