Formula E

14th January 202314th January 2023

Mexico City ePrix: Jake Dennis Takes a Dominant Victory

Mexico City ePrix: Jake Dennis Takes a Dominant Victory

Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis took the maiden win of the Gen3 era and Season 9 in Mexico City after a dominant performance.

At the start of the race, it was a clean getaway for all drivers. However, Robin Frijns hit the back of Norman Nato on lap 1 and had to stop the car on track. This brought out the first of three safety cars.

On lap 6, the safety car came in but Sam Bird suffered a mechanical failure and had to retire at turn 2. This brought out the safety car for a second time. From lap 9, the safety car and all remaining cars went through the pits due to where Bird’s car was stopped.

The second safety car entered the pits for racing to resume on lap 10 and Di Grassi held the lead from Dennis and Hughes. Lap 12 had a big surprise where Jake Dennis took the lead from Di Grassi and he built a healthy lead early on. He would build this lead over the course of the race and keep this lead for the rest of the race.

Lap 13 saw Dan Ticktum received a drive through penalty for overpower. That brought him down to last place. From lap 17, there was a fight for P2 between Di Grassi, Hughes, Wehrlein and Lotterer. Lap 18 saw Mortara crash into the turn 1 barrier and bring out the safety car for a third time.

We went green flag racing on lap 21 after the third safety car. Hughes held onto P3 while trying to catch up to Di Grassi in P2. Lap 25 saw Andre Lotterer make a mistake and go deep into corners 5 and 6. Lap 26 then saw both Di Grassi and Hughes take their second attack mode which saw Wehlein take P3 from Hughes. Wehrlein also took P2 from Di Grassi on lap 29.

Towards the end of the race, Lotterer was able to pressure Hughes for P5. A yellow flag appeared in the latter stages of the race due to debris and Vergne continued the race with no front wing. Rene Rast had to retire from the race in the latter stages of the race. On the last lap of the race, Lotterer attacked Hughes for P5 into turn 3 but Hughes just managed to keep it. Lotterer eventually made the pass for P4 and kept it as they went across the line.

Formula E returns with a double header in Saudi Arabia in 2 weeks time for the Diriyah E Prix.

14th January 2023

Lucas Di Grassi takes pole in Mexico City

Lucas Di Grassi takes pole in Mexico City

A tense qualifying session for the first race of the 9th season of Formula E saw Di Grassi take pole in Mexico City! Here is how it all played out.

Group A:

The first Qualifying Session in Formula E got underway with Group A going out first. At the half way point of Group A, Lotterer, Di Grassi, Buemi and Guenther were all in the top 4. Rast, Sette Camara, Da Costa, Vergne Frijns, Fenestraz and Bird all needed to improve.

Lotterer, Di Grassi, Buemi and Fenestraz all went through to the duels.

Knocked Out in Group A:

Da Costa, Vergne, Sette Camara, Rast, Guenther, Frijns and Bird.

Group B:

In Group B, the remaining 12 drivers headed out to the track to try and get in to the finals. At the half way point, Ticktum, Hughes, Mortara and Wehrlein were all through with Evans, Cassidy, Vandoorne, Rowland, Dennis, Muller and Nato all needing to improve in order to get through.

Dennis, Ticktum, Wehrlein, Hughes are all make it through to the duels.

Knocked Out in Group B:

Nato, Muller, Rowland, Cassidy, Mortara, , Vandoorne, Evans.

Stoffel Vandoorne Formula E
Credit: Formula E

Quarter Finals:

In the first Quarter Finals it was Lucas Di Grassi bs Sebastian Buemi. Di Grassi headed out first. Buemi had an early lead by 0.085 and increased it by 0.163 at the midway point. Di Grassi started to catch Buemi towards the end but Buemi lost time in the final sector and Di Grassi got through by 0.019!

In the second Quarter Final it was Sacha Fenestraz and Andre Lotterer. Fenestraz went out first and Fenestraz had a very healthy lead by 0.25 but Lotterer was catching him. Lotterer got ahead of him and beat Fenestraz by 0.04 of a second!

In the third Quarter Final it was Jake Hughes and Dan Ticktum. Hughes went out first and had an early lead over Ticktum. Ticktum started to catch him but Hughes beat Ticktum by 0.134!

In the fourth Quarter Final it was Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis. Wehrlein went out first but Dennis got an early lead. He then built it to over 4 tenths but he got through by only 0.02!

Knocked Out in Quarter Finals:

Buemi, Fenestraz, Ticktum, and Wehrlein.

Semi Finals:

In the first semi finals it was Andre Lotterer and Lucas Di Grassi. Lotterer went wide on the middle of the lap and that put Di Grassi over 1.5 seconds ahead of him. Di Grassi went though to the final after that error from Lotterer.

In the second semi final it was Jake Dennis and Jake Hughes. Jake Dennis went our first but Hughes got the jump on Dennis. Dennis quickly got some more time and started to catch. Jake Hughes had some slides in the final moments of the lap so Dennis got through to the final.

Knocked Out in Semi Finals:

Hughes and Lotterer

Final:

In the final it was Lucas Di Grassi and Jake Dennis. Di Grassi went out first Di Grassi got an early lead and Dennis had 2 errors early on the lap. This lead Di Grassi to win the final!

Final Winner:

Di Grassi

Did you expect Lucas Di Grassi to take pole position in his first race with Mahindra? Do you think he can maintain pole to take the first win of the season?

2nd January 2023

Changes and Additions to know before Formula E Season 9

As a new year begins in the world, a new era dawns on a motorsport series. This time, it relates to Formula E. The changes being brought it are pretty huge in comparison to the previous generation.

2 Gen 3 Cars in testing. Credit: Formula E

Sporting Regulation Changes:

Laps replaced timed races:
One of the most notable changes for the Formula E championship is the removal of timed races and the introduction of lap raced. This brings it on par with some of its other counterparts in the FIA series such as Formula 1. The amount of laps is unknown but this may bring a curveball into the team’s strategy. With this change, if there are any Safety Cars or Full Course Yellows at any stage during a race, more laps will be added onto the end of the race to maintain consistency.

Goodbye FanBoost, hello Attack Charge:
A key feature in Formula E, FanBoost, will be removed. This feature saw fans vote for a driver to gain 5% more power near the end of the race. However a new feature will be added: Attack Charge. Attack Charge is a 30 second stop which is mandatory which will allow the energy in the car to be increased from 300kW to 350kW. This will be trialled at certain races throughout the season and where it is not at the races, Attack Mode will be reinstated.

Rookie Sessions in FP1:
Following the footsteps of Formula 1, Formula E will allow drivers who have “never previously competed in the championship” to have at least 2 FP1 sessions during the season. These are mandatory and they will allow young drivers to see what Formula E has to offer as a sport.

Speaking about these regulation changes, Formula E CEO Jamie Reigle said that the new regulations “are evidence of the continued evolution and positive impact of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship” They go on to state that ” The combination of sporting enhancements, a step change in car performance, cutting-edge battery technology and the innovation of Attack Charge will make our racing more competitive and entertaining .”

Team and Calendar Changes:

3 cars on track in pre season testing. Credit: Formula E

New Teams and Drivers:
As with a traditional motor racing series, there have been changes to the driver line ups at teams and a few team changes. The most obvious one is Mercedes EQ have left the world of Formula E and have been replaced by McLaren.
McLaren’s line up is Jake Hughes and Rene Rast. The Formula E champion of 2022 Stoffel Vandoorne has gone to Penske while Nyck DeVries has gone over to Formula 1’s Alpha Tauri team.

Nissan have signed Sacha Fenestraz who took over from Antonio Giovinazzi at the final race last year, Sergio Sete Camara has joined NIO 333, Andre Lotterer has joined Avalanche Andretti with Antonio Felix da Costa joining Porsche and Mahindra Racing signing Lucas Di Grassi. These changes are expected to spice up the grid and the racing.

New Venues Enter the Calandar:
With a new season of Formula E also brings new and exciting venues which bring a factor of unpredictable to the track. The 4th, 5th and 6th rounds of Season 9 are the majority of the new venues on the calandar. These are Hyderabad in India, Cape Town in South Africa and Sao Paulo in Brazil. The final new venue for this season is Portland, America. Each of these venues are set to bring new and exciting changes for the drivers and the teams.

Formula E kicks off the start of the new era in Mexico City on 14th January 2023.

12th December 2022

Important Motorsport Dates for 2023

Motorsport at present will not be interrupted by any third party events, so according to current calendars we have racing from the weekend we go into 2023 with the Dakar Rally, through to December with national events and eSports. Here are just a small selection of dates to keep free as a motorsport enthusiast!

14th January

Formula E starts its third generation at the beloved Autodromo Hermamos Rodriguez in Mexico City, where we shall see the new era of cars reach 200mph hour and a new format of racing begin. McLaren and Maserati enter the fray with a mix up of drivers, so keep the date free! Formula E expects more overtaking in much smaller and lighter machinery, and don’t forget that all the qualifying and racing in one day so an action-packed day looms!

19th February

On this day, you shall see the 65th running of the “Great-American Race” at Daytona Beach in Florida. Daytona is one of three Superspeedways in the States, the others being Indianapolis and Talladega. Fan-favourite Jimmie Johnson is expected to return for the Stock Car Series, which would have seven former winners in the field. Even if NASCAR is not your taste, I do advise it as a watch as they do race on tracks of COTA and Road America throughout the year. There is also the conclusion of the Asian Le Mans series at Yas Marina on the same day, which is a four-hour event.

YAS MARINA CIRCUIT, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (Photo by Mark Sutton / LAT Images)

26th-28th May

This weekend is a belter. In Europe and stateside we have two of the three legs of the ‘Triple Crown’ running simultaneously. On Saturday is the F1 Monaco Grand Prix, where on most occasions qualifying could be more important than the Sunday. On Sunday we have the 107th running of the Indy 500 at the Brickyard. Monaco could be more of a tactical battle strategy, followed by seeing the complete flipside of motorsport with cars going at 220mph for nearly three hours! Do not forget to finish off the day one of the speedways. NASCAR has the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, so if no problems do arise with cautions and delays you could watch all three consecutively, a true treat to a motorsport fan!

10/11 June

The final third of the ‘Triple Crown’ would be the famous Le Mans 24 hours which celebrates its centenary this year. The categories for this season have either been revamped or doubled, especially the hypercar which should make it the most contested battle, with Ferrari and Peugeot joining Toyota in the battle at the top for overall victory.

Ferrari seek for victory for the first time since 1965 when legendary Jochen Rindt won as part of the team and Peugeot more recently with the 908 in 2009. The middle classes of LMP2 and GTE will continue to be as close as ever throughout the race and season, a race that is 6/7 times longer than Indy 500 can be separated by seconds overall. The go-to section if you want to go would be the Porsche Curves, a fantastic section to see a car hooked up in qualifying or race mode!

Photo: Rick Dole
©2010 Rick Dole/All Rights Reserved.

24th September

MotoGP heads to India. The Buddh International Circuit was first used in 2011 by F1, the banked 10-12 turns having an Istanbul Park feel. India is second most populated country with nearly 1.4 billion people and with reports of over 200 million owning a motorcycle which is a 75/25 ratio making it perfect sense for bikes to race here.

It will be great to see the track return to the world stage as the Grand Prix of Bharat and with bikes it has the chance to provide some fantastic overtaking opportunities. National racing has taken place there from 2016, but do expect the likes of WSBK to strike a deal in the future as this will be an instant success! Along with this, F1 hosts the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, the European Le Mans Series is at Spa and British Touring Cars is at Silverstone. Three of the most iconic tracks in use along with MotoGP possibly breaking into India.

19th November

Is it another cash cow or F1 gone bust with a third race in America with the race in Vegas? It is not the first time F1 has gone racing in Vegas, as they had two races in the 80’s. They raced at Caesars Palace in 1981 and 1982. It is expected that they will be using the Las Vegas Strip in the night race featuring 17 corners going past the previously used palace and Casinos.

The festival in 2022 that announced the race went well and it comes across as an unique event. With the race being the penultimate round of the season we could see a driver or constructor be crowned here – what a place to do so!

Qatar continues to go strength to strength with MotoGP at Losail for another race in penultimate round of this year’s series this weekend as well. An honourable mention for WRC which concludes in Japan on this day too.

Just a few dates to advise! We will give you weekly updates of all events from Speedway to F1 happening on that weekend. Looks like a fantastic year ahead.

14th August 2022

Top Stoff!: Vandoorne Crowned Champion in Formula E Finale

Stoffel Vandoorne claimed his first Formula E title at the finale staged in South Korea’s capital Seoul this weekend. The Belgian scooped another podium to cement victory, with Mercedes also claiming the spoils in the constructor’s championship, a perfect swan song for the departing manufacturer. The Mercedes man held off a late charge from title rival Mitch Evans who won the race yesterday to take the championship as the curtain fell on the Gen 2 era. Vandoorne started the race from P4, with Evans in an insurmountable P15, but it was Edo Mortara who claimed victory in the final race of the Gen 2 era, a stark difference to the day before where his Venturi stopped on track. Jake Dennis continued his incredible form and shrugged off a five second time penalty to round out the podium.

Da Costa took a dominant pole position, the departing Techeetah man looking impressive through qualifying. He made light work of Robin Frijns in the opening duel but Dennis was a more difficult challenge, the Portuguese man scoring a place in the final by a mere two tenths. Mortara, another dominant force throughout the new qualifying format had to settle for lining up in second position as Da Costa delivered an all but perfect pole lap, a fitting end to this generation as the Portuguese driver was the first to secure a pole position in the Gen 2 era. London ePrix winner Dennis also looked impressive in qualifying, but he just fell short having to settle for P3. Behind Vandoorne, Frijns and Lucas di Grassi rounded out the top six. Evans struggled as the clock ticked down and a brief impact with the wall left the Kiwi out of the duels as Dan Ticktum surged up the rankings at the last moment in a surprise inclusion, Nio’s first appearance in the duels. The Brit started the race in a respectable seventh position.

Da Costa held the lead at the start of the race, however, he soon came under pressure from Mortara. The Venturi man, hungry to shrug off the disappointment of his race ending from mechanical failure the previous day, surged past Da Costa on the third lap and after that, he never looked back. Mortara continued to manage his energy to seal victory in Formula E’s 100th race – fittingly, Mortara also won the 50th race of the electric series. On the other side of the garage, it was a race to forget for London podium winner Di Grassi as he was forced out of a points-paying position due to a puncture which all but handed victory in the team’s championship to Mercedes for the second year running. Former world champion Nyck de Vries was also forced out early on after a tangle with Pascal Wehrlein put both of them out of the race.

As the time ticked down, the leaders settled into a rhythm until the dying stages when Max Gunther’s Nissan stopped on track, forcing a late safety car. However, despite the squeeze, Mortara held firm against the pressure whilst Dennis and Da Costa tangled together, which sent the Portuguese driver to the back of the pack after he was forced wide. The incident handed Dennis a five second time penalty, with the Brit looking like he would lose his hard fought podium, but the Brit managed to hold off Robin Frijns, who rounded out the season in P4. Oliver Askew had a relatively quiet race, finishing in P5 ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne. Title hopeful Evans could only manage P7, with Nick Cassidy getting a few points to add to his tally in P8. Sebastien Buemi monopolised on other’s failure taking P9 and Da Costa rounded out the top ten, taking the final point.

30th July 2022

Hometown Hero! London ePrix Race 1 Report

Jake Dennis delighted the crowds of his home race in Formula E, by winning the London ePrix for the second year running. The penultimate round was held in the streets of London on an outdoor and indoor track, the first of its kind in international motorsport competition. The Andretti man held his nerve against championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne, who extended his lead in the championship, capitalising on his rivals’ failure to reach the duels. Nyck de Vries held off a late charge from New York race winner Nick Cassidy to round out the top three. However, the Dutchman was slapped with a last-minute penalty for using more than one manouvre against Cassidy who demoted him to sixth position.

The hometown hero took his first pole position of the year, ahead of his closest rival Vandoorne by over a tenth. Vandoorne continued his impressive form to start in P2, a prime slot to extend his championship as rivals Mitch Evans and Edo Mortara’s campaigns faltered. Mercedes’ stronghold continued as Nyck de Vries held P3 ahead of Sergio Sette Camara. The Brazilian once again looked impressive during qualifying, progressing to the quarter-finals which earned him P4 on the starting grid. Lucas di Grassi was initially through to the duels, however, the Venturi driver had all his laps cancelled for impeding Evans during the session which promoted Max Gunther for his first outing in the new format. Gunther managed P6, with Oliver Askew slotting his Andretti into P5.

Dennis led from the front, and the Andretti man looked unbothered by the pressure from the dual Mercedes attack behind him. He held the lead from the start and never really looked like relinquishing it. Vandoorne also had a relatively quiet race, the Belgian holding P2 comfortably for the duration of the race. Whilst the race leaders slipped away comfortably at the start, others were not so lucky. Sam Bird ended up in a tangle with Mortara on the opening lap, ending his race prematurely – whilst Mortara limped back to the pits with his championship hopes in tatters and his car damaged. Sette Camara looked impressive early on, managing to snatch away P3 in the opening stages as the battle for power within the Techeetah continued with tempers flaring between Antonio Felix da Costa and Jean-Eric Vergne. Da Costa was victorious in the battle as Vergne struggled, slipping down the order after contact with Sebastien Buemi, for which the Swiss driver was given a time penalty.

However, ultimately, London was a battle of strategy – Cassidy took his attack mode later in the race and pulled off an incredible late charge, which brought him into podium contention. There was late drama in the dying stages, as Cassidy began to close in on the Mercedes of de Vries, but the current world champion held firm before his demotion. Evans employed the same strategy, producing an incredible recovery drive to surge up the order to P5 after starting in P14. Energy management strategy didn’t work for everyone, however. Sette Camara, after an incredible performance in the opening stages, slipped down the order and out of his first points on the final lap. Da Costa claimed P7 whilst Gunther held on to finish P8. Di Grassi and Wehrlein rounded out the top ten.

16th May 2022

Mercedes Power Reigns in Berlin (Again): Berlin ePrix Race 2 Report

It was another exceptional day for Mercedes power with current world champion Nyck de Vries taking his first win since the opening round in Diriyah in the second race in Berlin. The Mercedes man made a lightning start from the second row of the grid and never looked back – he claimed a dominant and assured victory, finishing two seconds ahead of his competitors. The second race ran in the opposite direction, which coupled with the warmer conditions, threw up many challenges for the drivers with many struggling. However, for Mercedes, Berlin suited their package perfectly.

The Mercedes dominance began in qualifying as Edo Mortara claimed another pole position with an incredible display. The Venturi man claimed victory in the duels with blistering pace, beating out Envision’s Robin Frijns by four-tenths of a second. Nyck de Vries just missed out on the front row, the Dutchman had to settle for P3 ahead of Andre Lotterer who had another strong outing in the qualifying duels. Antonio Felix da Costa started from P5, alongside Lucas Di Grassi who rounded out the top six. Nick Cassidy was due to start in the top six, but a change of inverter in the Kiwi’s car forced him to drop down the order to start last after being hit with an eighty-place grid penalty.

Mortara’s hopes of a double race victory were shattered within the first lap, as de Vries took the lead sneaking up the inside of himself and Frijns. The grid order barely wavered in the opening stages until the drivers armed themselves with attack mode. On this occasion, they were permitted one usage for eight minutes which forced the drivers into different strategies. Da Costa was one of the drivers who benefited in attack mode, climbing the order into the podium positions as Frijns, who missed attack mode on his first attempt, and Lotterer both struggled to keep up with the pace at the front. Mortara wrestled P2 back from Da Costa as Di Grassi and Frijns teamed up to usurp Vandoorne. However, as the race entered the latter stages and attack mode spent, the frontrunners became clear. De Vries began to pull a gap at the front of the race as the battles continued behind him.

Vandoorne made another incredible late charge with the Mercedes clearly favouring the hotter conditions, squeezing Lucas Di Grassi out of the podium positions. However, it was his teammate that claimed victory, ahead of Mortara, a solid result for the Swiss-Italian driver with Vandoorne claiming P3. Di Grassi recovered well to take P4 ahead of Frijns and Da Costa, who were involved in a last lap battle for P5. Frijns was victorious – an excellent recovery drive given his error at the start of the race. Oliver Rowland had a stunning drive – the Mahindra man started in P10 but soon made his way through the field, finishing in an impressive P6. After struggling with temperature early in the race, Lotterer claimed P8, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne in P9 who used his fanboost in the dying stages. Mitch Evans claimed the final point on a circuit that doesn’t really favour Jaguar’s race package.

15th May 2022

Mortara claims first blood in Berlin: Race 1 Report

It was a Saturday of success for Mercedes power this weekend at their home race as Formula E returned to Berlin, a fixture on the calendar since the inaugural season. Stoffel Vandoorne headed into Saturday as the championship leader, and held the lead over his rivals but a few drivers managed to break ground and close the gap to reignite the battle at the forefront of the championship.

Edo Mortara claimed a dominant pole position in the German capital, the first of his career, beating Alexander Sims by two tenths. It was the Mahindra man’s first outing in the new qualifying format, after a bizarre situation in the semi-finals in which he and Jean-Eric Vergne posted the same identical laptime. By virtue of posting the time first, Sims claimed the spot in the final. Vergne was relegated to fourth, lining up alongside his teammate Antonio Felix Da Costa who sat in P3. Porsche teammates Andre Lotterer and Pascal Wehrlein rounded out the top six, another consistent display from the German outfit.

Mortara got away well at the front as the chaos unfurled behind him, the two Techeetahs of Vergne and Da Costa prowled, picking off Sims and the Porsche of Lotterer also looked dangerous. The four behind Mortara continued to swap positions during the opening stages of the race. Sims slipped down the order as Wehrlein was the first man in the top six to activate his attack mode. After a poor start from the opening lap, Mercedes’ man Stoffel Vandoorne began an extraordinary climb up the order, finding himself on the fringes of the podium battle. However, the Belgian had to settle for P3 ultimately, as Vergne demonstrated a defensive masterclass to hold off the Mercedes for the second step of the podium. However, it was Mortara who took the spoils in the first round, converting his long-awaited maiden pole into a win.

Lotterer took fourth in his home race, having looked menacing at the start of the race but fell back as energy consumption began to bite. It was also an excellent day at the office for the Jaguar team – double Rome winner Mitch Evans stayed quiet in the opening stages before slowly making his way up the order to capture a healthy glut of points for his championship challenge, finishing in fifth position ahead of Wehrlein. His teammate Sam Bird also climbed through the order, finishing nine places up from his starting position, a stark contrast to the problems that plagued Jaguar in Berlin last year to finish in P7.

Da Costa started well from his second row start and looked in the battle for the podium positions but he failed to keep the pace in the latter stages of the race, finishing in eighth spot. Likewise, Sims had a strong start from the front row but lacked the pace to go with the frontrunners, finishing a tenth behind Da Costa in ninth position as Nyck De Vries rounded out the top ten with the current world champion collecting the final point.

15th February 2022

Porsche Reigns Supreme in Mexico!

Formula E returned this weekend, after a two week break to the Circuit Hermanos Rodiguez after a year’s hiatus, and the venue certainly did not disappoint. The reintroduction of fans to what is arguably one of the most animated circuits on the calendar only served to make the atmosphere more electric as Pascal Wehrlein finally clinched his and Porsche’s first win in the all-electric series, with a dominant display from the front row to fend off current championship leader Edo Mortara.

Wehrlein took pole in a dominant fashion, having impressed throughout the group stages, posting the fastest time of the entire session in his group. He soon disposed of Vandoorne and Vergne to claim his position in the final duel alongside previous race winner Mortara. However, Mortara was unable to clinch his first pole in the series, missing the mark by only two tenths and had to settle for P2 and a front row start opposite the German driver. Despite this disappointment, Mortara looked strong, continuing with his fantastic form from the beginning of the season. Struggling Techeetah seemed to come into their own in the capital city, with both Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa both making the duels, lining up in P4 and P5 for the start of the race, whilst title favourites Mercedes struggled in the conditions, both drivers unable to reach the semi-finals in the new qualifying format.

Wehrlein started well, able to fend off Mortara’s attack at the start of the race whilst Alexander Sims’ bad run of luck continued with his Mahindra stopping on the first lap due to a technical issue. Wehrlein continued to hold firm until attack modes began to be deployed and strategy came into play. Mortara pounced early on to seize the lead as Porsche worried over energy management and both Wehrlein and Lotterer began to slip down the order, the pair both caught by Vergne in the early stages. Both Vergne and Da Costa began to hunt down Mortara for the lead, but Porsche had already begun to claw back the positions they had lost earlier.

Wehrlein, with more energy than those around him, was given the order to hurry things up and cleared Vergne shortly after, before he hunted down Mortara to retake the lead of the race and the German driver never vanquished the position, Lotterer was ordered to stay behind to ensure that a repeat of last year’s events in Puebla did not occur, leaving the Porsche veteran still searching for his first win in the electric series. Both Porsches crossed the line with just over a second to go, forcing an extra lap onto many drivers’ already tight energy management strategies – it worked well for Porsche who were able to claim a dominant 1-2 in the city that has caused them so much pain in the past, Vergne picked up his first podium of the season, taking a well deserved P3.

The extra lap did not work out so well for others such as Envision’s Robin Frijns who looked incredible in the middle of the race and was forced to manage his depleting energy reserves in the latter stages. Equally, Mitch Evans and Sam Bird finally looked to have some decent points on the board for Jaguar before the extra lap forced them to run out of energy halfway through the final lap.

Formula E will return in Rome on April 9th.

31st January 202211th April 2023

Diriyah EPrix: Mercedes power runs riot!

It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for the constructor’s champions Mercedes as Formula E kicked off in Riyadh for the start of the eighth season. In race one, the German outfit looked to have lost none of the momentum of last season with Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries dominating proceedings in the series new-look qualifying format. However, it was Vandoorne who took first blood in the fight snatching pole by three tenths from the current reigning champion and from Andretti’s Jake Dennis, who continued his excellent form from last season.

However, in the race, De Vries showed why he is the man to beat, sweeping past Dennis in the opening lap. After that, all he had to do was lie in wait for Vandoorne. He seized the opportunity when Vandoorne missed the second sensor when taking his attack mode, forcing his way past his teammate, holding the lead into the end of the race. Despite Vandoorne’s error, the Belgian finished a comfortable second to gift Mercedes a 1-2 finish. Dennis took third for Andretti and on the other side of the garage, his teammate Oliver Askew scored his first point, an excellent outing for the American rookie.

Porsche’s Andre Lotterer also had a strong start to his campaign, lining up in P4 for the first race. He battled with Dennis in the opening stages, but as the race wore on and energy management became critical, he began to fade. Lucas di Grassi, fresh from his move from Audi, wasted no time in getting to grips with his Venturi. The Brazilian looked like the champion of old, working his way up the order and in the latter stages fought with Sam Bird for P4 but ultimately, he had to yield. However, it’s clear that Venturi aren’t afraid to make their presence heard and will certainly be a fierce competitor to their suppliers Mercedes.

In race two, it seemed that the dominance of Mercedes was going to become a constant this season. De Vries snatched pole position from Edo Mortara, completely dominating the duels. As the race got underway, it seemed that this dominance would continue as De Vries held the lead at the start. The Dutchman looked certain to take back-to-back victories before the strategies of those around him brought those dreams crashing down. He elected not to take his attack mode which left him vulnerable to di Grassi’s attack. The two made contact, leaving the reigning champion to slip down the order as Mortara and Robin Frijns pounced.

Mortara soon passed his teammate in the latter stages to claim the lead, a position he never really vanquished, despite having to hold off a late charge from Frijns and a late safety car after Alexander Sims ended up in the wall. The safety car stayed out as the time ticked out and ultimately ended any last-minute action on track as Mortara claimed his third win in Formula E.

Frijns looked strong this race, slipping past di Grassi to take P2, and could have certainly challenged for the win had the safety car not ended proceedings early. Di Grassi took his first podium of the season, whilst Lotterer again put in a decent shift to finish P4. It was ultimately a race to forget for Jaguar with Mitch Evans and Sam failing to get near the points, after having problems all weekend. However, ultimately, it was Mercedes who ruled the roost in Diriyah all weekend sending a warning call to all their competitors – but Andretti and Envision have shown huge potential. Only time will tell if Diriyah was just a lucky streak for the current champions.

Formula E will return on 12th February in Mexico City.