Formula E was back in the Big Apple after the enforced hiatus in 2020 – and whilst it was a rather tame affair by FE standards, there was still a decent amount of action across the weekend. Here are the report cards from rounds 10 & 11 of the 2020/21 season.
Race 1 – Top of the class:
Maximilian Günther – Qualifying: 4th | Race: 1st
For the driver with the most Super Pole appearances this season, it has thus far been a disappointing year for the young German. Whilst rookie teammate Jake Dennis taking a victory in Valencia race 2, Maximilian hadn’t even set foot on a podium this year. That all changed with a stellar drive on the Saturday.
Once again making it into the top 6 in Group Qualifying, the BMW i Andretti driver would line up a respectable P4 in race 1 and would hold out the position for the opening phase of the race.
The German would move up to P3 with a bold move on Audi’s Lucas di Grassi in Attack Mode, but would later find himself under attack despite having more energy in hand.
However, his efficient driving allowed Günther to close on the top two, and when Techeetah’s Jean-Éric Vergne ran deep at the turn 10 hairpin barging past race leader Nick Cassidy, Günther was able to jump both of them by taking the shallow line into the corner.
Having taken the lead with more than eight minutes of the race left, Maximilian breezed to victory, his third in the series, but it was an important result after a scrappy season. To do it on home soil for Andretti was the cherry on top.
Nick Cassidy – Qualifying: 1st | Race: 4th
Interesting to see that Günther and Cassidy effectively swapped positions in the race, but I feel that Cassidy drove a particularly strong race for the first 37 minutes, so deserves a place on this list, especially because of an upturn in form over recent rounds.
Saturday was the Kiwi’s second pole of the season, and he took it by over a tenth. Unlike Rome where Cassidy’s lead lasted all of about two corners before he spun, Nick led the vast majority of the race until the move from Vergne at turn 10.
It was hard but fair racing, one of those that Nick couldn’t do much to change the outcome, but a P4 result is still respectable, showing brilliant pace in the Envision Virgin car, but he was pounced on by more experienced drivers.
Robin Frijns – Qualifying: 11th | Race: 5th
Arguably the most consistent driver of the 2020/21 season makes yet another appearance in this list for salvaging a strong qualifying and earning points despite being in the dreaded Group 1 slot.
Posting the 11th best time was probably the best Frijns could hope for due to the nature of the track and its surface, but Robin also had a really strong race and was able to leapfrog the Mahindras and Porsches to follow Cassidy home in 5th, which moved Frijns level at the top of the Championship with Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara.
On a side note, there’s only so much whining from the drivers and fans I can take about the qualifying format, drivers have shown that they can still make Super Pole despite running earlier on a green track. Either suck it up or actively suggest a better alternative. I actually like how it gives teams with less optimal cars an opportunity to mix up the grids.
The struggle bus:
Mercedes EQ Formula E Team
I don’t know what has gone on at the team. It looked like we were going to see them dominate this season in a similar fashion to F1, but instead they’ve crumbled into midfield mediocrity.
Despite being in Group 2, Stoffel Vandoorne could only muster up a time good enough for 21st on the grid. Teammate Nyck de Vries was a lowly 18th from running in Group 1. In the race, Nyck would only progress to 13th whilst Stoffel retired again due to accident damage.
Whether it’s the move to Silverstone, or whether it was the brake changes made after the scary Ad Diriyah shunt for Mortara (whose Venturi car uses Mercedes powertrains), something has gone drastically wrong at the team.
The close nature of the Championship means both Vandoorne and de Vries are still in contention despite a really poor run of form (both have only scored points on 4 occasions ), however the turn in performance would need to be drastic for London and Berlin for that to happen.
Edoardo Mortara’s ROKiT Venturi car
The Championship leader had a compromised weekend anyway, facing little prospect of a good starting place due to his position in the standings, as the Swiss/Italian was hampered by the fact that his car wouldn’t go into the 235kW mode for qualifying.
As such, Mortara started race 1 in 23rd place and would make very little progress from there. Not much else he could have done which is why his car makes the list.
Pascal Wehrlein – Qualifying: 6th | Race: DNF
No penalties this time to ruin Wehrlein’s day (or weekend – thinking back to Puebla) but a rare error from the Porsche driver wrecked his race 1.
Having started 6th, the German was running where he started until he missed the braking zone at turn 10 and harpooned the rear of Mahindra’s Alex Lynn 12 minutes into the race. Pascal would retire with suspension damage and whilst Lynn was able to continue, he would slide out of the points with diffuser damage caused in the incident.
Not exactly the bounce-back Pascal was looking for, but at least he could go again the following day.
Race 2 – Top of the class:
Sam Bird – Qualifying: 1st (+topped Group Qualifying) | Race: 1st
After a chaotic Saturday that saw two crashes in FP2 and Qualifying respectively, Sam somehow rescued a P9 and fastest lap from 20th on the grid. The Jaguar driver turned up on Sunday and chose dominance.
Qualifying on Sunday was a close affair with Sam nudging pole by less than a tenth from teammate Mitch Evans, and Bird lead from lights to flag albeit with a change between the two during Attack Mode phases.
It was the perfect race for Bird as he won his 12th Formula E race by nearly five seconds, tying him with Lucas di Grassi as joint second in the wins list. Sam’s victory on the streets of Brooklyn means he is now the first driver to win three races at the same venue in FE, having done so in 2017 and 2018.
The haul of 29 points launches Bird from 13th to 1st in the Driver’s Standings heading into a double header in London, which just about emphasises how close this Championship really is.
Nick Cassidy – Qualifying: 3rd | Race: 2nd
It’s very rare for a driver to make the top of the class list for both races on a double-header, but Nick deserves this accolade. Having experienced leading an ePrix and the disappointment of missing out on a deserved podium on Saturday, the Envision Virgin driver equipped himself to deliver that in race 2.
He may not have got pole this time, but had impressive pace throughout the race, learning a key lesson from the Saturday race in needing to be a bit more energy-savvy on the streets of Brooklyn.
Pouncing on a rare Evans error at turn 3 with three minutes left, Cassidy rose up to 2nd and that is where he finished. Coming away from the NYC double-header with the joint highest number of points (with Bird) and moving up from 14th to 5th in the Driver’s standings. It certainly was an impressive weekend for the rookie who has adapted well to the series.
Norman Nato – Qualifying: 10th | Race: 7th
An under-the-radar performance from the ROKiT Venturi driver. But this was, in my opinion, his best performance this season. Whilst he had the podium (later disqualified for energy overuse) in Rome II and the P5 in Valencia II, those two races had a weather-affected qualifying. This result was purely on pace.
Sunday was his best dry qualifying of the season and he battled valiantly with a damaged car to be on the fringes of the points the entire race. He was able to take advantage of penalties and slowing cars to take home some well-earned points.
Whilst there is still a considerable gap between himself and teammate Mortara in the Championship, Nato does look to be at home in the series now, albeit a bit slower to adapt than his fellow rookies Cassidy and Dennis.
The struggle bus:
Jean-Éric Vergne’s DS Techeetah car
Another driver left powerless by an unreliable car, except Vergne arguably had it even worse than Mortara. The Season 4 and 5 Champion broke down in qualifying having only set a banker lap, therefore started the race last on the grid.
Unfortunately for JEV, his race lasted the formation lap as his car failed to move when the lights went out, a pretty shoddy way to end his weekend at a venue where he was crowned Champion on two occasions.
At least he had a podium on Saturday which has nudged him into Championship contention, but it will be worrying for Techeetah that the reliability was so bad considering their powertrain is one of the newest on the grid, having delayed the introduction of the E-Tense FE21 to April.
Lucas di Grassi – Qualifying: 12th | Race: 14th (demoted from 7th due to penalty)
From a decent P3 on Saturday to another race marred by a silly incident for the Season 3 Champion. The Audi driver copped a 10-second penalty for ramming Nissan e.dams’ Sébastien Buemi at turn 6 midway through the race.
It was a slam dunk penalty. So after having worked his way up to the points after a middle-of-the-road qualifying for race 2, di Grassi plummeted back down the order and came away with 0 points on Sunday. It is also no consolation for Buemi who was having a decent weekend until that incident.
It is extra disappointing considering he is the most experienced driver on the grid, these are mistakes I’d expect the rookies to make, not a driver who has competed in 79 races in the series.
The Season 8 Calendar
Ok, this may have been announced before Shakedown on Friday, but I thought I’d include a quick line on next season’s calendar…choices were made.
Seeing new additions in Cape Town and Vancouver certainly is exciting – whist Seoul gets its date rubber-stamped after being cancelled twice because of the pandemic. What I’m not a fan of is the crisscrossing nature that irks me with F1, but even more so with FE, as it is supposed to be a more sustainable alternative series.
Of course, we can’t take anything for granted with the global situation and I still expect changes to be made even in 2022. But 16 races in 12 cities sound like a great idea but the logistics behind the calendar is just not doing it for me.
With the North America leg completed, Formula E heads home for the first time in five years, the London ePrix is back on the weekend of July 24th and 25th, this time at a new venue. Having been cancelled last season, the series will make its debut at the ExCeL Arena with the track largely running indoors, a first for the series.
Whilst it’s disappointing that there won’t be many fans in attendance (I’m definitely not bitter because I had tickets to go the planned ePrix there last season), this is lining up to be an intriguing venture for Formula E so I’d highly recommend tuning in.
