F1 US Grand Prix preview – Red Bull’s Big Upgrade Will Define F1 2024 One Way or Another

Formula One returns this weekend after a month-long autumn hiatus at the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, Texas.

Despite having only hosted its first race in 2012, COTA marks a dose of traditionalism as “good old circuit” with its fast, sweeping corners and huge elevation changes in a championship that is increasingly looking to race through America’s most famous cities, with city races through Miami and Las Vegas already on the calendar and a further race at Chicago mooted,

After dominance under the lights at Singapore, Lando Norris comes into the weekend 52 points behind leader Max Verstappen, with the Red Bull driver still maintaining a healthy advantage despite having not won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix in June.

The Dutchman has won each of the last three races around COTA, so a visit to the Lone Star State may prove a welcome one as he bids to leave the McLaren driver needing snookers.

Further opportunity to eat into that lead presents itself this weekend for Norris as this weekend is one of F1’s six Sprint weekends, with the Brit needing to take an average of just under 9 points per weekend out of Verstappen in order to nick the Championship.

Red Bull are bringing a “significant” upgrade this weekend to try to rectify their win drought, the team having finally listened to concerns that second driver Sergio Perez raised about the car almost 18 months ago, as it tries to return to the front.

The Milton Keynes team have not been without controversy, as following talks with the FIA they have “agreed to make changes” to their car after the governing body was alerted to a device that could have allowed Red Bull drivers to change the ride height between qualifying and the race, which is not allowed as per Parc Ferme rules.

The team say that this has never been used and is inaccessible once the car is fully assembled, while the FIA stated there is no evidence of it having actually been used.

Meanwhile, Verstappen is still refusing to fully answer question in the FIA press conferences after Singapore’s Sweargate, instead holding his own unofficial press conferences.

While McLaren are the hunters in the Drivers’ Championship, they are very much the hunted in the Constructors’ Championship.

With Oscar Piastri pretty much matching teammate Norris since the start of the European season, McLaren have overturned what was a 115-point deficit after the Miami Grand Prix in May after six rounds, to an advantage of 41 points after 18 rounds.

In those 12 rounds, Perez has scored only 41 points with Verstappen and Norris having scored almost five times that total in the same period.

Indeed, Red Bull are closer to third placed Ferrari than to McLaren as it is now in the position of having to decide whether to abandon the Constructors’ Championship to focus solely on Verstappen’s title charge.

For that, even then they need the new upgrade to prove transformative and for Perez to return to form.

 

 

Singapore GP: Norris takes crucial win in the heat

Image courtesy of Pirelli motorsports
MARINA BAY STREET CIRCUIT, SINGAPORE – SEPTEMBER 22: The McLaren trophy delegate, Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, 1st position, and Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, 3rd position, on the podium during the Singapore GP at Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday September 22, 2024 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Andy Hone / LAT Images)

Lando Norris reigned supreme in the sweltering heat of Singapore to take a crucial win in his bid for the championship. The McLaren driver had a couple of close moments with the barriers in Singapore but still won the race by over a 20 second margin, yet again showing the sheer dominance of the car over Redbull and Verstappen.

Max Verstappen did everything he could in the context of the championship by finishing 2nd and making sure that Norris does not cut too much into his championship lead. Oscar Piastri took the last podium spot after a damage control drive, which he did brilliantly to overcome the challenge of Mercedes.

 

It was a clean getaway from the line for race winner Norris after which, he was almost untouchable as he lead every lap from start to finish. He was agonizingly close to completing the grandslam but Daniel Ricciardo in team RB in what could have been his final race, stopped for fresh softs at the very end of the race and ended up with the fastest lap of the race. A 1st and 3rd for McLaren will however be very welcomed at Woking as the team seem to be swiftly moving towards a constructors championship.

Sergio Perez in the other Redbull had yet another underwhelming performance as he only managed a 10th place finish, picking up just the one point on offer. Redbull will start being nervous going to the 4 week break and the races following, as they have now lost all ground in constructors championship and with Norris slowly but surely making inroads into the championship lead for Verstappen.

Ferrari claimed to have a fast race car for the weekend but their race was pretty much undone following a disastrous qualifying on Saturday. Leclerc and Sainz started 9th and 10th and Sunday’s race was a damage limitation scenario. Leclerc drove a superb race to finish P5 after being involved in early battles with Alonso and Hulkenberg. He then overtook Hamilton to get promoted to P5 but could not clear George Russell when P4 was at stake with about 4 laps to go. Carlos Sainz finished P7 after falling backwards at the start of the race, after which a whole lot of improvement was not possible.

Mercedes started off the race with split strategies for their drivers, with Hamilton starting from P3 on soft tyres and Russell starting on mediums. It did not workout quite well for Hamilton as he was forced to pit early and was at a strategic disadvantage compared to the other drivers which put him on the backfoot for  most of the race and he only managed a P6 finish. Russell was able to fend off Leclerc towards the end of the race and finished a handy P4.

It was an excellent showing for Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas throughout the weekend and he finished a strong P9. While he picked up 2 crucial points, it was not a great race for his teammate Kevin Magnussen returning from his race ban. The Danish driver was not able to finish the race and had his fair share of problems throughout.  The youngest driver on the grid, Colapinto in the Williams had another strong race as a follow up to his points finish in Baku by finishing P11. His teammate Albon in the other Williams had to retire early on, on lap 15 owing to an overheated power unit.

It was a mixed showing for Aston Martin, with Alonso picking up points after a P8 finish but Lance Stroll could only manage a P14. Alpine had yet another weekend to forget, with Ocon finishing P13 and Gasly finishing P17. A similar weekend was on the cards for Stake F1 with Zhou at P15 and Bottas at P16.

An unusual 4-week break now presents itself before the last 6 races of the season, with the fight for the drivers and the constructors championships heating up. It is Austin up next, an interesting track that always keeps the fans guessing as to what might endure. Mclaren will look to carry forward their ever rising momentum while Redbull will look to throw everything at them to stop them in their tracks.

Formula E Season 10 Finale: Wehrlein snatches the Drivers Championship from Jaguar’s Kiwis at nail biting finale

 

Formula E Season 10 concluded this past weekend and it is fair to say that it went down to the wire. Ultimately, Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein claimed his maiden FE title of the series, beating both Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans.

Race 1

  • Mitch Evans led the field away from Sebastian Buemi in P2 and Pascal Wehrlein in P3.
  • Robin Frijns and Jake Dennis had a lap 1 accident and the safety car was deployed.
  • By the time the safety car came in on lap 4, Cassidy made up two  places after a terrible qualifying and Nico Mueller had a puncture so he went into the pits.
  • Two incidents occurred at once as former champion Dennis and Jean-Eric Vergne came together, whilst Oliver Rowland took Antonio Felix Da Costa out of title contention.
  • Evans and Buemi battle for the lead on lap 14.
  • Cassidy and Stoffel Vandoorne had a coming together but the Kiwi ended up
  • Wehrlein took the lead on lap 22 and he managed to take both attack modes and stay P1 while Max Guenther was battling Evans for P2.
  • Norman Nato and Sacha Fenestraz ended up colliding bringing out another safety car.
  • After we went green, Wehrlein went for the lead as did Guenther but he had a gearbox failure and had to stop on track from P2, bringing out a full course yellow.
  • Wehrlein managed to hold on and take the win from Evans in P2, Buemi claimed P3, with Nyck De Vries P4 and Edo Mortara in P5. Mueller took P6 ahead of Cassidy P7.  Bird finished P8 ahead of Vandoorne and Nato snatched the final point.

  • Race 2:

    • Championship hopeful Cassidy claimed pole position after missing FP3 with a BBW failure.
    • Evans made it a Jaguar 1-2 on lap 2, until Mortara and Dennis made contact bringing the safety car. However, he was soon disposed.
    •  Bird, Nato, Dan Ticktum and Jehan Daruvala are all involved in an incident, which brings out the safety car. Daruvala and Bird collided and collected both Nato and Ticktum.
    • Cassidy stays in lead after taking his attack mode, but Evans is not going to give up the championship without a fight and he soon retakes the lead.
    • Wehrlein begins to pile the pressure on the Jaguars ahead, nipping past Cassidy in his quest for the title.
    • Dennis got a 5 second time penalty for that collision with Mortara, however it could turn into a grid drop for Brazil.
    • Evans and Wehrlein made contact but attack mode still had to be taken.
    • Da Costa and Guenther had a battle which allowed the German up to P6.
    • Disaster struck for Cassidy as he got a puncture from Da Costa, ending his title hopes and bringing out the safety car.
    • Rowland snatched the lead from Evans and Wehrlein, as Evans missed attack mode.
    • Three added laps due to the safety car, however, Evans was in a position that he could not attack the leaders as he had to ensure his attack mode was used up before the end of the race.
    • As Rowland took the win, it was Pascal Wehrlein, snatching P2, who became the ABB FIA Formula E World Champion!
    • Evans finished in P3 which sealed Jaguar the manufacturer’s championship.

    Final Formula E Season 10 Championship

    Position Driver Team Points
    1st Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 198
    2nd Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 192
    3rd Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 176
    4th Oliver Rowland Nissan Formula E Team 156
    5th Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 139
    6th Antonio Felix Da Costa Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 134
    7th Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E 122
    8th Maximilian Guenther Maserarti MSG Racing 73
    9th Robin Frijns Envision Racing 66
    10th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Pesnske 61
    11th Sebastian Buemi Envision Racing 53
    12th Nico Muller Abt Cupra 52
    13th Sam Bird Neom McLaren Formula E Team 48
    14th Jake Hughes Neom McLaren Formula E Team 48
    15th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 47
    16th Edoardo Mortara Mahindra Racing 29
    17th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 26
    18th Nyck De Vries Mahindra Racing 18
    19th Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 12
    20th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 11
    21st Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 8
    22nd Taylor Banard Neom McLaren Formula E Team 5
    23rd Lucas Di Grassi Abt Cupra Formula E Team 4
    24th Joel Eriksson Envision Racing 2
    25th Sheldon Van Der Linde Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
    26th Jordan King Mahindra Racing 0
    27th Paul Aron Envision Racing 0
    28th Caio Collet Nissan Formula E Team 0

Formula E Season 11 Portland EPrix: Championship Battle Horrors for Cassidy as Da Costa Bounces Back in America

Round 13 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship introduced some hope for Nick Cassidy and Jaguar at Portland until a  penultimate lap error caused Cassidy to fall down the grid, leading to his teammate Mitch Evans taking the win on the road but falling down to P8 due to a 5 second time penalty.

As for round 14,  chaos ensued as there was more contact, more penalties but another Da Costa win!

Roundup of Round 13:

  • Hughes led into turn 1 after starting P2.
  • Sebasitan Buemi pitted very early on due to a penalty for taking extra components.
  • The start of the race saw something common to Formula E in the gen 3 era: no one wanting to lead!
  • Many drivers took attack mode on lap 5.
  • Hughes and Evans collided which led Evans to receive a 5 second time penalty and Hughes dropped down the grid.
  • Cassidy went up to the lead on lap 12.
  • Collet missed the chicane on lap 17 and dropped down the grid.
  • Da Costa went for the lead but Cassidy retook it!
  • Daruvala spun later on in the race but got going again.
  • 3 laps to go and Evans made it a Jaguar 1-2.
  • Guenther retired from the race later on.
  • Nick Cassidy then lost his car on the penultimate lap and lost the race win!
  • Evans took the win but his 5 second time penalty dropped him down to P8!
  • Da Costa took the win!

 

Roundup of Round 14:

  • Vergne started on pole ahead of Da Costa.
  • Da Costa took the lead from Vergne with both McLarens going up to the top 5.
  • Hughes made his way from P5 to P1 on 1 lap!
  • Both Vergne and Vandoorne had issues which led them to falling down the field.
  • Early on in the race, the 2 Andretti cars, Collet and Guenther had issues as they were all at the back of the field.
  • Later on, Wehrlein got his front wing stuck under his car! It eventually became dislodged but it when it did, Sam Bird was caught it and that ruined the Brit’s race.
  • Mueller led on lap 9 with the 10th lap having Wehrlein with no front wing.
  • Cassidy was still P16 by lap 11 with Wehrlein making up places.
  • MULTIPLE drivers made pitstops including Cassidy, Dennis, De Vries, Collet and Hughes.
  • Mortara ended up onto the grass on lap 15 and had to pit while Hughes and Fenestraz were under investigation.
  • Fenestraz received a 5 second penalty for pushing a driver off the track.
  • The Safety car was then deployed for debris on the track and brought many drivers back into the race.
  • The safety car came in on lap 21.
  • We received 1 added lap due to the safety car.
  • It was all quiet despite Cassidy not making up enough ground, Frijns managing to get P2 from Evans and multiple notes inclduing Da Costa on Mortara and Dennis on Mortara.
  • On the last lap, Di Grassi received a 5 second time penalty for pushing a driver off the track.
  • Da Costa make it 3 wins in a row ahead of Frijns and Evans!

     

    Antonio Felix da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
    Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

    Formula E Season 10 Championship Standings after Round 14

    Driver of the Weekend:

    The driver of the weekend has to be Da Costa. After so many rumours of him leaving Porsche after a hard start to the season and losing that win in Misano to win 3 races in a row and have an outside chance of the championship is very impressive.

    Driver who needs to improve the most:

    I think this has to go to Nick Cassidy. While he still has a 12 point lead over Evans and Wehrlein, he could have tied up the entire championship in Portland but a few mistakes could cost him and Jaguar BIG TIME! 

Formula E Season 10 Round 9 and 10: Cassidy and Da Costa Both take Victory in Berlin as Title Battle Heats Up

Berlin is an all time classic on the Formula E calendar. Round 9 and 10 were no different with dramatic races happening on both Saturday and Sunday!

Key Moments from Race 9

  • Edoardo Mortara started on pole ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne.
  • Sette Camara tried to take P3 away from Vergne
  • There were big battles for the final points paying positions from Ticktum,Evans, Cassidy, Rowland and Van Der Linde
  • Vandoorne, Vergne, Da Costa and Mortara were all battling for the lead into the tight double right turns of 6 and 7. 
  • Racing was brought to a halt when a full course yellow was brought out due to a stopped Envision on track of Joel Eriksson. This was an eventual safety car. 
  • The safety car came in on lap 17 and Vergne tried to hold the lead while Wehrlein went for the overtake in the double right turns before the hairpin and made it stick. 
  • Di Grassi spun due to contact with Sette Camara after the restart.
  • Guenther ended up in the wall after the restart and on lap 30, the safety car came out again.
  • The safety car came back in on lap 34 and at the restart, there was 4 wide for the lead.
  • Da Costa came out in the lead.
  • Lap 41 saw Wehrlein take the lead before more overtakes occuring to see Vergne lead and Cassidy holding his nerve.
  • Once Cassidy was in the lead, there was no looking back as he took victory!

 

The cars pull away at the start of the race Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

Race 9 Results

Position Driver Team Points
1st Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 26
2nd Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 18
3rd Oliver Rowland Nissan Formula E Team 15
4th Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 12
5th Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 10
6th Antonio Felix Da Costa  Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 8
7th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 6
8th Edordo Mortara Mahindra Racing 7
9th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 2
10th Taylor Barnard NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 1
11th Kelvin Van Der Linde Abt Cupra 0
12th Jordan King Mahindra Racing 0
13th Paul Aron Envision Racing 0
14th Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 0
15th Jake Hughes NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 0
16th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 0
17th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 0
18th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 0
DNF Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E 0
DNF Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 0
DNF Lucas Di Grassi Abt Cupra 0
DNF Joel Eriksson Envision Racing 0

 

Key Moments from Race 10

  • Dennis started on pole but Cassidy lead the grid down to turn 1
  • Further on into the race it was a Porsche 1-2.
  • Guenther crashed early on in the race and brought out a safety car. He got going again but it was to retire the car.
  • On lap 18, Rowland had a damaged front wing and Mortara had not taken either attack mode.
  • Vandoorne went for a dive between lap 20 and 21 but got damage with his front wing going under his car.
  • He ended up losing control and put Fenestraz onto 2 wheels.
  • Da Costa had a large advantage by the beginning of the end of the race.
  • Nato and Fenestraz ended up in the wall with the Andretti driver managing to get away but the safety car was brought out.
  • By lap 27, we had Da Costa P1, Rowland P2 abd Evans P3.
  • When the safety car came in, there was big battles between Dennis and Wehrlein and Evans and Da Costa.
  • Nato ended up with a 10 second time penalty for his collision with Fenestraz.
  • We had 3 added laps while Barnard overtook his teammate and Dennis.
  • Cassidy overtook Rowland when we headed into added laps while Evans lost 2 places in 2 corners.
  • Da Costa took victory in Berlin with Cassidy P2 and Rowland P3.

Race 10 Results

Position Driver Team Points
1st Antonio Felix Da Costa  Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 25
2nd Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 19
3rd Oliver Rowland Nissan Formula E Team 15
4th Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 12
5th Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E 13
6th Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 8
7th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 6
8th Taylor Barnard NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 4
9th Joel Eriksson Envision Racing 2
10th Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 1
11th Lucas Di Grassi Abt Cupra 0
12th Jake Hughes NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 0
13th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 0
14th Paul Aron Envision Racing 0
15th Kelvin Van Der Linde Abt Cupra 0
16th Edo Mortara Mahindra Racing 0
17th Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 0
18th Jordan King Mahindra Racing 0
19th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 0
20th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 0
DNF Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 0
DNF Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 0
Antonio Felix da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, leads Oliver Rowland, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04 Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

Championship Standings After Round 10

Position Driver Team Points
1st Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 140
2nd Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 124
3rd Oliver Rowland Nissan Formula E Team 118
4th Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E 102
5th Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 97
6th Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 84
7th Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 65
8th Antonio Felix Da Costa Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 59
9th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 43
10th Sam Bird NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 38
11th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 26
12th Jake Hughes NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 25
13th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 24
14th Robin Frijns Envision Racing 21
15th Sebastian Buemi Envision Racing 20
16th Nico Mueller Abt Cupra 18
17th Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 12
18th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 11
19th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 8
20th Edoardo Mortara Mahindra Racing 7
21st Taylor Barnard NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 5
22nd Joel Eriksson Envision Racing 2
23rd Lucas Di Grassi Abt Cupra 1
24th Kelvin Van Der Linde Abt Cupra 0
25th Nyck De Vries Mahindra Racing 0
26th Jordan King Mahindra Racing 0
27th Paul Aron Envision Racing 0

Driver of the Weekend

For me, the driver of the weekend is a very tough one. However, I think I will give it to Joel Eriksson. The rookies this weekend have been VERY surprising (and in a good way) which will probably give a lot of team principals headaches as after FULL 1 race weekend, 2 have  already stored in Taylor Barnard and Joel Eriksson. Even though I have have chosen a mix of about 5 drivers, Joel gets my pick. 

Driver with the most improvement needed

I think Norman Nato needs to pick up his pace in terms of racing after this weekend. While he can have some good moments like in qualifying and some bad luck, ultimately, his collision with Fenestraz was not a good light for the French driver, especially as there are only 6 races left and Andretti will more than likely be starting to think about the seat next to Jake Dennis for 2025 and beyond as we head into Gen3 EVO. With the rookie test happening tomorrow with Zane Maloney and Jak Crawford at the team too, the pressure is building on Nato. 

Prediction for Shanghai

The next 2 rounds of Formula E are at the Shanghai International Circuit. While a lot of the circuit is similar to the Formula 1 model, there are only 12 corners and cuts out the long right hander and long straight from the Formula 1 model. I have a feeling this could be a Jake Dennis win on either day. 

Formula E Monaco E-Prix: Jaguar make it a 1-2 finish as Barnard replaces Bird due to injury

Formula E kicked off again this weekend at Monaco, the motorsport city of the world. It was  a race in which Pascal Wehrlein took the bragging rights and pole position, there was also two safety cars and a 1-2 for Jaguar!

  • Wehrlein held the lead at the start.
  • Mueller got a bad start and fell behind Barnard.
  • Nato lost his front wing and it went under his car.
  • Buemi and Da Costa crashed at the hotel hairpin.
  • Mortara went into the barrier on lap four and brought out the safety car.
  • Sette Camara hit Buemi and Da Costa got caught between them.
  • Vandoorne held the lead from Evans in P2 at the restart.
  • Dennis had to pit due to front wing damage.
  • Evans and Jaguar played the team game as both Evans and Cassidy held up the pack behind them so their teammates could take attack mode.
  • Frijns’ front wing then went under his car.
  • Nico Mueller went into the wall near the end of the race. 
  • Once the safety car came in again, Rowland got ahead of Da Costa.
  • Mitch Evans managed to win the Monaco E-Prix. Nick Cassidy made it a Jaguar1-2 with Vandoorne P3.

Formula E Season 10 Monaco E-Prix Results

Position Driver Team Points
1st Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 25
2nd Nick Cassidy(FL) Jaguar TCS Racing 19
3rd  Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 15
4th Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske  12
5th Pascal Wehrlein (Pole) Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 13
6th Oliver Rowland

Nissan Formula E Team

8
7th Antonio Felix Da Costa Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 6
8th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 4
9th Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 2
10th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 1
11th Lucas Di Grassi  Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
12th Nyck De Vries Mahindra Racing 0
13th Dan Ticktum ERT Racing 0
14th Taylor Barnard Mahindra Racing 0
15th Sebastian Buemi Envision Racing 0
16th Jake Hughes Neom McLaren Formula E Team 0
17th Robin Frijns Envision Racing 0
18th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 0
19th Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E  0
20th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 0
DNF Edoardo Mortara  Mahindra Racing 0
DNF Nico Mueller Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0

Formula E Season 10 Standings after Round 8

Position Driver Team Points
1st Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 102
2nd Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 95
3rd  Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E  89
4th Oliver Rowland Nissan Formula E Team 88
5th Mitch Evans(Pole) Jaguar TCS Racing 77
6th Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 65
7th Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 65
8th Sam Bird Neom McLaren Formula E Team 28
9th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 27
10th Antonio Felix Da Costa Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 26
11th Jake Hughes Neom McLaren Formula E Team 25
12th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 24
13th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 24
14th Robin Frijns Envision Racing 21
15th Sebastian Buemi Envision Racing 20
16th Nico Mueller Abt Cupra Formula E Team 18
17th Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 12
18th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 11
19th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 2
20th Lucas Di Grassi Abt Cupra Formula E Team 1
21st Edoardo Mortara  Mahindra Racing 0
22nd Nyck De Vries Mahindra Racing 0
Norman Nato, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, leaves a trail of smoke as his damaged front wing rubs on his wheel

Most Impressive Race

The most impressive race has to be from Taylor Barnard. Now the youngest driver to start in Formula E, he jumped into Sam Bird’s car after Bird broke a bone in his hand during FP1. ,To go from P22 to P14 in his debut Formula E race is incredible.

Formula E Season 10 Tokyo E-Prix: Guenther snatches win from Nissan and Rowland

Just 2 weeks after the sao paulo e-prix, we were presented with another race, this time in the home of Nissan: Japan! This introduction of the Tokyo E-Prix saw a different layout, sometimes a mixture of the Rome and London circuits. However, none of this could stop the Maserati MSG of Maximilian Guenther from clinching the win away from the pole sitter and majority of the race leader Oliver Rowland.

Key Moments During The Race

  • Oliver Rowland lead the field away from pole position ahead of Edoardo Mortara in P2 and Maximilian Guenther in P3.
  • Jaguar Drivers Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy went to P11 and P18 respectfully after the start
  • The fastest lap was changing hands during lap 5 with Nato and Mueller touching
  • Jake Hughes crashed into the barrier at turn 15 on lap 6 due to a collision with Di Grassi. The British driver managed to get away on their own accord, however they fell to the back of the grid.
  • The Tag Hauer Porsche Team played the team game on lap 9 as Da Costa slowed up the grid behind them so Wehrlein could take attack mode.
  • A new race leader emerged on lap 13 as Oliver Rowland took attack mode with Maximilian Guenther inheriting P1.
  • Guenther fell down to P3 after taking attack mode.
  • Mitch Evans had front wing damage on lap 18 after contact.
  • The safety car was called out soon after to pick up debris. 
  • De Vries and Di Grassi have both retired at this point.
  • Nick Cassidy managed to make his way up to P11 by lap 25.
  • Maximilian Guether takes the lead on lap 25.
  • 2 additional laps were added near the end of the race due to the safety car.
  • Norman Nato and Robin Frijns made contact as Nato went off the racing line, received a 5 second penalty for this collision but it was later overturned.
  • Da Costa falls down to P4 after a three way battle for the podium positions.
  • Guenther wins, Rowland P2, Dennis P3.

 

Jake Hughes, NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, e-4ORCE 04, leads Lucas di Grassi, ABT CUPRA Formula E Team, M9Electro, and Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23-Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

Formula E Season 10 Round 5 Tokyo E-Prix Results

 

Position Driver Team Points
1st

Maximilian Guenther

(fastest lap)

Maserati MSG Racing

26
2nd Oliver Rowland (pole) Nissan Formula E Team 21
3rd  Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E  15
4th Antonio Felix Da Costa  Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 12
5th Pascal Wehrlein  Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 10
6th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E  8
7th Nico Mueller Abt Cupra Formula E Team 6
8th Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 4
9th Robin Frijns  Envision Racing 2
10th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Racing 1
11th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 0
12th Jean-Eric Verge  DS Penske  0
13th Sebastian Buemi Envision Racing 0
14th Jake Hughes Neom McLaren Formula E Team 0
15th Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 0
16th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 0
17th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 0
18th Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 0
19th Sam Bird Neom McLaren Formula E Team 0
DNF Lucas Di Grassi  Mahindra Racing 0
DSQ Edoardo Mortara  Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
DNF Nyck De Veries Mahindra Racing 0

 

Formula E Season 10 Championship After Round 5

Position Driver Team Points
1. Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 63
2. Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 61
3. Oliver Rowland Nissan Formula E Team 54
4. Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E 53
5. Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 48
6. Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 39
7. Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 39
8. Sam Bird Neom McLaren Formula E Team 37
9. Robin Frijns Envision Racing 21
10. Sebastian Buemi Envision Racing 20
11. Antonio Felix Da Costa Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 20
12. Jake Hughes Neom McLaren Formula E Team 18
13. Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 18
14. Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 17
15. Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 8
16. Nico Mueller Abt Cupra Formula E Team 6
17. Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 3
18. Edoardo Mortara Mahindra Racing 0
19. Lucas DiGrassi Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
20. Nyck De Vries Mahindra Racing 0
21. Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 0
22. Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 0

Most Impressive Race

The most impressive race for me has to be from Oliver Rowland. Leaving the sport mid season last year, eyebrows were raised over whether he would return to the sport. Now, at his new team’s home race, getting pole position and being able to maintain his energy for the majority of the race until he had to fall back to P2 in order to conserve energy to make it to the end is seriously impressive.

 

Driver who needs to improve the most after Tokyo

Now that we have finished just under one third of the season, I think Mitch Evans really needs to improve the most. Yes, his teammate did manage to qualify near the back due to a lap time deletion in qualifying, Evans should have made up spots on the start to try and bridge the gap to his felle Kiwi but instead, Cassidy finished P8 after the DSQ from Mortara which still made Evans not get any points from the weekend. Evans needs to get his head into the right space 

Formula E Sao Paulo E Prix: Sam Bird takes McLaren’s Maiden Win in Formula E

After a 7 WEEK break, Formula E returned to our screens on March 15th and 16th with a lot of storylines heading into this race weekend, it is safe to say that we got our bang for our buck in terms of excitement!

Race Recap

The race started off with Pascal Wehrlein starting from pole after beating Stoffel Vandoorne in the Final Duel by 0.002 of a second! It was absolutely blockbuster content before we even went racing in Sao Paulo. Once we went racing, there was a lot of chaos. Wehrlein lead the field from Vandoorne in P2 and Micth Evans managed to jump up to P3 after overtaking Jean-Eric Vergne who started in P3. Wehrlein managed to stay in the lead throughout the early parts before the attack mode came in with Bird managing to make his way up to P6. Da Costa then managed to make his way up to P3 before Guenther had to take a 10 second stop and go penalty due to exceeding his allocated components. This meant he had a 20 place grid penalty AND the 10 second stop-and-go penalty. Dennis attempted to make his way up the field with Bird then managing to make his way up to P1. Once Bird took his attack modes, he stayed in P1. There was quite a lot od debris due to collisions which happened earlier in the race which then led to a safety car coming out. This spelt disaster in terms of attack mode for drivers including Bird, Buemi and Daruvala whereas Wehrlein, Vergne and Guenther were pleased. 

Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6, leads Pascal Wehrlein, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3-Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

At the safety car restart, Bird managed to retake the lead from Evans with Da Costa in P3 and his teammate of Wehrlein in P4. Several laps on, Nico Mueller managed to get a black and orange flag due to his front wing going under his car. Before Nico pitted, the entire grid was seperated by under 9 seconds! The Andretti driver of Norman Nato then receieved a 5 second penalty for causing a collision. Dennis managed to get up to P1 after many overtakes and attack modes before we saw a yellow flag for the championship leader of Nick Cassidy crashing out due to his front wing hitting his car. He was okay after the crash but it was a nasty hit against the wall. 

 

By the time we got to lap 17 out of 31, before added laps, Bird was leading ahead of his old teammate Mitch Evans in P2, Wehrlein in P3, Dennis, Da Costa and Vergne rounding out the top 6 with Rosland, Vandoorne, Guenther and Buemi occupying the final places of the field. Once we went green, Bird held onto the lead with everyone in the top 10 apart from Buemi having used both of the attack modes.  Drivers such as De Vries and Hughes had to take their second attack mode and, as a result, fell down the grid. 

Nico Mueller then stopped on track which brought out a yellow flag but he managed to get the car started again. Towards the end of the race, Evans managed to take the lead before it was announced that there would be 3 added laps. Rowland managed to make his way up to P5 ahead of Da Costa before the final lap. On the final lap, Bird was chasing Evans down for the win. Bird managed to make a move stick in the final sector of the track to take McLaren’s first win in Formula E! That was not where the drama ended however, as we had retirements from Hughes, Mueller and Cassidy, Sette Camara was disqualified due to an overuse of power! All of the results are down below!

 

 

Sao Paulo E-Prix Race Results

Position Driver Team Points
1st Sam Bird Neom McLaren Formula E Team 25
2nd Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 18
3rd  Oliver Rowland Nissan Formula E Team 15
4th Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 12
5th Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E 10
6th Antonio Felix Da Costa Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 8
7th Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 6
8th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 4
9th Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 2
10th SebastianBuemi Envision Racing 1
11th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 0
12th Edoardo Mortara Mahindra Racing 0
13th Lucas DiGrassi Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
14th Nyck De Vries Mahindra Racing 0
15th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 0
16th Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 0
17th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 0
18th Robin Frijns Envision Racing 0
DNF Jake Hughes Neom McLaren Formula E Team 0
DNF Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 0
DNF Nico Mueller Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
DSQ Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 0

 

 

 

Formula E Season 10 Championship After Round 4

Position Driver Team Points
1. Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 57
2. Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 53
3. Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 39
4. Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 39
5. Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E 38
6. Sam Bird Neom McLaren Formula E Team 37
7. Oliver Rowland Nissan Formula E Team 33
8. Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 22
9. Sebastian Buemi Envision Racing 20
10. Robin Frijns Envision Racing 19
11. Jake Hughes Neom McLaren Formula E Team 18
12. Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 18
13. Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 9
14. Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E 8
15. Antonio Felix Da Costa Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 8
16. Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 2
17. Edoardo Mortara Mahindra Racing 0
18. Nico Mueller Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
19. Lucas DiGrassi Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
20. Nyck De Vries Mahindra Racing 0
21. Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 0
22. Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 0

 

Most Impressive Race

I think there are a lot of candidates for this part of the article but I am going to go with Max Guenther. He started in P22, had a 10 second stop-and-go penalty and STILL managed to get 2 points in a competitive field. While yes, the safety cars caused by debris and Nick Cassidy did definately play to his advantage (apart from him using attack mode before the safety car came out), he still had to go through the field and battle many drivers.

Driver who needs to improve the most after Sao Paulo

After Sao Paulo, I feel like Norman Nato needs to step up a little bit. He had a few collisions which he was penalised for as well as starting further down the grid in comparison to his teammate. While his teammate may be a Formula E World Champion and embedded at that team, Norman needs to show that he can do his part to help the team and manufacturers in the championship, otherwise questions could be raised given the drivers who are not in as competitive machinery as the Frenchman. 

Josef Newgarden soars to third St. Pete victory

Josef Newgarden ruled the streets of St. Pete Sunday afternoon in IndyCar’s season opening race, leading 92 of the 100 laps to secure his third St. Pete win and first street course win for Team Penske after Penske went winless on street courses in 2023.

  • Josef Newgarden takes third St. Pete victory
  • Rest of race recap
  • Full race results/points standings 

3 min read

Newgarden converted his pole starting position to an over seven second lead over runner up Pato O’Ward come the checkered flag, with the win only ever looking in doubt when the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet machine lost three spots on pit road during the first pit stop cycle of the day but quickly gained them back and the lead after the restart.

Josef Newgarden and his No. 2 Chevrolet Team Penske team celebrate winning the 2024 GP of St. Pete (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

Newgarden said: “I had a lot of fun today. I think it’s so deserving for the work they (Team Penske) put in. We’ve worked really hard to close the gap. We didn’t have the speed we needed on road and street courses last year, at least on a consistency basis, and today we brought that speed.”

It was Newgarden’s 30th IndyCar Series win, passing Team Penske legend Rick Mears for 13th on the all-time IndyCar Series wins list.

Team Penske and Chevrolet have appeared to have got their street course package back on track, with all three Penske cars finishing in the top five with 2022 St. Pete winner McLaughlin finishing third and two-time St. Pete winner Will Power finishing fourth.

Last year Honda won all five street course races. Sunday saw Andretti Global’s Colton Herta, who won the 2021 edition of the race, be the highest finishing Honda in fifth.

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was Newgarden’s closest contender throughout the race, keeping Newgarden within two seconds of him until the final twenty laps where he extended it to an eight second lead while O’Ward had to drive with his rearview mirrors to keep the late charging McLaughlin and Power behind to hold on to the runners up position.

Josef Newgarden leads with Pato O’Ward giving chase (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

O’Ward said: “I think it’s a very solid foundation to what is going to be a very tight, very competitive rest of the year.”

Power and McLaughlin, on the softer alternate tyre were able to charge down O’Ward despite the No. 5 Arrow McLaren driver being on the harder primary tyre. Power had yet to take the alternate green lined tyre before his final pit stop, so as per IndyCar rules of having to run at least two laps on each tyre compound, Power was forced to take the softer tyre.

Rest of race recap

Josef Newgarden and Felix Rosenqvist led the 27-car field to green with Newgarden comfortably leading the opening stint.

The start of the St. Pete GP (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong brought out the first caution of the race on lap 26 when he locked up his No. 11 Ridgeline Honda in turn 10 slamming it into the outside tyre wall, taking himself out of the race.

Sting Ray Robb brought out the second of three cautions on lap 35 when he parked his No. 41 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet in the turn one escape road. Christian Lundgaard who had inherited the lead after not pitting during the previous caution due to pitting earlier in the race for a puncture, handed the lead back to Newgarden, who had raced past Rosenqvist and Herta to work back up to second prior to the caution.

Last year’s St. Pete winner Marcus Ericsson had to retire early from the race on lap 53 due to a mechanical failure. Ericsson had been running seventh before the failure.

Romain Grosjean’s late lunge on rookie Linus Lundqvist for 12th place on lap 68 saw the caution fly again as Lundqvist went spinning into the turn 10 outside tyre wall.

Lundqvist’s Chip Ganassi Racing team was able to replace his rear wing but would finish the race three laps down. Grosjean would later retire with gearbox failure after completing his drive through penalty for avoidable contact.

The next event is The $1 Million Challenge, a special, non-points race at 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday, March 24 at The Thermal Club near Palm Springs, California.

Full race results/points standings

  1. Josef Newgarden 54
  2. Pato O’Ward 40
  3. Scott McLaughlin 35
  4. Will Power 32
  5. Colton Herta 31
  6. Alex Palou 28
  7. Felix Rosenqvist 26
  8. Alexander Rossi 24
  9. Scott Dixon 22
  10. Rinus VeeKay 20
  11. Santino Ferrucci 19
  12. Kyle Kirkwood 18
  13. Callum Ilott 17
  14. Kyffin Simpson 16
  15. Pietro Fittapaldi 15
  16. Graham Rahal 14
  17. Tom Blomqvist 13
  18. Agustin Canapino 12
  19. Jack Harvey 11
  20. Christian Lundgaard 10
  21. Christian Rasmussen 9
  22. Colin Braun 8
  23. Rinus Lundqvist 7
  24. Romain Grosjean 6
  25. Marcus Ericcson 5
  26. Sting Ray Robb 5
  27. Marcus Armstrong 5

Featured Image: Josef Newgarden celebrates winning the 2024 GP of St. Pete (Photo by Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment)

Grand Prix of St. Pete race preview

The traditional NTT IndyCar Series season opener, the Grand Prix of St. Pete in Florida, gets underway this Sunday with a 27-car grid including five rookies, with Josef Newgarden and Felix Rosenqvist locking out the front row for Sunday’s 100-lap race.

Start of the 2023 GP of St. Pete (Photo by Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment).

  • Race preview/qualifying 
  • Full qualifying results

3 min read

IndyCar returns to St. Petersburg, Florida for it’s season opener in what will be the 21st running of the Grand Prix of St. Pete; a 100-lap, 180 mile race around the streets of downtown St. Pete and the Albert Whitted Airport with the race starting at 12pm ET/4pm UK time.

The 14-turn temporary street circuit never fails to bring the action as last year’s race was won in the final laps as Pato O’Ward’s car temporarily lost power, allowing Marcus Ericsson to drive by and take the checkered flag three laps later.

Marcus Ericsson leads Pato O’Ward in the 2023 GP of St. Pete (Photo by Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment)

Saturday’s qualifying saw Team Penske’s two-time St. Pete winner Josef Newgarden  put his No. 2 PPG Chevrolet on pole with a 59.5714 second lap.

Newgarden said: “I get jacked up every time I show up for an IndyCar race. This is a rockstar team.”

One of Newgarden’s main goals for the 2024 season was to secure a pole position, It is Newgarden’s third St. Pete pole, having gone without a pole in the 2023 season, last being on pole for the 2022 Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle.

Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet for Team Penske at St. Pete (Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

Felix Rosenqvist, now racing for Meyer Shank Racing after being replaced at Arrow McLaren, joins Newgarden on the front row, having done a 59.5772 lap.

Rosenqvist said: “We don’t want to get carried away; the race is a different challenge. But we had a feeling from practice, from rolling off the truck, and that’s great.”

Rosenqvist broke the track record in the Group of 12 qualifying session with a lap of 59.2706 to advance to the Firestone Fast Six, beating Will Power’s 59.3466 lap in the Group of 12 session in 2022.

Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon could only manage an 11th starting place. Dixon is still winless at St. Pete after 19 previous attempts.

Will Power also failed to make the fast six, with an eighth-place effort. Power had secured nine of the last 14 poles at St. Pete, also being a two-time winner, winning in 2010 and 2014, with Newgarden winning the 2019 and ’20 race respectively.

Tom Blomqvist was the best of the rookies, qualifying 17th with a lap time of 59.9968, driving for Meyer Shank Racing

Graham Rahal, Colton Herta, Scott McLaughlin, and Marcus Ericsson also have wins at St. Pete; 2008, 2021, 2022, and 2023 respectively.

Different for this years’ race is the turn three repave, removing heavy bumps that means drivers can now go flat out through the corner.

Also different is the use of lighter chassis components on the cars including a new 3D-printed titanium aeroscreen top frame, saving seven pounds, as well as the switch to a magnesium gearbox casing and bellhousing. This is all in preparation for the arrival of the 2.2-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engines with hybrid technology this summer.

Catch the 2024 Grand Prix of St. Pete on Sunday at 12pm ET/4pm UK time.

Full qualifying results

  1. Josef Newgarden
  2. Felix Rosenqvist
  3. Pato O’Ward
  4. Colton Herta
  5. Romain Grosjean
  6. Marcus Ericsson
  7. Rinus VeeKay
  8. Will Power
  9. Scott McLaughlin
  10. Marcus Armstrong
  11. Scott Dixon
  12. Christian Lundgaard
  13. Alex Palou
  14. Santino Ferrucci
  15. Alexander Rossi
  16. Callum Ilott
  17. Tom Blomqvist (R)
  18. Kyle Kirkwood
  19. Linus Lundqvist (R)
  20. Agustin Canapino
  21. Christian Rasmussen (R)
  22. Graham Rahal
  23. Kyffin Simpson (R)
  24. Sting Ray Robb
  25. Colin Braun (R)
  26. Pietro Fittipaldi
  27. Jack Harvey

Featured Image: 2023 GP of St. Pete (Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)

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