After a four-month break, Formula E will be back in action for its sixth season. This season is the longest scheduled in series history, as the teams will compete in 14 races. The grid has expanded with a 12th team added, the largest the Formula E grid has ever been.
This preview will look at the schedule, which will include two new events and one returning event, and each team and driver.
Schedule
For the second consecutive season, the Formula E season begins in Saudi Arabia but this year it will be a doubleheader with a race on Friday November 22nd and Saturday November 23rd.
The series will take two months off before the Santiago round on Saturday January 18th. Mexico City will be on Saturday February 15th with Marrakesh hosting the fifth round on Leap Day, Saturday February 29th.
Santa returns for a second consecutive year with a race on Saturday March 21st. Rome will be the first European round on Saturday April 4th. The second half of the season begins on Saturday April 18th in Paris.
There will be two inaugural races in the 2019-20 and they are consecutive races with the Seoul round taking place on Sunday May 3rd and Jakarta hosting Formula E on Saturday June 6th. Berlin will be on Sunday June 21st.
Brooklyn hosts the penultimate round and this year it will only be one race, scheduled for Saturday July 11th. The season will close in London for the first time since 2016 but this circuit will be an indoor/outdoor track going through the ExCeL London convention center. The London round will be a doubleheader and take place on Saturday July 25th and Sunday July 26th.
Teams:
DS Teechetah
António Félix da Costa: #13 DS E-TENSE FE20
What did he do in 2018-19: Da Costa won the opening round of the 2018-19 season with BMW i Andretti Motorsport and he had three other podium finishes on his way to finishing sixth in the championship with 99 points. He also ran for BMW in the FIA World Endurance Championship for BMW in the GTE-Pro class before switching over to LMP2 with Jota Sport, where he has won the most recent round at Shanghai.
What to expect in 2019-20: I think things should be better for da Costa than 2018-19. Going into last season, I thought da Costa was one of the championship favorites with BMW i Andretti program and that looked good for the first race and for about 80% of the second race. Then the BMW program was flat until the finale in Brooklyn. I think we are going to see a better season from da Costa, possibly multiple victories and more top five finishes.
Jean-Éric Vergne: #25 DS E-TENSE FE20
What did he do in 2018-19: Vergne won his second consecutive championship with three victories at Sanya, Monaco and Bern, five podium finishes and 136 points. He also ran the final four rounds of the 2019 European Le Mans Series and scored a victory in Barcelona and a runner-up finish at Silverstone.
What to expect in 2019-20: Vergne has won the last two championship. Three consecutive titles in any championship is a difficult task. He is going to be in the mix. I know testing had him 11th overall in Valencia but da Costa was fourth. He is going to win multiple races, some of which it will feel like he doesn't deserve and be in the top five of the championship.
Team Notes:
DS Teechetah is the defending Teams' Champions after scoring 222 points. The season prior Teechetah was second in the Teams' Championship.
Da Costa is Teechetah's sixth driver in four seasons.
Da Costa will be the first driver to run car #13 in Formula E history.
Teechetah has never had multiple drivers win a race in a season but it has had multiple drivers finish on the podium in a season.
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
Lucas di Grassi: #11 Audi e-Tron FE06
What did he do in 2018-19: Di Grassi won two races at Mexico City and Berlin and finished second in Hong Kong and was third in the championship with 108 points.
What to expect in 2019-20: Testing was not great for di Grassi, as he was 17th overall, and the last two seasons have seen him and the Audi team get off to slow starts only to recover and finish in the top three of the championship. Di Grassi has been in the top three of the championship in every Formula E season. He has won a race in every Formula E season and he has won multiple races in the last four seasons. He could keep up his winning ways and still end up with the worst championship finish of his career and I think that is bound to happen.
Daniel Abt: #66 Audi e-Tron FE06
What did he do in 2018-19: Abt had two podium finishes, a third in Santiago and a third in Paris, before finishing seventh in the championship on 95 points.
What to expect in 2019-20: Abt was a spot better than his teammate during testing. He has proven to be a consistent points scorer but he does not get the same level of finishes as his teammate. If I think di Grassi is going to take a slight step back in 2019-20 then I have to think Abt will as well. He may still score points at the same rate but ninth and tenth place do not pay that much.
Team Notes:
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler was second in the championship on 203 points last season. The team has finished in the top three of the Teams' Championship in every Formula E season.
Di Grassi and Abt are two of four drivers to start every Formula E race with Sam Bird and Jérôme d'Ambrosio.
Di Grassi is one of two drivers to win a race in every Formula E season alongside Bird.
Envision Virgin Racing
Sam Bird: #2 Audi e-Tron FE06
What did he do in 2018-19: Bird won at Santiago with his only other podium finish being this in Marrakesh. Bird was ninth in the championship with 85 points, his worst championship result in Formula E.
What to expect in 2019-20: Bird was 13th in testing; four spots better than last season's pre-season test. Ninth is not really indicative of how Bird did in 2018-19. If he kept his victory at Hong Kong, he would have been sixth, two points outside the top five. Formula E will be Bird's focus in 2019-20. He is out of AF Corse's FIA World Endurance Championship program. I expect Bird to get back to the top of the championship.
Robin Frijns: #4 Audi e-Tron FE06
What did he do in 2018-19: Frijns won in Paris and the season finale in Brooklyn with two other podium finishes on his way to fourth in the championship on 106 points, his best Formula E championship finish.
What to expect in 2019-20: Even though Bird was negatively affected in the championship by the Hong Kong result, Frijns was giving him a run for his money at Virgin Racing. Frijns is a legitimate threat to Bird and the championship. It could be a case of Virgin Racing cars stealing points from each other. Both cars will be fighting for the top five in the championship.
Team Notes:
Envision Virgin Racing was third in the Teams' Championship last year with 191 points. Virgin Racing has finished in the top five of the Teams' Championship every season but it has never been better than third in the Teams' Championship.
If Frijns does not win a pole position by Seoul, he will break Nick Heidfeld's record of most entries without a pole position. Heidfeld did not win a pole position in the 44 Formula E races he entered.
Bird enters the 2019-20 season without a podium finish in his last ten starts, the longest drought of his career.
Nissan e.dams
Oliver Rowland: #22 Nissan IM02
What did he do in 2018-19: Rowland was tenth in the championship with 71 points after runner-up finishes in Sanya and Monaco.
What to expect in 2019-20: The Nissan program was hit or miss at the start of last season and Rowland's up and down results were something his veteran teammate Sébastien Buemi also had to battle. He was also a late addition to the grid. I think Rowland results are slightly better than last year. He could increase his number of podium finishes but a victory could be tough to come by. It would not be impossible but I would only expect one victory for Rowland.
Sébastien Buemi: #23 Nissan IM02
What did he do in 2018-19: Buemi won the penultimate race of the season in Brooklyn and he had four consecutive podium finishes to end the season after not scoring a podium finish in the first nine races. His late charge got him second in the championship on 119 points.
What to expect in 2019-20: Buemi has finished in the top two of the championship in four of five seasons and his worst championship result is fourth. While last season didn't start well, it ended very strong and Buemi was sixth fastest in testing. I think he will be back in the championship fight immediately with a few victories.
Team Notes:
Nissan e.dams was fourth in the Teams' Championship on 190 points last season. After winning the Teams' Championship in the first three seasons, Nissan e.dams has finished fifth and fourth in the last two seasons.
Last season, Buemi was the best Nissan finisher in seven of 13 races.
Nissan e.dams won six pole positions last season, three for each driver, but Rowland only started one race from the first spot on the grid due to a technical infringement and a grid penalty.
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
Alexander Sims: #27 BMW IFE.20
What did he do in 2018-19: Sims was 13th in the championship on 57 points with his best finish being second in the season finale in Brooklyn.
What to expect in 2019-20: Sims was a slight disappointment compared to his testing results last year. I think things will get better but only because of how low the bar was set. He should challenge for top ten in the championship. He was seventh in testing and his teammate was fastest.
Maximilian Günther: #28 BMW IFE.20
What did he do in 2018-19: Günther drove for Dragon Racing where he had finishes of fifth at Paris and Bern to give him 20 points, good enough for 17th in the championship. He missed three rounds when Felipe Nasr stepped in the car.
What to expect in 2019-20: The results of 2018-19 tell you that there is no reason Günther to think Günther deserved this type of promotion but he has gotten it and he went right to the top of the charts in testing. He is definitely going to do better than last year but it is hard to believe he will immediately be a championship contender. He should be fighting for tenth in the championship at worst.
Team Notes:
BMW i Andretti Motorsport was fifth in the Teams' Championship with 156 points last season, the Andretti program's best result.
BMW i Andretti Motorsport won pole position for last season's season opener in Saudi Arabia and season finale in Brooklyn. Prior to the 2018-19 season, the Andretti team had not won a pole position since the Miami round in 2015, the fifth race in series history.
Last season, BMW i Andretti Motorsport had five podium finishes. The team had five podium finishes in the first 13 Formula E races and did not get another podium finish until last season's Saudi Arabia race.
Mahindra Racing
Jérôme d'Ambrosio: #64 Mahindra M5Electro
What did he do in 2018-19: D'Ambrosio had a third place finish in Saudi Arabia and won at Marrakesh but was 11th in the championship on 67 points.
What to expect in 2019-20: D'Ambrosio has had a good Formula E career but no better or worse than good. Some races he is competitive and others he is not really in the mix. One race is on the podium and the next he is 14th. Mahindra was one of three teams to put both cars in the top ten overall in testing. I think d'Ambrosio could be slightly better than last year but we not really notice it.
Pascal Wehrlein: #94 Mahindra M5Electro
What did he do in 2018-19: Wehrlein missed the season opener due to his Mercedes-Benz contract but he was runner-up in his second start at Santiago and was 12th in the championship on 58 points.
What to expect in 2019-20: Wehrlein should jump ahead of d'Ambrosio this season. He scored points in more races than d'Ambrosio last season and was nine points back and missed a round. Wehrlein was second overall in testing. I think there could be one or two races where Wehrlein is competing for a race victory but I am not sure the team can put together a title push for the entire season.
Team Notes:
Mahindra Racing had 125 points and was sixth in last season's Team Championship.
Mahindra Racing has put a car on podium in the first three races of the last two seasons. However, in each of those two seasons, Mahindra did not have a car on the podium after the third race of the season.
The team has four victories and 18 podium finishes in five seasons.
Panasonic Jaguar Racing
Mitch Evans: #20 Jaguar I-Type 4
What did he do in 2018-19: Evans got his first career victory in Rome and had runner-up finishes in Bern and the penultimate race in Brooklyn. He scored 105 points and was fifth in the championship.
What to expect in 2019-20: Evans has carried the Jaguar Racing program since it got into Formula E and I do not expect that to stop. He was fifth in testing and I think any championship hopes are depended on results early. He scored points in the first seven races last season but only one of those was a podium and only one other of those results was a top five. I think he is the sleeper.
James Calado: #51 Jaguar I-Type 4
What did he do in 2018-19: Calado was second in the World Endurance GTE Drivers' Championship after victories at Silverstone and at Le Mans in June. He also was runner-up in the GT Le Mans class in the 24 Hours of Daytona and was apart of the GTLM class winners at Petit Le Mans.
What to expect in 2019-20: This is Calado's first time in a single-seater car since the 2013 GP2 season. It is going to be a learning experience as he has been in GT cars for the last five-plus years. I think his goal should be to score more points than what Nelson Piquet, Jr. and Alex Lynn combined for in this car last season and that was 11 points. That should be an easy get but he should be pushing to be in the top half of the championship, especially if Evans is going to be in the thick of it at the front.
Team Notes:
Panasonic Jaguar Racing was seventh in the Teams' Championship with 116 points last season.
Evans is responsible for all four podium finishes Jaguar Racing has had in Formula E. He is also responsible for the only pole position in the team's Formula E tenure.
Evans and Calado competed against each other in the 2011 GP3 season and they drove for MW Arden International and ART Grand Prix respectively. Evans won the first race at Barcelona with Calado in second. It was Evans' first career victory in the series.
Venturi Racing
Felipe Massa: #19 Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrows 01
What did he do in 2018-19: Massa was 15th in the championship on 36 points with a third place finish in Monaco being his best result.
What to expect in 2019-20: More of the same. Massa was 12th in testing. The team has made the switch from its own powertrain to the new Mercedes-Benz powertrain. I think Massa could finish a few spots better in the championship but breaking into the top ten is asking a lot.
Edoardo Mortara: #48 Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrows 01
What did he do in 2018-19: Mortara took victory at Hong Kong after Sam Bird was penalized for causing a collision. Mortara had finished third in the race before in Mexico City. He failed to score points in the final eight races of the season and was 14th in the championship on 52 points.
What to expect in 2019-20: Same as Massa, more of the same. Mortara scored an unexpected and rather fortunate victory last year. I think him and Massa will be together on the racetrack quite a bit.
Team Notes:
Venturi Racing was eighth in the Teams' Championship with 88 points last season. It was the most points Venturi Racing has scored in a season.
Last season was the first time Venturi Racing had multiple drivers score a podium finish. It was also the first time Venturi Racing had multiple podium finishes in a season.
Mortara had six retirements last season, tying Maro Engel's record of six retirements in a season with Venturi in 2016-17.
Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team
Stoffel Vandoorne: #5 Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrows 01
What did he do in 2018-19: Vandoorne's best finish was third in Rome and scored 35 points to finish 16th in the championship. He also had third place finishes in both the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
What to expect in 2019-20: Somewhat better than 2018-19. Mercedes-Benz was 20th in testing and there is no reason to be hopeful other than it is one thing for HWA Racelab to be at the back. It is another if it is Mercedes-Benz. Vandoorne had encouraging days last season. Top ten might be out of reach but breaking into the top 12 would be a start.
What did he do in 2018-19: De Vries clinched the FIA Formula Two Championship after winning four races, scoring 12 podium finishes and scored points in 21 of 22 races with a round to go in Yas Marina. He also won in the LMP2 class at the 6 Hours of Fuji.
What to expect in 2019-20: This is a little different for de Vries. He was 21st in testing and while he has adapted to sports cars quickly, this is a tad different. I think he has to outperform the nine points Gary Paffett scored last season.
Team Notes:
This will be Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team's inaugural season. The team is taking over for HWA Racelab, which was ninth in the Teams' Championship with 44 points.
Vandoorne ended the season with four finishes in the points in the final five races.
Vandoorne was a FanBoost recipient in every race last season.
HWA Racelab had both cars finish in the points in the 2018-19 season finale in Brooklyn.
GEOX Dragon Racing
Brendon Hartley: #6 Penske EV-4
What did he do in 2018-19: Hartley ran the 1000 Miles of Sebring and 12 Hours of Sebring and finished third in each race. He joined the Toyota LMP1 program and has finishes of second, first and second in Silverstone, Fuji and Shanghai respectively.
What to expect in 2019-20: I think Hartley will have good days but also struggle because that is kind of what Dragon Racing is known for. The team had two really good seasons in Formula E, including second in the Teams' Championship in the inaugural season but in the last three seasons the team has one podium finish and has finished eighth, ninth and tenth in the Teams' Championship. I think Hartley could be in the top five one race and then 15th the next.
Nico Müller: #7 Penske EV-4
What did he do in 2018-19: Müller was runner-up in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season with three victories and 11 podium finishes.
What to expect in 2019-20: Müller gave the team some hope in testing after ending up third but Hartley was 14th. This is Müller's first time in a single-seater since Formula Renault 3.5 in 2013. I think one Dragon car could sneak into the top ten in the championship but not both and no better than tenth for that entry.
Team Notes:
Dragon Racing's Teams' Championship position has gotten worse in every season of Formula E dropping from second to fourth to eighth to ninth to tenth.
Dragon Racing has had an in-season driver change in all but one season. In the 2015-16 season, Dragon Racing had Loïc Duval and Jérôme d'Ambrosio compete in all the races.
Hartley and Müller become the tenth and 11th driver to run for Dragon Racing in Formula E.
NIO 333 FE Team
Oliver Turvey: #3 NIO FE-005
What did he do in 2018-19: Turvey scored points in three races for a grand total of seven points, putting him 20th in the championship.
What to expect in 2019-20: NIO was bottom of the timesheet at Valencia. Because it is Formula E, I think Turvey could score a few points but it will be difficult for him to match his seven points from last season.
Ma Qinghua: #33 NIO FE-005
What did he do in 2018-19: With a round to go in the World Touring Car Cup season, Qinghua has a victory, four podium finishes and 15th in the championship with 133 points.
What to expect in 2019-20: Ma Qinghua returns to Formula E for the first time since the 2018 season finale in Brooklyn. In nine Formula E starts over three seasons; he has scored zero points with his best finish being 11th in the first London race in 2016. He was slowest in testing. He might get a few points but don't expect double figures.
Team Notes:
After having five podium finishes in the first Formula E season, NIO has one podium finish in the last 47 Formula E races. Turvey was second in Mexico City in 2018.
Turvey has the most entries and most starts in Formula E without a victory. Turvey has entered 48 races and started 47 races.
TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team
Neel Jani: #18 Porsche 99X Electric
What did he do in 2018-19: Jani ran for Rebellion Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with his best results being second in Silverstone and third in Fuji.
What to expect in 2019-20: Jani was 22nd in testing. Porsche will have some growing pains and it will be interesting to see Porsche and Mercedes-Benz battle toward the back of the field. The goal should be to get at least one car ahead of both Mercedes-Benz entries or split them. It will be a fight 15th to 20th for Jani.
André Lotterer: #36 Porsche 99X Electric
What did he do in 2018-19: Lotterer ran for DS Teechetah and had runner-up finishes in Rome and Paris and was spun from the lead in the closing laps in Hong Kong. For the second consecutive season, he was eighth in the championship but he scored 86 points, 22 points more than his 2017-18 season.
What to expect in 2019-20: Lotterer's first two Formula E seasons have been encouraging and it is unfortunate he has not won a race yet. He was 19th in testing. I think he could get a few inspiring results but it will be tough for him to challenge for the top fifteen.
Team Notes:
This will be TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team's inaugural season.
Jani ran the 2017-18 season opener at Hong Kong. It was a doubleheader and Jani finished 18th in each race driving for Dragon Racing.
Lotterer's four podium finishes is the second most in Formula E history without a victory. Nick Heidfeld had eight podium finishes in his Formula E career but did not win a race.
The Formula E season begins at 7:00 a.m. ET on Friday November 22nd for the first race of the Diriyah ePrix. The second race will take place at the same time on Saturday November 23rd.
