Formula E London E-Prix Round 15 and 16 Race Report: Dennis Appears the Home Hero with Title Win

Round 15 and 16 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship drew to a close in the British capital of London. The track certainly delivered as Jake Dennis became world champion, the first British world champion and the first world champion to win it at their home track. At the finale, it was Envision that picked up the prize, sealing the teams championship.

In the first race, it was an Envision front row lockout in the first lap with Nick Cassidy leading the way from Sebastien Buemi. Championship hopeful Dennis informed his team early on of his issues with contact in the opening laps, dropping down the pack. Mitch Evans battled Rene Rast after his 5 place grid penalty but the McLaren driver held position. The NIO 333 of Dan Ticktum had a home race to forget as he lost positions in the early stages, allowing Rast and Pascal Wehrlein past him. In the early stages, drivers began to take their attack mode as Dennis closed up on the rear wing of Buemi. Race leader Cassidy proceeded to take his first attack mode and remained in the lead as Buemi held off Dennis. Mortara and Vandoorne collided with one another, which brought out a yellow flag but no penalty was given to either driver.

Everything seemed to be going the way of Jake Dennis to claim his first championship title. But then…disaster struck for the championship leader. He started to fall down down the grid, with championship rival Evans overtaking him. Di Grassi and Frijns found themselves under investigation for their collision with the Abt Cupra driver pitting for a new front wing. Things continued to get worse for Dennis as he missed one of the activation zones, and wasn’t able to take attack mode when prompted. A yellow flag was brought out for a slippery surface with Vergne having to pit too as Evans held the lead from Buemi in P2 and Cassidy in P3.

As the time ticked on, Dennis overtook Cassidy for P4 with Rast fighting his way into the final podium position, then into second place as attack mode began to be taken with Evans still maintaining the lead. Drama unfolded as Cassidy, who was hoping to fight for the title, picked up damage on his front wing after contact with his teammate, leaving the Kiwi furious. Cassidy had to pit for a new front wing as a safety car came out. Evans still continued to lead ahead of Buemi and Rast. Wehrlein was holding off a visibly frustrated Dennis for P4, a position he required to keep hold of his championship.

Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6, leads Sebastien Buemi, Envision Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6 Credit: Formula E’s Media

At the start, Evans BOLTED away. Dennis and Wehrlein had not taken ANY attack mode and as it stood at that moment, Dennis was only 5 points ahead of Mitch Evans in the championship standings. Dennis attempted to take his attack mode again but missed again, with the Brit complaining to his team that it didn’t work, leaving the Andretti man in P5 as Sam Bird took over the lead of the race. Cassidy never recovered from his damage, having to retire from the race due to his collision with Buemi, leaving his championship hopes in tatters. Lotterer received a 5 second penalty for causing a collision as a safety car was brought out for Fenestraz who collided into the barriers due to a break failure going into turn 16. Wehrlein hit the barrier before the safety car and dropped down to P13. Race Control brought out a red flag for barrier repairs as Rast, who was in P3, had to drop to the back of the field due to breaking parc ferme conditions.

The race restarted with Evans holding the lead ahead of Buemi and Da Costa. Dennis held P4, but required P3 to seal the title. Shortly after the race resumed however, Hughes called it to a stop, going into the barriers before a red flag was called with a multi car pileup after turn 16. Nato went for a lunge on a flagging Buemi, causing a collision with Bird and Sette Camara caught in the crossfire. The cars were called back to the pits with Scot Elkins instructing all cars except the top three of Evans, Da Costa and Dennis to do an extra lap. With two laps to go, the racing resumed with Dennis closing in on Da Costa for P2. However, as the time ticked down, it was declared that Da Costa had a 3 MINUTE time penalty for a technical infringement, allowing Dennis to seal P2 and subsquently, the title. Jake Dennis was crownd the ABB FIA Formula E World Champion of season 9, finishing P2 with title rival Evans winning the race.

Round 16

The final race of ABB FIA Formula E Season 9 started behind a safety car due to the amount of rain on the track. Three laps were performed behind the car before a red flag was declared by race control. Drivers then got into their cars at 5:45pm London time before doing two more laps behind the safety car before another red flag was declared. The race then got underway at 6:30pm London time before having two laps behind the safety car and a rolling start.

Norman Nato, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04 Image Credit: Formula E’s Media Bank

There was a huge amount of less grip on the track today due to the rain and many drivers immediately went for attack mode. By lap 10, Cassidy and Evans had a gap of over 2 seconds to champion Dennis in P3. As the time ticked down, Cassidy held the lead and took attack mode with Dennis following him close behind. At the half way point before added laps, Wehrlein and Rast both had 1 attack mode remaining. Fenestraz and Vergne were fighting with Fenestraz getting ahead of the DS Penske. The gaps began to open up in the latter half of the race, as Cassidy held a two second lead over Evans. The top two kept trading the fastest lap point as they battled for the teams championship.

Bird tried to attack Buemi but Buemi held onto the position. Ticktum also tried to get past Muller for the teams championship between NIO 333 and Mahindra. 4 added laps was added onto the race. Frijns had managed to get ahead of Di Grassi as we entered the final lap of the season. Cassidy managed to take victory over the rest of the field to seal the team championship for Envision. with Evans finished P2 and Dennis P3. Norman Nato finished P4, ahead of Vandoorne and Buemi, Bird took a P7 in his final race with Jaguar with Muller in P8 and Ticktum and Wehrlein rounding out the top ten.

The top 10 in the championship were:

1st – Jake Dennis (Champion) (Andretti)
2nd – Nick Cassidy (Envision)
3rd – Mitch Evans (Jaguar)
4th – Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche)
5th – Jean-Eric Vergne (Penske)
6th – Sebastian Buemi (Envision)
7th – Maximilian Guenther (Maserati)
8th – Sam Bird (Jaguar)
9th – Antonio Felix-Da Costa (Porsche)
10th – Norman Nato (Nissan)

The Teams Championship went as follows:

1st – Envision Racing (Champions)
2nd – Jaguar TCS Racing
3rd – Avalanche Andretti Formula E
4th – Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team
5th – DS Penske
6th – Maserati MSG Racing
7th – Nissan Formula E Team
8th – Neom McLaren Formula E Team
9th – Nio 333 Racing
10th – Mahindra Racing
11th – Abt Cupra Formula E Team

17th July 2023

Formula E-Rome EPrix Round 13 and 14 Race Reports: Evans Goes From Hero To Zero As Dennis Takes Championship Lead

Round 13 and Round 14 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship took place in the Italian capital of Rome. As the heat in the air and the track heated up, the championship battle reached new levels with chaos on Saturday and Sunday.

Round 13:

The first round kicked off with a Jaguar front row; Sam Bird overtook his teammate Mitch Evans off of the line at the start. Sacha Fenestraz maintained P3 withSebastien Buemi falling down the order after contact with Rene Rast. Edo Mortara went for a dive and held up Nick Cassidy in the opening stages, but he fell down the order as championship leader Jake Dennis made his way up to P5. It was a poor race for Pascal Wehrlein, he started in the top ten – however, the title contender fell down to P13 due to damage. Evans tried to battle for P1 but was unsuccessful as Andre Lotterer’s Andretti collided with the barrier, bringing out the safety car for a couple of laps.

The pair of Jaguars battled again after the safety car restart and ended up swapping positions, with Evans taking the lead. Bird soon began to falter, he was overtaken by the Nissan rookie of Fenestraz as Rene Rast tried to pounce on the British driver. Rast was able to make a move on Sam Bird a lap later as Da Costa also moved up . Evans went for attack mode in the opening stages, ended up dropping behind Fenestraz as the rookie took control and the lead of the race. He was able to keep the lead as the first glut of drivers began to take the attack mode.

Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6, leads Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti Formula E, Porsche 99 X Electric Gen3
Image Credit: Formula E’s Media

After a brief yellow flag, the race was red flagged for a MONUMENTAL crash. Sam Bird lost the rear end of his car on a blind corner and crashed into the wall, ended up stranded in the middle of the track Buemi was the first car to pass but ended up being collected by the rear end of Bird’s car. Meanwhile, Mortara crashed into Bird’s stranded car. As replays show, the Mahindra of Di Grassi was also collected at the same place as Buemi on Bird’s car and he ended up crashing out too. After about 40 minutes, the cars lined up again after the red flag to resume the race with 13 drivers left in the race.

Rast lost positions at the start of the race to P4 with Dennis making his way to the podium positions, battling with Evans. Gunther and Rast went side by side after turn 4 but Cassidy managed to overtake the Maserati. Nico Muller also had a terrible race, colliding with Dan Ticktum and Jean-Eric Vergne, the former picked up damage. As the time ticked down, Dennis and Cassidy remained towards the front with their attack mode still intact. Fenestraz lead from Evans in P2 and Dennis in P3 but Fenestraz began to struggle in the closing stages. Dennis began to make moves, overtaking Evans to take P3 and then dispatching of Fenestraz to take control and lead the Rome E-Prix.

Sacha Fenestraz, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04. Image Credit: Formula E Media.

Fenestraz continued to falter, with Evans sweeping through on lap 16 and Cassidy following a few laps later to snatch the final podium positions. Dennis took his attack mode after building a sizable gap, managing to maintain the lead. Dennis and Cassidy began to exchange fastest laps – until Evans joined the fray setting the fastest lap on Lap 19. Evans and Dennis managed to pull a lead from Cassidy in the final podium position. Evans missed his attack mode in the latter stages, and had to retake it again as Cassidy made his way up into P2. Two laps were added to the end of the race, as Gunther slipped past a struggling Dennis to take the final spot on the podium.

Evans won the Rome E-Prix ahead of Cassidy making it a Kiwi 1-2 with Gunther in P3 and a home podium for Maserati. Dennis held onto P4, Vergne in P5, Muller took P6 with Wehrlein in P7, dropping down to P9 due to a 5 second time penalty. Nato and Sergio Sette Camara took P7 and P8 respectfullywith Fenestraz rounding out the top ten.

Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing, 1st position, with his trophy on the podium. Image Credit: Formula E Media

With Cassidy’s P2 finish, he took the lead of the championship by 5 points ahead of Dennis in P2. Mitch Evans leapfrogged Wehrlein to go to P3 in the championship.

Round 14:

Round 14 started off with the championship leader Nick Cassidy starting P2 with his closest championship competitor Jake Dennis on pole. Dennis held off the lead from the Envision Driver while Norman Nato held P3. However, Bird looked impressive, slipping past the Nissan man to slot into the podium positions. Jake Hughes, missing from the previous round due to injury, and Ticktum both managed to have excellent starts, picking their way through the field. Title contender Mitch Evans managed to get up amongst the action to take P3 in the early stages. He began to battle with Cassidy, but the Envision man held off the Jaguar. However, a lap later, Evans tried to make a move that failed, sending him out of contention and damaged his car which brought out a safety car and caused collisions behind them including Hughes, Rast and Vergne having a broken wing, forcing them all into the pits.

After the drama, it was a clean restart with many drivers immediately going for attack mode. Evans returned to the pits to retire his car after his collision with Cassidy, a major blow to his championship hopes. Nato tried to overtake Dennis shortly after but he got some damage after this attempt. Dennis wf the leaders to take attack mode, keeping his lead as Bird moved up to P2. Antonio Felix Da Costa locked up and ended up going off the track, ruining any chances of points as Buemi began to climb the order to P4.

Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6.
Image Credit: Formula E Media

Dennis managed to hold onto the lead after pressure from Bird, as Di Grassi was forced to retire after contact with the barrier. Both Mahindras retired on lap 13 as Bird activated his attack mode, dropping down to P4. Dennis and Nato went for their attack mode in the final stages, both keeping their positions. Buemi moved down to P6 as he took attack mode and both Maseratis took attack mode, retaining their positions which disrupted Buemi’s progress.

Cassidy never managed to get back onto solid ground after his incident with Evans, circulating near the back of the field, he was collected by Lotterer in the dying stages, a blow to his championship hopes. It was a quiet end to the race, as the pole sitter Jake Dennis claimed victory, ahead of Nato and Bird clinging on for a crucial P3. Mortara claimed P4 ahead of Buemi and previous podium winner Gunther. Wehrlein hung on for P7 ahead of Vandoorne and Ticktum, with Muller taking the final point.

Jake Dennis managed to extend his championship lead up to 24 points from Nick Cassidy in P2. Mitch Evans is 20 points behind his rumoured teammate in P3 and Pascal Wehrlein is arguably out of the title race.

What did you think of these last 2 races? Do you think Dennis can clinch the title in London or can someone mount a comeback?

25th June 2023

Formula E: Title Fight Heats Up In Portland As Dennis Takes The Championship Lead

The very first Portland E-Prix for Formula E saw drama in both qualifying and the race.

Qualifying:

Groups:

This session kicked off with Group A going out. 2 of the 4 chamionship contenders participating in this session: Pascal Wehrlein and Nick Cassidy. Gunther, Fenestraz, Ticktum and Vergne were quickest in the early parts of the session. As the timer ticked down, drivers kept on going faster and faster. Fenestraz, Vergne, Nato and Gunther were the top 4 as we entered the latter staged of the first group session. Mitch Evans, although he was not in this session, was under investigation for pit land procedures. 2 championship contenders Cassidy and Wehrlein both did NOT improve and were due to start on the 6th and 10th rows of the grid. Fenestraz, Vergne, Nato and Gunther(who made an error on his final lap) managed to make it through to the duels. Group A was finished and Group B was just getting underway.

As the light went green for Group B, another championship contender Mitch Evans was out of his car before the session even got underway. It appeared he had an issue with his car so he was unable to even participate in the session which was big for his championship hopes. It emerged that both DS Penskes were under investigation for a technical infringement which then meant both drivers of Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne would be forced to do a pitlane start. Roberto Mehri had a big lockup going into turn 1 but he managed to go into the run off area and rejoin the track. Mortara did something similar to his teammate and went onto the grass. He then pitted while Jake Dennis went fastest with a 1:09:856. It was then understood that a DC fault was the reason for the Mitch Evans not taking part in qualifying. Mortara managed to jump up to P2 which dropped Andre Lotterer out of the top 4. Both Sam Bird and Antonio Felix Da Costa managed to finish laps but only got up to P7 and P8 respectfully. The top 4 then went from Dennis, Mortara, Lotterer and Rast to Rast, Dennis, Hughes and Da Costa. They all went through to the duels.

Duels:
It was Nato and Vergne up first with Nato managing to beat the 2 time champion.

Fenestraz and Gunther were up next with Fenestraz having an advantage over the Maserati driver. Fenestraz then has a moment after the final corner and he managed to tap the wall and have a wiggle. He manages to beat Gunther by 0.100.

Hughes and Dennis went up against eachother for the third qualifying. Hughes first ahead by 0.056 but then Dennis managed to get a jump by 0.126. Dennis managed to keep that lead and beat the McLaren driver.

The final quarter final saw Rene Rast and Antonio Felix DaCosta go against eachother. Rast was 3 tenths down on the 2020 champion and it didn’t seem to go well. But then as they crossed the line, Rast managed to get through by other 1 tenth!

It was an all Nissan semi final 1 with Nato against Fenestraz. Nato managed to go a bit wide in turn 1 while Fenestraz managed to keep it tighter and be over 3 tenths up. Fenestraz then managed to get through to the final.

Rast and Dennis went uo against eachother with Dennis maintaining an early lead as they crossed the line to go into the final.

Dennis and Fenestraz went against eachother for the final with Dennis first being up by 0.011 tenths and then Fenestraz being up by 0.022 tenths. Fenestraz then tapped the wall at the final corner which costs him pole position. Jake Dennis took pole position and the championship lead.

Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti Formula E
Pole Position-Image Credit to Sam Bloxham

Race:
The lights went out in Portland and the McLarens managed to make a good start as well as Nick Cassidy who already made his way up to P5. Many moves happened in the early parts of this race with Mehri up to P15 and the Nissans still in 2nd and 3rd. Da Costa also managed to overtake Cassidy for P5. Muller managed to have broken front nose on his car. Cassidy then managed to get up to the lead from Dennis and Rast. A yellow flag then came out due to Mehri having a loss of power and stopping on track which brought out a safety car. At the safety car restart, Nato lead from Da Costa and Dennis. At that point, Da Costa managed to make 12 overtakes in the race so far. When the safety car came in, Fenestraz had to pit for a new front nose. The top 3 remained the same after the restart until Nato and Gunther managed to jump Cassidy with Mortara and Da Costa in P4 and P5.

The Safety Car was then deployed for a second time as the Abt Cupra of Nico Muller crashed at the walls of turn 9 and 10. His wing came off and went under the car. Thankfully, he is safe and got out of the car. The DS Penskes of Vergne and Vandoorne managed to get up to P13 and P15 after starting from the pitlane. Wehrlein also managed to get up to P1. The Safety Car remained out for many laps as we passed lap 15 out of 28. Then, Nato passed Cassidy while under the safety car. This was more than likely due to the race stewards reviewing the footage when the safety car came out.

Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti Formula E, Porsche 99 X Electric Gen3-Image Credit: Simon Galloway

We then went green again and MANY drivers decided to go for attack mode including Nato, Gunther, Mortara, Rast, Frijns, Hughes and Bird. While having attack mode, Gunther goes for an overtake on Dennis and managed to hold onto it. Every car was still stuck together on lap 18/28 while Vandoorne and Lotterer went through attack mode. Vergne then had a moment on the grass at the same place Muller went off but he managed to keep it on track. Wehrlein was then under investigation for a turn 1 incident. Both Vergne and Wehrlein then fell down the order as they took attack mode. Muller then got a 5 second penalty for leaving the track but he already retired from the race. Da Costa managed to overtake Cassidy for the lead of the race!

The race then became a matter of energy saving to get them to the end. This involved a lot of weaving from many drivers. Vergne managed to get his way up to P4 after a pit lane start but he was overusing on power and had to drop back to conserve in order to get to the end. As we entered the letter staged of the race, Evans, Wehrlein, Buemi and Sette Camara all had 1 attac mode remaining. 4 additional laps were then added due to the amount of laps we spent behind the safety car. In terms of energy at this point, Vergne has 24% while Cassidy had 28% and Da Costa 29%. Dennis then goes for a move around the outside and he gets Da Costa but not Cassidy as Da Costa fights back. Gunther manages to touch the grass and drop down to P8. With 3 laps remaining, Da Costa takes the lead of the E-Prix! Dennis lines up a move into turn 1 on Da Costa but he stays behind the Porsche driver.

Cassidy manages to hold onto the lead and he wins the Portland E-Prix! Jake Dennis finishes P2 and Antonio Felix Da Costa finished the podium positions in P3. Mitch Evans managed to go from P20 to P4, Sebastian Buemi finished in P5 with Maximilian Gunther in P6. Sam Bird crossed the line in P7 but he got a penalty for a collision and dropped down to P17. Lucas DiGrassi, Pascal Wehrlein and Normal Nato crossed the line P8, P9 and P10 but got points for P7, P8 and P9. Robin Frijns managed to get P10.

Formula E returns in a few weeks with the Rome E-Prix on the 15th and 16th of July with the season finale a few weeks after that in London for the London E-Prix on the 29th and 30th of July.

Who is your favourite to win the title?

21st June 2023

Formula E: Season 10 Provisional Calendar Announced with Tokyo Occupying a Slot

Tokyo has been confirmed to be hosting the 7th round of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in 2024. It will be the first time the capital of Japan will have hosted an official FIA World Championship round.

The race will be held on March 30th and the track will feature the Tokyo Big Bay convention centre in the city.

Confirming the news today, the Governer of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike said “I am delighted by the official decision that Tokyo will host a Formula E race in March 2024.” They later went onto say “This race will be held around Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo’s bay area, where developments are underway to become a sustainable next generaction city.”

Provisional Calendar

The provisional calendar is similar the season 9 calandar with pre season testing later this year in October with the cars hitting the track in Valencia from October 23rd to October 27th. There is then a 2 and a half month wait until we official get racing in January where the first race of the season will be in Mexico City on 13th January followed by a double header in Diriyah on January 26th and 27th. There will be a race on the February 10th and February 24th but these are locations have not been confirmed yet.

We return to Sao Paulo in Brazil for the season Sao Paulo E-Prix on March 16th with the teams then flying to Tokyo on March 30th. We then have a 2 week break before a double header in Rome on April 13th and April 14th before returning to Monaco on April 27th. We return to Berlin for a double header on May 11th and May 12th. Round 13 takes place on May 25th but a location is still to be determined.

Jakarta and Portland are rounds 14 and 15 and taking place on June 8th nd June 29th respectfully. We then round off Season 10 of Formula E with a double header in London taking place on July 20th and Jult 21st.

Speaking about Tokyo and the Season 10 Calendar, the Co Founder and Chief Championship Officer of Formula E Alberto Longo said “We are excited to take Formula E to the streets of Tokyo next season.” “The Season 10 Calendar represents our ongoing mission to create a dynamic schedule of new cities hosting eces for the first or second time like Tokyo, Sao Paulo and Portland alongside established hosts like Berlin, Rome, London, Monaco, Diriyah and now Jakarta.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Formula E Jeff Dodds said “Tokyo will be a highlight of our historic 10th season.” “We are also in advanced discussions with many more iconic world cities who are keen to host a Formula E race and create blocker world championship motorsport events with us.” Mr. Dodds confirms that he expects the new calendar to be updated later this year.

The Director of FIA Circuit Sport Department Marek Nawarecki said “This calendar is an illustration of Formula E’s continuing growth and promises to treat fans to another season of superb racing with the new GEN3 car, which has already produced countless crowd-pleasing battles.”

5th June 2023

Formula E Jakarta E-Prix: Gunther Takes Victory After Scoring Back to Back Poles

Round 10 and Round 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship brought many turns, drama and unexpected events.

Round 10:

Qualifying:

Qualifying for round 10 saw Dennis, Vandoorne, Vergne and Frijns get through from group A and Gunther, Wehrlein, Rast and Mortara go through from group B.

Quarter Final 1 saw the DS Penskes go head to head with Vergne taking victory over Vandoorne. It was Frijns and Dennis in quarter final 2 with Dennis winning over the Abt Cupra driver. Rene Rast went against Pascal Wehrlein in quarter final 3 with Wehrlein beating his fellow German. Both the Maserati drivers went against eachother for quarter final 4 with Gunther winning.

Vergne and Dennis went head to head for Semi final 1 and Jake Dennis won over the 2 time champion. Wehrlein and Gunther went to battle and Gunther won over the championship leader.

It was Jake Dennis vs Maximilian Gunther for the final and Gunther took his first pole position!

Race:

Round 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in 2023 took off with a clean getaway for the majority of drivers. Vandoorne managed to get ahead of Jake Dennis on the opening lap with the Envision of Sebastian Buemi falling down the order to P21.

Further on, David Beckmann (the stand in rookie for Andre Lotterer for this weekend) had a collision with Buemi and lost his front wing with Buemi suspecting he had a puncture. Wehrlein then took the lead of the race with DiGrassi, Mehri and Buemi taking their first attack mode. Attack mode was very different for this weekend. Drivers could go for 2 minutes then 6 minutes, 4 minutes in both stints or 6 minutes then 2 minutes. It was up to the drivers and teams whichever one they went with. Gunther and Dennis then joined the other drivers by taking attack mode.

Sebastien Buemi, Envision Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6 Image Credit: Simon Galloway.

When Wehrlein took attack mode for the second time, he dropped down to P3 with Gunther in P1 and Vandoorne in P2 respectively. When Vandoorne went for his second attack mode on lap 12, he rejoined at P4, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne but far behind Dennis. Wehrlein then takes back the lead after Gunther goes for his attack mode. Dennis eventually takes his 6 minute attack mode and Muller joined him while Mortara went for 2 minutes. Dennis passed Vandoorne with 4 minutes remaining.

Towards the latter stages of the race, the championship leader Nick Cassidy nearly spins his car. He collided with Vergne in turn 1. Dennis also got ahead of Gunther for P2. Gunther tries to line up a move into turn 1 but he didn’t manage to make it stick. Cassidy had to take his final attack mode but he dropped to P7 with no one having attack mode ahead of him. Rene Rast had a spin at turn 16. Near the end of the race, Evans got hit by his teammate Sam Bird in turn 1. Bird then ended up bringing out another yellow flag on the final lap. Wehrlein then crossed the line as the winner! Jake Dennis finished in P2 with Maximilian Gunther in P3. Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne made it a DS Penske P4-P5 respectfully. Educardo Mortara finished P6, Championship leader Nick Cassidy finishes P7, Antonio Felix Da Costa finished P8 with Robin Frijns and Jake Hughes filling the final 2 points positions.

Pascal Wehrlein, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 1st position, celebrates on the podium. Image Credit: LAT Images

Round 11:

Qualifying:

Qualifying for round 11 consisted of Dennis, Fenestraz, Evans and Hughes getting through from Group A and Gunther, Mortara, Wehrlein and Vandoorne through from group B.

Evans came out victorious over Fenestraz, Dennis beat Hughes in a Jake Vs Jake quarter final, both the Maserati drivers beat both Wehrlein and Vandoorne in the final 2 quarter finals.

Dennis and Mitch went head to head for semi final 1 and Dennis got through by 0.001 of a second. Mortara and Gunther went against eachother in semi final 2 with Gunther winning out.

It was Dennis vs Gunther in the final(the exact same as Round 10 Qualifying) and the result as the same as Gunther won pole position.

Race:

The race for Round 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in 2023 started off with 2 drivers being wheeled to the pitlane before the formation sequence even began. Sacha Fenestraz and Sam Bird had an issue on the grid which was not able to be fixed intime for the race. Gunther kept the lead as the lights went out. Gunther managed to keep the lead as the race went on, he took attackmode after his engineer told him to gain 4 tenths. This meant the German driver dropped down to P3.

Dennis then took attack mode after Gunther but he stayed ahead the Maserati driver. Evans was then leading the race but when he took attack mode, he fell behind both Dennis and Gunther. Behind Gunther and Evans was Vandoorne and Mortara in P4 and P5. Soon after, David Beckmann had to retire due to an incident with Di Grassi. Both Evans and Mortara managed to make p a place to P2 and P4 respectfully. Gunther then makes a move to go up to P2 which he manages to make stick. It was then revealed that Roberto Mehri was down to 65% energy while everyone else was down to about 70%. Gunther looks to go around the outside of Dennis.

Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti Formula E, Porsche 99 X Electric Gen3, leads Maximilian Gunther, Maserati MSG Racing, Maserati Tipo Folgore. Image Credit: Simon Galloway

Buemi then pits for a new front wing after getting damage. Jean Eric-Vergne follows him after a seperate incident. Dennis then takes attack mode but drops down to P3. Gunther takes his attack mode soon after Dennis but Gunther stays ahead of Dennis. Following this, Mortara, Da Costa, Nato and Vergne (who rejoined after pitting a few laps back). Further on, Gunther lead the race by over 2 seconds to Dennis. Vandoorne was hot on the heels of Evans for the final podium spot. Gunther’s teammate Educardo Mortara locked up going into turn 1 and fell down a few places.

Towards the final stages of the race, Wehrlein took attack mode and dropped back to P8. He then managed to get past Da Costa. Vandoorne then got overtaken by Fenestraz while Fenestraz’ teammate Norman Nato tries to make 2 overtakes at once but he doesn’t manage to make it stick. Wehrlein overtook Vandoorne to make it up to P6. Wehrlein started to struggle to catch up to the rest of the pack at the front of the field. There was no added laps to the race. Dennis tried to get past Gunther but it did not work as Maximilian Gunther won the Jakarta E-Prix! Jake Dennis finished P2 and Mitch Evans in P3. Sacha Fenestraz finished P4 with his teammate Norman Nato in p5. Pascal Wehrlein was in P6, Antonio Felix Da Costa in P7, Eduardo Mortara in P8, Stoffel Vandorne in P9 with Sebastian Buemi finishing the points positions.

In the championship standings, Pascal Wehrlein leads the way by 1 point to Jake Dennis in P2 with Nick Cassidy behind by 5 points to Dennis. Mitch Evans is 19 points behind Cassidy with Jean-Eric Vergen 12 points back from Evans with 97.

30th May 2023

Formula 2-Vesti Takes The Championship Lead After Feature Race Victory In Monaco

Formula 2 Sprint Race:
The Formula 2 Weekend got underway with the sprint race in Monaco, 1 month after the Azerbaijan weekend. It was a clean getaway for every driver until we got up to the chicane after the tunnel. Stanek and Maini got spun around with 4 drivers getting caught upon the incident. This brought out a VSC which lead into a full safety car. Whitch came in on lap 6 but Hadjar got an issue at the restart and had to retire. Iwasa managed to inherit the lead which brought every driver up by 1 place from the retsrta apart from Nissany and Boshung who had to retire. Leclerc and Maini were battling for P16 but due to the insignificant advantage of DRS. Fittipaldi managed to get cordeel on lap 22. After that. Cordeel crashed before the hairpin and brought out another safety car. Correa and Cordeel collided. The safety car came in lap 24 and Iwasa decided to go early. Bearman had to pit at the restart. Iwasa managed to pull a gap of over 6 seconds to lead the pack to the win and take home a win at Monaco. Daruvala finished P2 and Crawford P3.

Formula 2 Feature Race:

The Feature Race in Monaco kicked off with a clean start for most of the drivers. Dennis Hauger managed to cut turn 1 and ended up getting a 5 second time penalty. Cordeel started to fall back the field as the racers entered lap 2. Cordeel then picked up damage and retired but Hauger was then noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. With Formula 2, there is a rule which states that the drivers cannot complete their mandatory pitstop until the end of lap 6. So Benevides and Boschung decided to pit at the end of lap 8 which was a surprise. Arthur Leclerc got struck by a curse thats his brother also has as he DNFed from the race on lap 9. Further on in the race Nissany, Daruvala, Correa, Crawford, Fittipaldi, Iwasa, Hadjar, Bearman and Benevides all pitted. Nissany and Novalak battled through the tunnel section with a VSC having to be deployed due to Enzo Fittipaldi having an engine issue. Dennis Hauger received a 5 second time penalty on lap 20 for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Jack Doohan ended up crashing on lap 22. The car caught on fire but he was all safe. However, the track was slippery and a red flag was called in order to repair the barrier. Vesti, Pourchaire and Martins all pitted before the red flag was called. We went racing again on lap 27 which was a steady start. It then emerged that Victor Martins did not slow down for the collision and ended up receiving a drive through penalty. Vesti managed to convert his pole to victory around the streets of Monaco. Theo Pourchaire finished P2 and Zane Maloney finished the podium positions.

Featured Image Credit to Prema Racing Photos and Videos.

26th May 202330th May 2023

BREAKING: Major Broadcast Changes for the Formula E Jakarta E-Prix Announced

Formula E has announced that major changes have occured for the Jakarta E-Prix, just 1 week ahead of the double header.

Presenter Vernon Kay left the role of lead presenter after the Monaco EPrix a few weeks ago and today, it was announced that Radzi Chinyanganya would take over this role in Jakarta.

As Radzi will leave his pitlane reporter role to fill in for Vernon, Saunders Carmichael-Brown will take over as a pit-lane reporter with Nelson Piquet Jr, Oliver Askew and Kelvin Van Der Linde all taking up their roles.

Also announced is Nicki Shields will be absent for the Jakarta EPrix and will return for the Southwire Portland E-Prix.

A familar face to motorsport fans will be taking over from Jack Nicholls as lead commentator for the Jakarta EPrix with Ben Edwards stepping up. Karun Chandock will be in the commentary box as well.

Speaking about the change, Edwards said “I am very excited to get back behind the mic with Formula E as the on-track action this season is a commentator’s dream.” said Edwards. “The championship is more competitive than ever and I get to bring that to life for viewers around the world. I’m delighted to be joining the team and calling the action in Jakarta.”

Jack Nicholls is also out as the lead commentator for the rest of season 9 and the entire championship.

6th May 2023

Formula E Monaco EPrix-Cassidy Leads The Championship After Victory in Monaco

Qualifying

Qualifying was first up and Group A saw Nato, Fenestraz, Ticktum and Evans all through to the duels. The DS Penske duo of Vandoorne and Vergne both lost their lap times due to a technical infraction which dropped them to the back of the grid.

Gunther, Hughes, Mortara and Sette Camara all went through to the final from Group B. Fenestraz appeared victorious over Dan Ticktum for the first session of quarter finals, Nato beat Evans in the second quarter final, Hughes beat Mortara and Sette Camara beat Gunther in the 3rd and 4th quarter finals respectfully. However, Sette Camara got his best lap time deleted so Gunther took his place in the duel. Before their duel however, it was a nissan quarter final with Nato vs Fenestraz and Fenestraz won that battle. Hughes took victory over Gunther in the second semi final so it was Hughes against Fenestraz for the battle for pole.

It was a tight battle which saw Fenestraz snatch the position from Hughes after Hughes made an error. Fenestraz, however, used more power than he was meant to and got the pole snatched away!

Race:
The 29 lap race started by Hughes leading the race with Cassidy trying to make a lot of places up. Cassidy went up to P7 by the end of lap 1. Jake Hughes held the lead from the two Nissans and from Ticktum and Gunther in P5. Dennis managed to get Cassidy on lap 2. Rowland who started P13 is up to P7. By lap 3 rowland managed to make up to P6. A yellow flag then came out on lap 3 due to lotterer and retiring. Rowland took his first attack mode on lap 3. Evans and Gunther were battling on the final sector of lap 3 which Gunther managed to win. Nick Cassidy made a big move on lap 5 to make up 2 places at once. Cassidy made HUGE moves to go up to P2 after Hughes took attack mode! Hughes went down to P4 just ahead of Ticktum. Evans managed to make his way up to P5 after a lunge in the hairpin. Cassidy and Nato took their attack mode together which allowed Ticktum to make his way up to P1. ahead of Evans and Fenestraz. Fenestraz and Cassidy attack their way up the hull after turn 1 and Fenestraz manages to keep the position over the New Zealander.

An image from the ABB FIA Formula E Monaco EPrix. Credit to Formula E.

Lap 13 saw Cassidy lead the race from Evans and Fenestraz who are 2nd and 3rd. Lap 14 saw a titanic battle between Evans and Dennis coming out of the tunnel to battle for position. Gunther had a big moment in the swimming pool section of the track on lap 15but he managed to keep it goether. Evans took the lead of the race at the start of lap 16 . While ths was going on, Vergne and Vandoorne managed to make their way up to P13 and P14 after starting at the back of the grid. Bird and Nato collided after the tunnel and Da Costa suffered a puncture and fell to the back of the grid. Both Maseratis took attack mode on lap 17 and fell to P7 and P8 with Gunther leading the way. Cassidy managed to get the lead of the race on lap 18. Dennis tried to get ahead of Evans into the hairpin but he didn’t manage to make it stick. Hughes and Ricktum Kept switching positions on lap 18 too with Ticktum taking the position. Fenestraz tried to get Dennis into the hairpin but didn’t manage to get him. Ticktum tried to squeeze Vergne into the wall down into the hairpin but Vergne managed to make it out. Mortara appeared to lose his front wing. Ticktum had an issue after he collided with another driver. Nato had to slow down and Gunther stopped on track which resulted on a safety car on lap 22/29.

The safety car came in on lap 25 and Cassidy and Evans went battling for the win with Dennis not far behind. Bird went for attack mode but he managed to miss it! There was no added laps to the race. Muller collided with Bird on lap 28 which resulted in Muller stopping on lap and the safety car being deployed which ended this race. Nick Cassidy won the Monaco EPrix and takes the lead of the championship. Mitch Evans finished P2 and Jake Dennis finished P3. The front row finished P4 and P5 with Fenestraz finishing ahead of Hughes. Ticktum managed to hold onto P6 with Vergne going from p22 to P7. Buemi finished P8 with Vandoorne finishing P9 and Evan’s teammate Sam Bird collecting the final point position. Sam Bird later received a penalty so Pascal Wehrlein picked up P10.

The concludes Formula E for 1 month where we head to Jakara for a double header!

1st May 20232nd May 2023

Formula 2-Bearman Tops All Sessions On The Streets of Baku

Ollie Bearman Sprint and Feature race winner at Baku 2023. Image courtesy of Ferrari

The Ferrari Junior Driver had his best weekend in Formula 2 yet with the 17 year old finishing every single session across round 4 of the FIA Formula 2 World Championship around the streets of Baku.

Bearman first of all topped the one and only Free Practice Session of the weekend with a 1:54.063. Hadjar and Maini followed behind in second and third respectfully. Qualifying was very tight with the 17 year old setting a lap time just 0.012 ahead of Red Bull Junior Enzo Fittipaldi.

Sprint Race:

The sprint race got underway in Baku with the ART of Victor Martins immediatel cutting across the Red Bull Junior of Zane Maloney. The reverse pole sitter Richard Verschoor nearly lost the rear end, tapped the wall and got both front and rear damage. Maloney lead from Hauger and Martins in P3. The Boy from Barbados Maloney got a puncture and went from 1st to last on lap 1 of the sprint. Boschung tapped the wall by the castle section and had to retire which brought out the safety car. We went 2 laps under the SC and when the safety car was brought in, Hauger lead the way from Martins and daruvala. Bearman managed to make a chagre up to P4 by lap 11 out of 21.

The PHM of Roy Nissany then crashed on lap 14 which brought out a safety car and saw the pack bunch up again. The drivers spent 5 laps under the safety car and from then, a 3 lap shootout for the win resulted in a huge crash into turn 1. Hauger and Martins locked up and went into the wall, Daruvala hit Martins due to him also locking up and Leclerc and Pourchaire tapped the wall and the engine stalled. Vesti and Martins were then battling for the lead which saw Bearman take the lead just before the safety car was deployed and the race was then over due to the amount of cleanup required. Bearman took home his first victory of his F2 career ahead of Vesti and Crawford finishing the top 3. Maini, Fittipaldi, Correa and Novalak finished off the top 7. Hadjar did finish P8 but got a penalty post race so Stanek got the final points position.

The Formula 2 2023 Baku Sprint Podium with a Prema 1-2 and Crawford in P3. Image Credit: Prema Racing Photos and Videos

Feature Race:

The feature race saw a very clean getaway from everyone and a clean first lap from everyone. Pourchaire got up to P2 on Lap 2 after overtaking Fittipaldi but he wasn’t finished there. Pourchaire got past bearman on lap 3 for the lead of the race and both Premas of Vesti and Bearman were attacking Fittipaldi and Pourchaire respectfully. Bearman wasn’t finished as he got up to P1 on lap 4 with the assist of the DRS system. Hauger and Crawford went wheel to wheel with Hauger getting the advantage. the top 2 pitted on lap 9 due to yellow flags and Bearman managed to hold the lead ahead of Pourchaire.

Brad Benevides stopped on an escape road after a touch with the barriers and brought out a VSC as he was recovered. Daruvala ried to get past Maloney on lap 14 but ended up getting a 10s time penalty for rejoining unsafely. Fittipaldi was challenging Pourchaire on lap 24 for P2 and he eventually got the moce done in turn 3. Bearman crossed the line to take the feature race victory in Baku and make it a perfect weekend. Fittipaldi finished P2 and Pourchaire in P3. Martins was P4 but got disqualified due to a technical infringement. This pushed Vest, Maini, Hauger, Hadjer, Verschoor, Crawford and Leclerc up to P4-P10 respectfully after Daruvala’s penalty pushed him down to P13, originally P14.

2nd April 2023

Formula 2-Red Bull Juniors Appear Victorious Down Under

The first trip for Formula 2 in Australia saw Red Bull Juniors take home the trophies, but it was not without a hard weekend of work.

Sprint Race:

The F2 Sprint saw a very clean start from everyone Hauger lead from Crawford and Maini by the end of lap 1. Leclerc tried to make a pass going towards sector 3 which saw 4 wide at one point. Iwasa had a huge lock up on lap 2 which ruined his tyres and had to pit to change his tyres. Leclerc made a move on Maini going into the chicane but Maini fought back later on in the lap. Monleoney, Martins and Bearman were all fighting with Hadjar and Vesti with all of them switching positions but Maloney just managed to get the lead of the bunch.

Dennis Hauger #1 MP Motorsport, during Round three of the FIA Formula 2 Championship at Albert Park Street Circuit, on March 30 – April 2, 2023. // Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202304010312

Doohan made contact with Juan Manual Correa after which he spun onthe kerb and his race was over. It started to rain from this point so some people gambled on wet tyres. However, the rain did not come so the gamble did not pay off. The safety car was meant to come in on lap 18 but Benevides crashed at the final corner so we had 2 laps of the race left when the safety car went back. Pourchaire had a visit to the gravel trap due to his wet tyres and track not being wet. Hauger managed to hold everyone off to take the victory over Crawford and Maini which round off the podium.

Feature Race:

The F2 Feature Race saw Iwasa hold the lead inro turn 1 and Verchoor struggled at the back of the back by going off. Crawford and Maini went side by side as they battled through the opening lap. On lap 7, Doohan tried to get past Crawford but Crawford ended up coming off worse and into the barrier which brought out the safety car. Hadjar and Bearman ended up colliding in the pitlane and they both had to pit again.

Nissany and Fittipaldi battled on lap 14 and Nissany managed to hold onto the position. Hadjar was pushed off at the penultimate corner and dropped down many places. Iwasa then managed to get through to 2nd position on lap 20. Nissany collided with the wall on lap 26 which saw the race leader Vesti going into the pits and going down to P7. Just before the restart on lap 30, however, Martins went into the back of Hauger and both of them went off and ended up dropping down to the back of the grid. This brought Arther Leclerc into the podium positions and Vesti trying to hunt Leclerc down for a podium but the Monegasque managed to hold him off and get his first podium. Iwasa won the race with Pourchaire in P2.

Featured image courtesy of Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool