Paris ePrix: Seven Winners in Seven Races, An Unpredictable Start to the Season!

Unprecedented in five seasons! A rather hierarchical discipline, mainly dominated by Audi Sport Abt and Renault e.Dams, the new championship has reshuffled the deck, notably thanks to these “Gen 2” cars, radically different from their predecessors. The result: all teams have started from a clean slate, or almost, and no one has really gained the upper hand in the long term.

“The Magnificent Seven”

It all began in Saudi Arabia on December 15, 2018. On a brand-new circuit set in the streets of Ad Diriyah, António Félix da Costa (BMW Andretti) claimed victory after securing the pole position. Overtaken by Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah) in the first quarter-hour, the Portuguese driver benefited from a drive-through penalty imposed on the Frenchman. Vergne rejoined in 4th place, showcasing an impressive performance as he climbed back to second place and was aggressive towards the end of the race, yet da Costa held his ground!

The winner of the first race was also a key player in the second race in Marrakech, Morocco. Starting 6th, da Costa climbed to third place in the first lap, overtaking Alexander Sims (his teammate at BMW Andretti) and then Sam Bird (Team Virgin) within the first ten minutes of the race. In the lead, da Costa then collided with Sims, with the latter attempting an overly ambitious overtake. Da Costa was forced to retire, Sims dropped to fourth place, and Jérôme d’Ambrosio seized the opportunity. The Mahindra Racing driver withstood the pressure from Robin Frijns of Team Virgin to claim victory himself!

Necessarily disappointed with his fourth place, Sam Bird’s moment of glory came at the third ePrix, in the streets of Santiago, Chile. The Briton won the race, ahead of Pascal Wehrlein (Mahindra Racing) and Daniel Abt (Audi Sport). The last three champions of the discipline faced a catastrophic race: Sébastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams), pole-sitter and victim of a crash into a wall, Vergne, stopped after a collision early in the race, and Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport), only 12th after a disqualification during the qualifiers.

But certainly, the wheel turns very quickly in Formula E, with di Grassi winning an ePrix in turn, this time in Mexico, again after a Hitchcockian scenario! Leading thanks to his pole position, despite a red flag and a major collision between Nelson Piquet (Jaguar Racing) and Vergne, Pascal Wehrlein ran out of battery in the final acceleration and conceded victory to di Grassi, who just managed to pass along the wall under the checkered flag to win.

The next round in Hong Kong crowned a winner on the green carpet. First to the finish, Sam Bird was disqualified for his involvement in a collision with André Lotterer’s DS Techeetah, who was the leader at the time. The victory went to… Edoardo Mortara, the Swiss driver for Venturi, the Monegasque team, celebrating his first success in Formula E since his arrival… in 2014, right from the start of the discipline!

The Formula E remained in Southeast Asia, with a new race held in the city of Sanya, China. This edition was marked by the comeback of the reigning champion, Jean-Eric Vergne! A major accident once again affected the race, involving the British driver Sims, as well as a big collision between Frijns and di Grassi, just before the finish. The pack finished slowly under yellow flag conditions, with a Vergne-Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.Dams driver, his first podium in the discipline) and da Costa trio.

Finally, the latest ePrix took place two weeks ago on the streets of Rome! The start of a four-race European tour that benefited the Jaguar team. The celebrated British manufacturer claimed its first motorsport victory since the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the winning car was Mitch Evans: the New Zealander was rewarded after finding a gap past Lotterer, who had led for a long time. A tightly-executed but legal overtake and a first victory in Formula E for the driver, managed by Mark Webber. This Italian race was also interrupted by a red flag on the first lap, with about ten cars getting stuck in a corner following the crash of José Maria Lopez’s Dragon Racing car in front of them.

You understood it, each ePrix has thus brought its share of twists and turns, right to the very end. A number to illustrate this observation: five, like the number of races where the second-place finisher ends in the same second as the winner! The largest gap? Six seconds and four tenths, a “chasm,” between Sam Bird, winner in Santiago, Chile, ahead of Pascal Wehrlein.

The standings in the drivers’ championship: d’Ambrosio leader, nine drivers within 11 points!

“Only” on the podium twice, Jérôme d’Ambrosio is nevertheless the leader of the overall standings, with 65 points. Even more surprising, the Mahindra Racing driver took the lead thanks to a mere eighth place in Rome! Additionally, his low total contrasts with the 130 points of Jean-Eric Vergne, who was the leader at the same time in 2018.

But this year, the field is extremely tight: nine drivers can currently vie for the top spot in the championship. From the Belgian to Edoardo Mortara, ninth with 52 points, everything is open. Among these drivers are Antonio Felix da Costa, the only driver to have been on the podium three times, Mitch Evans, the only driver to have scored points in every race, and the two DS Techeetah drivers, André Lotterer and Jean-Eric Vergne. The reigning champion has indeed used up a few chances due to several collisions, but yes, a victory in Paris could allow him to take the reins of this completely unpredictable season!

The current standings in the Constructors’ Championship: DS Techeetah leads the way before Paris!

Situation barely more readable: the presence of Lotterer and Vergne in this famous leading pack gives DS Techeetah the first place in the constructors’ standings with 116 points. The Franco-Chinese alliance leads Envision Virgin by 7 points. Also well placed are Mahindra and Audi Sport Abt, tied in third place with 102 points. Finally, note that all teams have had their share of the cake: the last team, Dragon, 11th, scored two points in Chile, thanks to José Maria Lopez.