Did anyone else feel as if that Formula E season flew by? It was almost a case of "blink and you'll miss it." Regardless, it was one that was full of action, controversies and a championship battle that went down to the penultimate round in London, where the British driver himself, Jake Dennis, took home the all important Championship trophy in front of his adoring home crowd. But, now that it's all done and dusted for another year, let's take a look back at the action from 2023.
The season opened all the way back in January with an action packed Mexico City E-Prix. Lucas di Grassi, in his maiden race for Mahindra, was on pole and managed to keep the rest of the field behind him during the opening stages of the race later on in the day. A collision between the ABT Cupra of Robin Frijns and the Nissan of Norman Nato brought out the safety car, neutralising the race. Both drivers retired, the former with a broken wrist. However, it was a late lunge by Jake Dennis on di Grassi that scored him the win. Pascal Wehrlein would also overtake the Mahindra to finish 2nd, with di Grassi in 3rd.
Next up was the first double header of the season in Saudi Arabia with the Diriyah E-Prix, with Kelvin Van Der Linde replacing the injured Robin Frijns. Envision driver; Sebastien Buemi, placed his car on pole for the first race. However, on lap 7, Jaguar's Sam Bird, took the lead. Not long after, Buemi then had the Porsche of Wehrlein in his wing mirrors, with the German driver on the charge. He took 2nd from Buemi and later the lead from Bird, before storming to victory. Dennis would come 2nd with Bird in 3rd.
Race number 2 in Diriyah and this time it was pole for McLaren and Jake Hughes. However, moments into the race, the leader was overtaken by yet another Jaguar. This time Mitch Evans. But, McLaren didn't hold back and their second driver, Rene Rast, also spent some time in the lead before Wehrlein, again, came on the charge. The Porsche driver would win for the second race in a row. He was joined on the podium by Dennis and Rast.
It was off to India for Round 4, with Mitch Evans and Jean-Eric Vergne lining up on the front row. After a good start from the pair, Buemi would overtake them both for the lead on lap 7. Things then quickly escalated for Evans, who was hit by his teammate, eliminating both Jaguars from the race. Later on, Vergne made his move for the lead, snatching it away from Buemi. Nick Cassidy, in the second Envision, made the most of attack mode to find himself in 2nd. A safety car was later deployed when Hughes made contact with the wall, setting of a chain reaction at the restart that would see both Rast and Dennis eliminated from the race. But, for Vergne, it was victory. His first for the DS Penske team. Cassidy and Antonio Felix da Costa would finish in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Not only was Round 5 the first E-Prix to be held in Cape Town, it was also the first pole position for Nissan's Sacha Fenestraz. However, with mayhem at the start, that saw retirements for Wehrlein and Buemi, Fenestraz found himself loosing the lead to Cassidy after the first round of attacks. Later, da Costa would take the lead, but a fatal error in missing the attack mode activation points meant he would reluctantly hand it over to Vergne. da Costa needed to redeem himself and took the lead once again. He finished 0.2 seconds ahead of Vergne and Cassidy. Pole sitter, Fenestraz, would crash out on the final lap.
São Paulo, Brazil. Another inaugural race being held on this year's Formula E calendar. Robin Frijns was back for ABT Cupra after his injury, but it would be the reigning World Champion, Stoffel Vandoorne, gracing pole position. The lights went out and it was battle, after battle for the lead, with Cassidy being the eventual leader. A collision between Dan Ticktum, Dennis and Wehrlein ended Dennis's race much earlier than anticipated. But it was the Jaguar of Evans that would take the chequered flag, ahead of Cassidy, in the Envision, and Bird, the the second Jaguar.
The next double header of the season awaited the drivers in Berlin, Germany where Buemi was on pole for the second time in 2023. After early attack mode activations, which changed the lead numerous times, it was Evans that was the eventual leader. Several Safety Car periods plagued the drivers during this round with Sergio Sette Camara and Rene Rast, Dan Ticktum and Stoffel Vandoorne and Jake Dennis and Antonio Felix da Costa, all coming together in separate incidents. However, despite all of this, it was Evans that would take the win. His teammate, Bird, and the Maserati of Max Guenther would complete the podium.
The rain came down during the second qualifying session in Germany, which led to a surprise front row lock out for the ABT Cupra team and their drivers, Robin Frijns and Nico Mueller. It was a quiet race with many of the battles taking place in the first half, with drivers choosing to activate attack mode early. On lap 25, Nick Cassidy made a move for the lead. He would be the eventual winner with Jake Dennis in 2nd and Jean-Eric Vergne in 3rd. Mueller, who started on the front row, finished 9th, scoring ABT Cupra's first points of the season.
Half-way into the season and it was on to Monaco. Sacha Fenestraz scored his maiden pole position. However, due to an energy consumption infringement, he was disqualified, handing pole to the McLaren man of Jake Hughes. In an incident-filled race, Hughes got off the line well. But, for other drivers such as Lotterer, Rowland, Ticktum, Nato, Guenther and Mueller, it was a race to forget with crashes and incidents effecting them all. Championship contenders, Evans and Cassidy found themselves flying through the field, with the latter leading, when a late race safety car was deployed for the stricken ABT Cupra. The race would go onto end under the SC with Cassidy taking the chequered flag ahead of Evans. Dennis completed the podium.
It was an interesting first half of the season with numerous championship leaders. After a strong start, Wehrlein's consistency faltered, which cost him the championship lead to Nick Cassidy. Dennis, who also had some troublesome races, had dropped into third with the ever improving Jaguar of Mitch Evans only two points behind. With seven races remaining, a lot of questions were waiting to be answered. Can Cassidy keep his impressive form up? Can Wehrlein fight back? What about our reigning world champ; Stoffel Vandoorne? Can he get is first win of the season?
The mid-season break was over and it was on to Indonesia for the double header; Jakarta E-Prix, with two new drivers joining the grid. David Beckmann would be standing in for Andre Lotterer at Andretti and Roberto Merhi would be replacing Oliver Rowland at Mahindra. Maserati had a good start to the weekend with Guenther taking the team's first pole position. However, the German driver could only hold on until lap 4, when the Porsche of Wehrlein came steaming past. After a tough start to the race, Dennis, who had dropped from 2nd to 4th, quickly recovered and found himself back in the top 2. But, it was disaster for Jaguar with both of their drivers colliding with each other, forcing Evans to retire. Wehrlein would take the win, closing in on the championship lead. Dennis and Guenther would make up the remaining podium places.
Race 2 in Jakarta and Guenther had taken a second, consecutive pole position. During the first round of attack modes, the Maserati driver dropped back into third with Evans and Dennis ahead of him. Taking their second attack modes, Guenther leap frogged Dennis and eventually Evans, who was now in third. Further down the field, there was a battle between the top two in the championship; Cassidy and Wehrlein. Cassidy would sustain front wing damage and drop out of the points, leaving Wehrlein to finish in 6th and retake the Championship lead. Guenther would win, a first for Maserati as a whole since 1957. Dennis took a consecutive 2nd place, in as many days, with Evans behind in 3rd.
A new venue was on the cards for Round 12 at the fast-paced Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon. Pole sitter, Dennis, had a decent few opening laps before the first activation modes dropped him behind the Nissan of Norman Nato. Envision and Cassidy, who hadn't had the best of qualifyings, were on the path to redeem themselves and took the lead from Nato not long before a safety car interrupted play. After Mueller's stricken ABT Cupra was recovered, after a hefty crash caused by a brake failure, the race for the win was on. da Costa took the the lead with Cassidy and Dennis putting the pressure on through every corner. Both the Envision driver and the Andretti driver eventually made it past the Porsche into 1st and 2nd. This is how they would finish come the chequered flag with da Costa holding onto 3rd. Cassidy's win took him back into the lead of the Championship.
Onto Race 1 of 2 in Rome, with last year's race winner, Evans, on pole position. He would lose the lead, to his teammate, at the start of the race, but would quickly gain it back again. Lotterer was out after crashing his Andretti. But, it was the incident on lap 9 that had everyone talking. The race was red flagged after Bird lost control on a high-speed part of the circuit, with Buemi clipping his rear and veering off into the barrier. da Costa would then collide with Buemi and di Grassi with a slow Wehrlein. Then came Edoardo Mortara, in his Maserati, plowing into the side of Bird at speed. Frijns also sustained enough damage in the crash to retire from the race. All drivers were, thankfully, ok. Fenestraz led the cars away at the restart, but pole sitter Evans used his remaining attack mode to his advantage and retook the lead. Dennis and Cassidy had also made their way to the front of the field with Cassidy getting past Dennis for 2nd. Evans would win with his championship rivals, Cassidy and Dennis, in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
With the championship battle heating up, many were anticipating action in the second race in Rome and, that's exactly what they got, with Dennis and Cassidy on the front row of the grid. Mitch Evans would be behind in 3rd. The race initially got underway with no problems. But, on lap 2, it was disaster for Cassidy and Evans, with Evans colliding with Cassidy as the latter made a move for the lead. Both drivers were left with extensive damage and Evans would eventually retire from the race. As for Championship leader, Dennis, he cruised to victory and grew his lead in the championship. Cassidy scored nothing.
The last 2 rounds of the season took place in London for the London E-Prix. Dennis would go into the weekend with a 24 point lead over Cassidy. Evans and Wehrlein were, mathematically, still in championship contention but would most likely need a miracle.
Evans was the pole sitter for Race 1 but, thanks to his collision with Cassidy in Rome, he would drop 5 places, ironically, handing pole to his fellow countryman and championship rival. A dramatic race saw Cassidy lead until Evans made a move. Buemi and Dennis would follow the Jaguar driver through, dropping Cassidy to 4th before retaking 3rd from Dennis. Things were getting tense between the Envision drivers of Buemi and Cassidy before the latter ran into his teammate and retired as a consequence, damaging his Championship chances in the process. There were also crashes and retirements for Wehrlein, Hughes and Sacha Fenestraz, with the Nissan driver bringing out the Red Flag. A second red flag was thrown at the restart after a multi-car collision that saw only the top 3 unscathed. The majority were able, and allowed, to restart for a third time with Evans leading the drivers home. da Costa and Dennis came 2nd and 3rd, respectively. However, due to a post-race penalty of 3 minutes(!) because of a "technical infringement," da Costa would loose his podium position, promoting new Formula E World Champion; Dennis, into 2nd. Buemi would stand on the third step.
The season finale would go onto to be heavily delayed due to rain in London. But, once things were underway, it would be Cassidy who lead the drivers away from pole position. A relatively processional race, due to the wetter weather, Dennis would make his way past Nato for 3rd while Cassidy and Evans ahead would storm ahead of the rest of the field. After upset the day prior, Cassidy would take the last win of 2023 with Evans and Dennis also on the podium. Not only did Cassidy's win secure him as runner up in the Championship, it also gave Envision the Constructors Championship win.
So, there it is - Formula E in 2023. What a season. We already want more. Congratulations to Jake Dennis on becoming the new Formula E World Champion. Full results, courtesy of Wikipedia, can be found below.
Going into the break, we're still left with a number of questions. My biggest one asking what went on at DS Penkse this year? Their drivers, Vergne and Vandoorne, two of the most successful in the series, were nowhere. And, what happened at Envision in London with the communication breakdown between teams and drivers which effectively destroyed any hope of Cassidy winning the Drivers Championship? No clue. And, finally, who will be lining up on the grid next year? Things are shaping up nicely and I, for one, cannot wait!
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