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)

Formula E Season 10 Round 2 & 3: Cassidy Takes Control of the Championship with a Win in Diriyah

 

Round two of the Formula E championship kicked off this weekend in Diriyah, a firm favourite on the electric series calendar, and it certainly did not disappoint. Jean-Eric Vergne led the grid away, taking his first pole position in two seasons, ahead of Mitch Evans in P2. There was a bit of wheel bashing at the start with Vergne taking attack mode very early. This caused him to fall down to P3, as Evans was promoted to the race lead with current world champion Jake Dennis in the hunt in second position. However, in a race where stategy seemed to reign, Evans took attack mode, which allowed Dennis to swoop into the lead. However, the excitement for the world current did not last long – he soon lost the position to Vergne when taking his own attack mode on lap 7. Vergne copied Dennis’ actions the following lap, allowing Evans into contention for the win. Dennis was able to build up a lead in order to take his second attack mode and keep the lead. Evans managed to hold onto P2 while overtaking Vergne on the straight to turn 17.  In the dying stages of the race, there was back and fourth battles between the top three – Evans, Vergne and Dennis. Evans tried to take the lead from Dennis but he overestimated the overtake, went deep into turn 17 and Dennis remained in the lead.

Vergne and Evans continued to battle one another, allowing Dennis to continue to pull clear. Title hopeful Nick Cassidy battled Max Gunther for one of the lower points paying positions, only for this late surge to be hindered by collision with Sam Bird’s McLaren.  The Jaguars struggled in the race due to miscommunication with team orders having an adverse effect. On the last lap, Evans tried to overtake Vergne for second place, he overestimated the gap and fell behind Bird. Dennis claimed victory in the desert by over 10 seconds with Vergne P2 and Cassidy taking the final podium position. Bird finished ahead of Evans in P4 and P5 respectively, Norman Nato claimed P6 ahead of Guenther, Wehrlein claimed P8 whilst Sergio Sette Camara and Robin Frijns rounded out the top ten.

Jake Dennis, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

Round 3:

Round three saw an unexected pole position from the returning Oliver Rowland at Nissan ahead of Robin Frijns in P2 and Nick Cassidy in P3. Frijns managed to take the lead away from Rowland at the start with Ticktum having to pit with front wing damage, this eventually caused the Brit to retire. Cassidy maintained P3 at the start with a huge train of cars following each other, but as the attack modes began to be taken, the Kiwi found himself at the front. And from there, he controlled the entire race, buiding up a gap to allow himself to remain in P1 when attack mode had been completed.  However, despite this, Frijns was able to stay within about two seconds of Cassidy for the entire race, a constant threat lurking at the back of the Kiwi’s Jaguar. Sam Bird, who was having a quiet race, managed to make a move on Sette Camara for P9. In a tactical move by drivers, many did not take any attack mode so they could use it at the end of the race – however, this did not apply to the top five.

Rowland managed to get within a second of Frijns, who in turn was closing in on Cassidy.  Bird attempted a  a move on Sacha Fenestraz but he misjudged it, falling behind Wehrlein and eventually, the McLaren man was forced to retire. Jehan Daruvala had an issue with his brakes and was forced to stop at turn 18, causing a yellow flag. Cassidy began to worry about his consumption of energy in the latter part of the race. As the time ticked down, it emerged that Dennis, Evans, Da Costa, Nato and Sette Camara were all under investigation for overtaking under yellow flags. However, this didn’t stop Nick Cassidy from taking his first win at Jaguar. He held off Frijns who finished P2 in his return to Envision Racing ahead of Rowland who managed to secure a podium. Hughes finished just outside of the podium positions, ahead of Vandoorne. Fenestraz claimed P6 ahead of Wehrlein in P7, Vergne clinched P8 with Gunther taking P9 and Dennis taking the final point. The current world champion also took the fastest lap, however, after investigation, Dennis received a five second time penalty promoting Evans to P10 and Cassidy took the point for fastest lap, alongside the championship lead.

Formula E will return in March.

F1 Rumours: Are Audi Pulling the Plug?

Audi confirmed their entry in August 2022 after the announcement of the new power unit rules for 2026. They decided, unlike Ford, to not just make power units but to take control of Sauber, currently known as Alfa Romeo, and are in the first year of that phase as a minority stakeholder of the team. But according to some, all is not well with paddock rumours and media, is it over before a wheel has been turned? Does this mean Peter Sauber is staying or is it just rumours?

F1 have been trying to get the Volkswagen Group back in the sport which Audi are apart of along with Bentley, Porsche and others. Audi itself have had recent changes within its own high organisation levels and supposedly the idea may have come to an end before it has started, which will cost the German manufacturer millions.

Image courtesy of Audi Motorsport Media Centre

In early 2024, Audi will become 50% joint owners with Sauber and then in early 2025 they become 75% owners of the team. However, the new board at Audi have supposedly concluded the venture may be too expensive.

According to some of the German Media, the rumour is that the VW Group want to keep the programme in house with a potential switch to Porsche. With the venture still in the early stages in F1 terms, this could mean a simple switch of data and staff between the companies.

However, within the paddock, the rumour is that Toyota will try their chances once again, having previous knowledge of the sport. Additionally this could be in collaboration with Mclaren to a certain extent, as the team from Woking don’t have power unit supplier for 2026 as of yet. Toyota are looking to become a manufacturer again and also return as power unit supplier for the McLaren for the first time in history.

Despite all of this, Audi are still looking to join F1 in the future as nothing has changed officially or been announced. But murmurings suggest this is something to keep an eye on as we go into the final races of 2023. Will we get a Germany v Mercedes regardless or Toyota v Honda? Time will tell.

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

Hungarian Grand Prix – Red Bull favourites as Ricciardo returns

Red Bull will once again pitch up to the Hungaroring as favourites to emerge victorious and continue a perfect start to 2023.

The Milton Keynes team will be bringing a raft of upgrades including changes to the cooling slot and reprofiled sidepods (Watch out copycats) but arguably its biggest story this week is with its junior team.

Max Verstappen has long since vanquished any hope of a championship fight and now holds a near 100 point lead in the standings over teammate Sergio Perez.

Verstappen has only failed to win twice this season and has eight victories.

The Hungarian Grand Prix traditionally marks the halfway point of the Formula One season, and as Round 11 this season is no different.

At Alpha Tauri, Nyck De Vries will not see even half the season out as the 2021 Formula E champion was unceremoniously dumped out of Red Bull’s B Team in favour of a return of a familiar face.

Daniel Ricciardo returns to the place where it all began, save for a half season in 2011 at HRT, by rejoining the team first knwon as Toro Rosso.

Ricciardo, 34, had previously said that he would not return unless  it was in a competitive seat.

Alpha Tauri are on average ninth quickest in 2023 and are bottom of the Constructors’ this season with two points courtesy of Yuki Tsunoda.

Clearly that is not what the affable Australian meant, but he has identified it as a chance to shown Red Bull that the Honey Badger is still in there – Ricciardo did win eight Grands Prix with Red Bull and McLaren and was renowned for his wheel to wheel racing with Red Bull.

With Perez faltering at Red Bull – he’s failed to get into the final part of qualifying since Miami in May, there is talk that should Ricciardo impress again that he could make a sensational return to the team he quit in 2018.

How realistic that is remains to be seen.

Away from Red Bull’s latest driver swap, the battle for best of the rest looks set to once more see-saw between Aston Martin, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari.

Ferrari’s race management was dismal at Silverstone last time out and the Scuderia could only manage ninth and tenth with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz after a poor tyre choice and strategy saw them slip backwards after a late Safety Car.

Mercedes managed to return to the podium with Lewis Hamilton, who benefitted at the expense of McLaren driver Oscar Piastri to move up to third during that safety car period, but were surprised by McLaren’s sudden gain in pace.

Lando Norris was second for the Papaya outfit, and left Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff to suggest that their rivals’ progress is a positive, and that McLaren’s jump shows that huge progress is possible.

McLaren for their part do not expect to hit the heights of second and fourth this weekend, with the twisty Budapest track exposing their slow corner weakness much more than Silverstone, but the base package is still expected to score points this weekend.

That leaves Aston Martin as Mercedes’ likely best of the rest challengers.

The Silverstone team have been low key of late, failing to reach the podium at either Austria or the British Grand Prix, two layouts which favour high speed performance and low drag.

They’ve shown a preference for slower speed tracks and were arguably the closest team to toppling Red Bull this season, when a strategic error arguably cost them the win at a wet Monaco Grand Prix.

This weekend marks the 20th anniversary of Fernando Alonso’s first win, then for Renault, at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Red Bull are expected to make further history this weekend, where victory would be their 12th in a row and see them out on their own after previously tying with McLaren’s 11 in the late 1980s.

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?

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

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

Formula E Season 10’s Provisional Calendar
Credit: Formula E’s Announcement of Tokyo

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.”

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.

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