Well, here we are folks, the final race weekend of the season is upon us, and boy, were we in for a treat! As usual, London failed to disappoint and threw plenty of spanners into the Championship battle, leaving fans on edge at all times!
Dramatics kicked off early with Championship leader, Nick Cassidy, failing to make the duels in qualifying, instead having to settle for 17th on the grid for the penultimate race of Season 10. His team mate, and number one Championship rival, Mitch Evans, would stick his Jaguar on pole, while fellow Championship contenders, Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix da Costa, would also out-qualify Cassidy, meaning the race was well and truly on!
Evans would get a dream start, heading into turn one, leading the pack behind him. He would control the race for several laps before the Envision of Sebastien Buemi would pass him. Compared to other races this season, London was far from a peloton style race, seeing only one more different leader, Wehrlein, throughout the 39 laps raced. Wherlein and the Porsche team's strategy over the course of the race was nothing short of a "masterclass." With Buemi leading, and controlling the pace of the pack, the chance for Wehrlein to take his attack modes, without losing ground to those ahead, looked almost impossible. Until, that was, he followed Evans through, moving into second and then into the lead, relegating his champion rival into second place. Wehrlein would push to create a gap to Evans before taking his first attack mode, reemerging in the lead. He repeats the feat several laps later, with Evans telling his team "I am toast," in response to the speed and pace Wehrlein was showing.
Elsewhere, other drivers were finding themselves in all sorts of battles, with several ending in worse circumstances than others. Some fans, pundits and personnel, may even go as far as describing the driving standards as "poor," despite being on a track with tight corners that has, in recent years, been notorious for clashes and bashes.
The Safety Car would make two appearances, first after a collision between Jake Dennis and Robin Frijns, and second, due to debris on track. The latter would have an effect on Wehrlein's lead to Evans, closing the all important two second gap. Dennis quickly characterised himself as the "villain" in this race, having a further collision with Jean-Eric Vergne and a close wheel to wheel battle with Cassidy. He would finish the race with a 15 second time penalty. Other time penalties went to Oliver Rowland in his clash with da Costa that would see the latter DNF and end his Championship dreams. Sacha Fenestraz would get 5 seconds after punting Norman Nato in the barrier at Turn One, as would Jean-Eric Vergne in his late race collision with Jehan Daruvala.
Despite the few laps of bumper cars, there were also some fair battles being played out around the Excel Arena in London. Maximilian Guenther would battle Evans for 2nd, taking the position until a gearbox problem forced him out of the race. Nyck de Vries, in the Mahindra, was up at the top end of the field, going wheel to wheel with Buemi, while Dennis and Fenestraz would race down the Start/Finish Straight with the Andretti of Dennis winning that particular battle.
But, what about Cassidy, I hear you ask? His race was more than eventful, missing the attack mode sensors more than once, before clashing with Stoffel Vandoorne in the latter stages of the race. However, with the addition of 2 extra laps and the late race clash between Vergne and Daruvala, Cassidy would find himself crossing the finish line in 7th, just about keeping his Championship hopes alive.
This race, however, belonged to Wehrlein, holding on to the lead until the very end. And, not only that, this win gives the Porsche driver the lead in the Championship battle which, going into Race 2, is down to Wehrlein, Evans and Cassidy. Evans would finish 2nd and Buemi, 3rd.
Race 2, and this is what the season has come down to. For some, hard work will be rewarded, for others it's a , and disappointing trek, heading into the Formula E break. For fans, however, it was a race full of excitement and the usual FE chaos.
After Race One's "disaster-class" by Dennis, you'd think that Race Two would be a calmer affair for the then reigning World Champion. How wrong would be to even think that?! Dennis, once again, provided some early race entertainment, battling wheel to wheel with Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara, before coming together with the Swiss driver at turn three, only a handful of laps into the race. Both drivers would DNF, as would McLaren's Sam Bird after tangling with Norman Nato and Dan Ticktum later on. Both accidents would bring out the Safety Car, before an eventual third SC period was triggered later on in the race, resulting in the retirement of Gunther, making it two out of two retirements at London in 2024.
All eyes, however, were more firmly placed upon the three championship contenders that were Pascal Wehrlein, Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy, with the latter on pole and the others starting in the top four, indicating that a battle was well and truly on the cards in this season finale. All three drivers would get good starts off the line, leading 1,2,3 - Cassidy, Evans and Wehrlein, into the first corner. However, pressure in the top three, specifically with the Jaguar drivers, started to come to a boil relatively quickly. "The gloves are off," Evans would tell his team, after Cassidy took his first attack mode, holding the lead in the process. Come the 2nd attack modes, Cassidy would loose the lead to Evans AND Wehrlein, causing him (Cassidy) to have some relatively high-rate radio messages. But, in true finale style fashion, this was only the beginning of a frustrating and heartbreaking end to his first season racing for the Jaguar team.
A third Safety Car period is activated mid-race, to clear up debris that littered the start-finish straight after a collision between Gunther and, you guessed it, Nick Cassidy. With the latter receiving a rear puncture after clashing with da Costa, Gunther would run into the back of the Jaguar as he turned into the pitlane, prematurely ending both of their races and Cassidy's dream of a World Championship. A heartbreaking end to a season that has proved Cassidy's abilities to be up at the top fighting for the World Championship. I'm sure his time to reign will come.
But, what about our final two contenders, you ask? It wasn't exactly plain sailing for them either, with several wheel to wheel bashes, alongside a warning for Evans for moving under braking as he defended his lead from his rival. Interestingly, both drivers would aim for Attack Mode, just as a Safety Car was called, cancelling their activations, loosing valuable time to competitors. Oliver Rowland would appear from no where to take the lead. For Wehrlein, a second go at attack, after the Safety Car, would pay off. For Evans, he would miss, again, giving fans and pundits alike the worry that he would run out of time to use it all by race end.
Several laps from the end and it was Rowland, Wehrlein and Evans racing in the top three, with the latter backing off, enabling him to use all of his attack mode instead of going for the Championship and facing disqualification. For Wehrlein, it would be a big sigh of relief as he crosses the finish line in 2nd, ahead of a dawdling Evans, crowning himself as the World Champion in the process. Rowland would win the race.
There we have it, after several seasons of promising starts, Wehrlein has finally clinched his Championship. What a rollercoaster ride it has been. Stay tuned for a Season Review, coming soon!
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