Wow, doesn't time fly when you're having fun! And, with the 2023 Formula E season now at its half-way stage, I think it's fair to say that the season, so far, has been nothing less than thrilling and fascinating.
So far, we have seen six different winners in 9 different races and only two of them are from the same team. We've had an inaugural race in South Africa and return trips to many of our favourite tracks that have coughed up plenty of on track action. This season has been nail biting and we've still got a long way to go. But before that, shall we have a catch up of the season far? You betcha.
The season began back in January with the Mexico City E-Prix. Lucas di Grassi, in his debut race for Mahindra Racing, took pole position. At lights out, di Grassi managed to keep hold of his lead while further back the scrap for positions began. ABT Cupra driver; Robin Frijns, collided with the Nissan of Norman Nato. Both drivers had to withdraw from the race, with Frijns finding himself in hospital with a broken wrist. Once the racing was back underway, Jake Dennis managed to get his Andretti past di Grassi and into the lead. Attack modes were being activated left, right and centre. Porsche driver; Pascal Wehrlein, used his to his advantage when passing the McLaren of Jake Hughes for third. Wehrlein repeated this feat again in the latter stages of the race, taking second of di Grassi. At this point, Dennis was long gone and won the race nearly eight seconds ahead of Wehrlein. di Grassi held onto third.
Next up was the first double header of the season - Diriyah E-Prix in Saudi Arabia. After breaking his wrist in Mexico, Robin Frijns was replaced by Kelvin Van Der Linde. Sebastien Buemi, in his Envision, was the driver who stuck his car on pole for the first of the two races in the desert. Unfortunately however, on lap seven of the race, Jaguar driver; Sam Bird, overtook Buemi for the lead. The Envision driver's misery didn't end there as Wehrlein then made an appearance in the Swiss drivers wing mirrors before making his way past. Lap thirty and Wehrlein had managed to hunt down Bird, taking the lead in the process. He then went on to win the race, only his second victory in Formula E. Current championship leader; Jake Dennis, finished second with Bird rounding out the podium places.
Jake Hughes found himself on pole for Race Two but was overtaken by Mitch Evans in the Jaguar at the first corner. René Rast, Hughes' McLaren teammate, used Attack Mode to then take the lead from Evans. Wehrlein, also using attack mode, became the fourth leader of the race when he caught Rast on lap seventeen. The German driver then made a comfortable lead and took another win that weekend, putting himself into the driver's seat, pun not intended, for the driver's championship. Dennis, who took second the day before, finished second once again, but it was not enough to stay ahead in the championship standings. Rast would cross the line in third.
A trip to India was next up for our Formula E circus with the Hyderabad E-Prix. Mitch Evans was the pole sitter for this race. DS Penske's Jean-Eric Vergne sat in second. It was an initial good get away from the front row starters, but on lap seven Sebastien Buemi overtook the pair of them for the lead. Evans' race was about to get even worse when he fell to third before being hit and spun around by his teammate; Sam Bird, eliminating both of them from the race. On lap fifteen, Vergne made his move for the lead, overtaking the Envision of Buemi. Nick Cassidy, in the second Envision car, made the most of his attack modes and found himself in second place, ahead of his teammate, by lap seventeen. A safety car was quickly deployed when the McLaren of Hughes ended up in the wall. This then caused a chain reaction as at the restart Rast and Dennis collided, taking them both out of the race. For Vergne though, he held on and took his first win of the season. Cassidy, who finished with more energy than Vergne, settled for second. Porsche driver; Antonio Felix da Costa, took third.
Not only was round five the inaugural Cape Town E-Prix, it also saw a maiden pole position for Nissan driver; Sacha Fenestraz. There was mayhem on lap one when Wehrlein, the then championship leader, retired from the race after colliding with the back of Buemi's Envision. After the first round of attack modes, it was Cassidy who yet again took advantage and found himself in the lead. Max Guenther, who had been fighting alongside Fenestraz and Cassidy for the lead, clipped a wall, damaging his Maserati and finding himself out of the race. This promoted da Costa and Vergne into podium positions. But that wasn't enough for da Costa and, on lap twenty four, he overtook Cassidy for the lead. However, things then got a bit hairy for da Costa when he missed the activation point for attack mode, handing the lead to Vergne in the process. Again, the Porsche driver wanted more and managed to get back into the lead where he would hold on and cross the finish line 0.2 seconds ahead of second placed man; Vergne. Fenestraz, who was running in third, crashed on the final lap, handing the last podium place to Cassidy.
It was another debut race for the next round. But, this time in São Paulo, Brazil. Robin Frijns was back after his injury in race one. Stoffel Vandoorne, the reigning champion, took his first pole position for DS Penske at this race. But, would he be able to hold on for the win? The first half of the race was plagued with battles for the lead with Cassidy being the eventual leader. On lap fourteen, Nio's Dan Ticktum collided with Dennis who in turn hit Wehrlein. The three-way collision ended Dennis' race much earlier than he anticipated. Ticktum and Wherlein were able to carry on. Towards the end of the race, on lap thirty two, Evans made a successful lunge for the lead, taking it off his fellow countryman; Cassidy. Evans would win the inaugural São Paulo E-Prix with Cassidy and Bird taking up the remaining podium spots.
Another double header awaited the drivers for the next round with the Berlin E-Prix in Germany. Buemi was the driver on pole for race one but, as with the previous race, there were many changes for the lead early on after drivers decided to activate their attack modes earlier than we've become accustomed too. Lap twelve saw the first safety car period after a collision between Sergio Sette Camara and René Rast. Eight laps later, the safety car was back out again after Ticktum clipped Vandoorne, taking them both out of the race. It was another disappointing race for Dennis who, on lap thirty one, hit da Costa while trying to pass Guenther for fifth position. Back at the front, it was Evans leading again, eventually taking his second consecutive win of the season. Bird and Guenther overtook pole sitter; Buemi, on the final lap to claim the final podium positions.
A surprise was in store for race two when a wet qualifying session saw the ABT Cupras of Frijns and Nico Muller lock out the front row. Once the lights went green, the race, in places, was almost a carbon copy of the day before. With early attack mode activation and numerous changes for the lead, it was hard to know who was going to win. New Zealander; Cassidy, made his move for the lead on lap twenty five. And, after a relatively quiet race when it came to incidents, Cassidy took the chequered the flag. Jake Dennis, finally getting some reprieval, finished in second with the DS of Jean-Eric Vergne in third. Muller, who started on the front row, finished in ninth meaning he scored points for the first time this season.
Half way through the season and it was time for the Monaco E-Prix. Fenestraz was the man on pole. However, he was then disqualified due to exceeding the power usage limit. McLaren man, Jake Hughes, was left to inherit pole. An incident filled race saw Hughes get away at the line unscathed. Andrea Lotterer was first driver out after crashing at the final corner. This was followed by Oliver Rowland losing his front wing at the chicane. In the meantime, both Evans and Cassidy were flying through the field and quickly became contenders for the win. Dan Ticktum and Norman Nato both received damage when they came together at the Rascasse corner. Ticktum would be in another incident later on when his rear was hit by Max Guenther. The damage was so severe for Guenther that he stopped on track and brought out the safety car. In the latter stages of the race, Cassidy found himself leading. A late-race shunt for Nico Muller brought out the safety car once more and sealed Cassidy's fate. The race ended under safety car with the driver from New Zealand taking the chequered flag. Mitch Evans and Jake Dennis would also end up on the podium.
There we have it - the first half of the Formula E season. But what about the current championship standings?
As we know, Wehrlein has spent a lot of this season with the championship lead. However, the German driver hasn't been as consistent in recent races meaning he has lost his lead to the ever improving Nick Cassidy in the Envision racing car. Cassidy currently sits twenty points ahead of Wehrlein who is in second. The full championship standings can be seen below (via wikipedia):
With seven races left in the season, there is still a lot of excitement to come. 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? There are so many questions and I am so excited to see how the rest of the season plays out! Unfortunately, it does mean having to wait a few weeks before the season resumes. But when it does, I will be ready. I'm sure you will be too.
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