What's been going on Formula E?

What is Formula E?

In 2014, an all-electric racing series was formed. Many names have been in and out of the sport including Nelson Piquet Jr, Pierre Gasly, and Felipe Massa. Teams have circulated in and out as well, Renault was in the fight at one point after dropping out before GEN2 cars. The racing series has been in development for a long time, figuring out kinks in the system. This racing series has lead the way to the development of high performance electric engines for many of the manufacturers that have been in the sport since the beginning.

The story of the season!

The start of the season started in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. The first race of the double header that weekend started with an old familiarity for Formula 1 fans, with Mercedes scoring a 1-2 finish with last year’s champion Nyck De Vries leading the way. It was clear NIO 333 would be toward the back of the grid with Dragon/Penske Racing falling backward as well. Jake Dennis of Avalanche Andretti Formula E scored another podium, showing his strength after a mix of a season last year.

Race two was very different from the first. The ROKiT Venturi team secured a double podium with Edoardo Mortara winning again and Lucas Di Grassi finishing third. The Mercedes team struggled with pace with Vandoorne finishing 7th and De Vries finishing 10th after earlier contact in the race.

The Mexico E-Prix was a feel good finish. After three years, Porsche secured it’s first 1-2 finish. The German drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Andre Lotterer finished first and second respectively, 9 seconds ahead of the DS TeCheeta’s behind. This was a dominant show of pace for the team. Many FE races don’t finish with such a large gap. Jaguar seemed particularly slow after mounting a title challenge last season. They will be looking to move forward in the next few races.

Overall, Eduardo leads the championship with 43 points ahead of Nyck De Vries and Pascal Wehrlein.

GEN3 announcements!

There have been seven teams that committed to the next round of regulation changes in Formula E. DS Automobiles (known as DS Te Cheetah), Jaguar, Mahindra Racing, Maserati, NIO 333, Nissan, and Porsche AG. McLaren has been rumored to be joining the grid after McLaren joining Extreme E, an electric off road racing series.

GEN3 is supposed to be a revolutionary change, with upgrades to the engines, and different aerodynamics, all coming to the grid in 2023. The top speed will be significantly increased to 200 MPH, making faster racing. The cars are also adopting an AWD platform, a first in the category. The cars are going to be lighter and smaller to make the cars even better for racing. If the regulation changes go well, they could attract a lot of new fans away from Formula 1.

Similar to Formula 1 in 2021, Formula E is in a holding pattern this year with the GEN3 cars coming next season. Hopefully the title battle is as epic, but not as contreversial as Formula 1 2021 season with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. At this point, the Mercedes, ROKiT, DS TeCheeta are leading the way with Porsche a little way behind.