Race Review: London Eprix 2024 Race 1 & 2

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!

Race Review: Hungarian Grand Prix 2024

Formula One in 2024 is turning into the gift that keeps on giving, with yet another nail-biting Grand Prix that saw the 7th different race winner of the season. As it usually goes in Hungary, the race was full of action, chaos and controversy, that would keep Formula One aficionados all over the world glued to their TV screens, as McLaren's Oscar Piastri took his maiden win in the sport.

Plenty of nails were surely being bitten up and down the paddock as the five red lights disappeared and the McLarens of Lando Norris and Piastri, as well as Championship leader; Max Verstappen, headed down into turn one, almost three abreast. Verstappen would end up going wide, passing Norris off-track in the process. Piastri would quickly take advantage of their hustle to become the new race leader. This would mark the beginning of Verstappen's troublesome race, with the stewards quickly investigating his off-track pass on Norris, forcing the Red Bull driver to yield the place to the McLaren.

The remainder of Verstappen's race was just as, if not more, drama filled. He would find himself being undercut by Lewis Hamilton in the early stages, before becoming extremely agitated on the team radio in regards to how the car handled and the race strategy given to him by the team. Unbeknownst to Verstappen, a late race battle with Hamilton was on the cards. And, in scenes which showed desperation from the reigning World Champion, Verstappen would attempt to pass Hamilton into Turn One, locking up and colliding with him in the process.  Did someone say 2021? Verstappen would go airborne, counting his lucky stars that there was minimal damage to his car in which he could continue in. Eventually, Verstappen would cross the finish line in 5th before being cleared in his incident with the Mercedes driver.

Verstappen and Hamilton may have had the most intense battle on track, but still, this is Hungary, and there were plenty of other battles up and down the field. This was particularly true for the midfield, with wheel to wheel action for Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg. Unfortunately for Gasly, his race would come to a premature end on Lap 33 after a hydraulics problem would force him to retire, in what was the only DNF in the race. As for other battles, plenty of overtakes were taken, particularly at T1, with the aid of DRS.

DRS may be strong in Hungary, but so is the undercut, as proved by several drivers, taking the opportunity to pit early during the race. George Russell and Sergio Perez, who both failed to get out of Q1 in Qualifying and who both started on the Hard tyre, would take advantage of those stopping early, jumping them and moving up the grid in the process - ironically, the opposite of an undercut. The threat of a looming undercut from Hamilton, would pressure McLaren into making the decision to pit Norris ahead of race leader, Piastri. In what was probably the most controversial move of the season thus far, Norris would jump Piastri in the pit, taking the lead in the process. Piastri, as "cool as a cucumber" that he is, was told not to worry about position, indicating that McLaren would switch their drivers back to their original 1st and 2nd positions. Norris, however, had other plans, being told several times by his race engineer to save tyre and let his teammate through. Eventually on Lap 68, Norris would slow and let Piastri through to take the lead and eventually the race win. Should Norris have yielded a few laps sooner? Or, should he have not given in to his team? Social media is ablaze with opinion! The rest of McLaren's season will most likely be under the watchful eye from here on out.

Well, I think we have all just about recovered from that race, but sure this may turn out to be a pivotal moment come the end of this season's championship. McLaren are definitely tuning out to be a force to be reckoned with, but can they keep their team together, all in one piece? And, what about Red Bull? The Verstappen/Red Bull relationship seems to be straining further each and every race. Oh, it's getting spicy!

Next up: Belgium.

Remembering Jules Bianchi

Back in 2015, the Formula One community united together, in ways which we don't always see in this sport, to mourn and celebrate the life of beloved Marussia driver, Jules Bianchi, after his untimely passing.

Throughout his time in motorsport, Jules was regarded as an "up and coming" talent and was regularly linked with a top F1 drive at Ferrari, especially after his memorable drive at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix, where he finished in 9th, scoring Marussia's first ever championship points. However, it was all the way back in the early 1990's, at his father's karting track, where Jules discovered his love for motor racing.

After graduating to single seaters in 2007, Bianchi would go onto win several championship titles including French Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula 3 Euro Series, as well as taking home several runner up trophies. The Frenchman was quickly emerging as a star of the future, even being linked with a Ferrari drive as early as 2009. In 2010, he would be signed to Ferrari as their test and reserve driver for the upcoming 2011 season, as well as taking part in the 2011 GP2 Season. For 2012, Ferrari would loan him out as a reserve driver for Force India, where he took part in nine Free Practice sessions before signing a contract with Marussia to race for them in 2013.

Jules was quick to make his mark in Formula One, regularly out-qualifying and out-racing teammate; Max Chilton throughout the whole of the 2013 season. He would go on to finish that season in 19th position, ahead of Chilton and the Caterham drivers of Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde. Marussia retained Bianchi for 2014, where he overcame many odds to score the teams first points in Monaco, in what soon became a historic moment in recent Formula One history.

Going into the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, Bianchi would declare himself "ready for Ferrari," should they come calling. However, unbeknownst to everyone, during the race on 5th October, and due to heavy rainfall, Bianchi would loose control of his car, colliding with heavy machinery, which was already parked in the run off area clearing Adrian Sutil's Sauber, who had gone off in the same place just laps before. Bianchi would be taken to hospital with a severe head injury, before passing away on 17th July 2015 due to the injuries he sustained. In the aftermath of Jules' passing, the motorsport family joined together in unison, with several describing the Frenchman as "a magnificent human being" and a "shining talent." Ferrari would also confirm that Bianchi was the driver they had chosen for a future race seat at the team.

As for safety aspects in Formula One, it has improved dramatically, with the Grand Prix Drivers' Association declaring "to never relent in improving safety." Thanks to the introduction of the "halo," many a driver's life has since been saved. Whether it's F1, F2, F3 or beyond, safety is currently at it's best thanks to the safety measure brought on by Bianchi's accident.

To this day, 9 years after his death, Jules is remembered fondly by the motorsport world. On track he would race fierce, but also fair. While off track, he would be perceived as someone who wouldn't harm a fly. He had a promising life and career ahead of him that was unfairly cut short, but nearly 10 year's later, the impact he has had on Formula One is still felt, with many a new fan learning about his incredible story.

Jules Bianchi 3rd August 1989-17th July 2015 #JB17