We have made it to December and we have less than two weeks until Christmas but while most motorsports series are in the middle of the offseason, we have one championship about to start. Formula E is back for its fifth season and this year will see many changes to the championship. New cars, new race format, new locations, new drivers and a new team on the grid and all of it will be covered.
What is Different?
This will be the first season in Formula E history without a car change during a race. With the introduction of the Gen2 car, drivers will no longer have to make a pit stop and swap cars during the race to make it to the checkered flag. All cars will now have enough power to make it to the end of the race.
The introduction of the Gen2 car will also see an increase in power from 200kW to 250 kW.
With the lost of the car swap comes a new race format.
Races will now be 45 minutes in length plus one lap. Previous races have been to a scheduled number of laps.
This year will see the introduction of the attack mode feature in Formula E. There will be designated areas on the racetrack, off the racing line, that drivers will have to drive through in order to receive additional power on a subsequent lap. Attack mode will see the cars get a boost of 25kW.
Schedule
This season's schedule starts at a new venue in a new country: Saudi Arabia. The 2018-19 season opener will be held on the streets of Riyadh on December 15th.
After one month off, Marrakesh will host the second round of the season on January 12th. It is the third consecutive season Marrakesh has hosted Formula E. The series returns to Santiago, Chile on January 26th but it will be a new circuit, different from last year's debut in the city. Mexico City will be back for the fourth consecutive season and the race will be held on February 16th. After two consecutive seasons being the season opener, Hong Kong will be the fifth round of the season on March 10th.
Thirteen days after Hong Kong, Formula E will run in Sanya, China. The first European round of the season will be in Roma on April 13th. Two weeks after Rome, Paris hosts Formula E. Monaco is back on the schedule and will run on May 11th with Berlin on May 25th.
After one year in Zürich, Formula E will move to Bern, Switzerland and the city will host the penultimate round of the season on June 22nd. Brooklyn will host the season finale for the second consecutive season and for the third consecutive year this will be a doubleheader. The two races will be held on July 13th and July 14th.
Teams:
Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler Formula E Team
Lucas di Grassi: #11 Audi e-Tron FE05
What did he do in 2017-18: Di Grassi finished second in the Formula E championship with two victories and seven consecutive top-two finishes to close the season
What to expect in 2018-19: It is Lucas di Grassi. Multiple victories, plenty of podium finishes and another title fight. Last season saw a rough start for di Grassi and the Audi Sport Abt team. I do not think they will start as far behind the eight ball as they did last season.
Daniel Abt: #66 Audi e-Tron FE05
What did he do in 2017-18: Abt won twice and had two more podium finishes on his way to a fifth place finish in the championship, a career-best result for the German.
What to expect in 2018-19: Abt is coming off a career year but I do not think he will outscore his teammate and while he has a car that will be capable of winning races I think the grid is tougher and the top step of the podium might not be a destination for Abt this season.
Teams Notes: Audi Sport Abt has won ten races over four Formula E seasons.
The team has won multiple races in every season but the first season of Formula E.
Abt and di Grassi are two of six drivers to start all 45 races in Formula E history.
Di Grassi is the all-time leader in podium finishes with 27.
DS Techeetah
Jean-Éric Vergne: #25 DS E-Tense FE 19
What did he do in 2017-18: Vergne was the champion with four victories, six podium finishes and he scored points in all 12 races. On the side, Vergne raced and won races in the European Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship in LMP2 class.
What to expect in 2018-19: Vergne is going to put up a strong title defense. He was quick in testing. He is coming off the best year of his career across the board. He is going to win a few races, he is going to pick up points regularly.
André Lotterer: #36 DS E-Tense FE 19
What did he do in 2017-18: Lotterer finished eight in the championship after two podium finishes and he closed out the season with six consecutive points finishes. Lotterer joined Rebellion Racing in the LMP1 class in the WEC and he finished fourth at Le Mans while finishing second at Silverstone and third at Fuji.
What to expect in 2018-19: I think Lotterer will improve this season and he could be the biggest hurdle to Vergne's title defense. It could be a case where one Techeetah car is taking points from the other. I think he could win a race.
Teams Notes: Vergne has 11 podium finishes from 24 races with Teechetah.
In each of Teechetah's two seasons both drivers have had multiple podium finishes in a season.
Vergne and Lotterer's 1-2 finish last year at Santiago was the first 1-2 finish for a team in Formula E history.
Envision Virgin Racing
Sam Bird: #2 Audi e-Tron FE05
What did he do in 2017-18: Bird won three races and had six podium finishes and he scored points from 11 of 12 races only to finish one point behind di Grassi in the championship. He has also driven for AF Corse in the WEC.
What to expect in 2018-19: Bird has been one of the most consistent drivers in Formula E's short history with championship finishes of fifth, fourth, fourth and third. Not only is he consistent but he is improving year-to-year. He has won every year he has been in the series and he is third all-time in victories with seven, only one behind di Grassi. I expect Bird to continue to be in the top five and win at least one race. I think Virgin is lacking that last bit necessary to take the fight for the championships but they will have the Audi powertrain and that sets the team up for success.
Robin Frijns: #4 Audi e-Tron FE05
What did he do in 2017-18: Frijns returns to Formula E after spending 2018 driving in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Blancpain GT Endurance and Sprint series, Intercontinental GT Challenge, IMSA and Stock Car Brasil. His only victory was at the Bathurst 12 Hour. He scored 84 points and finished 13th in the DTM championship with his best finishes being second at Misano and Hockenheim.
What to expect in 2018-19: Frijns was good in his first stint with Andretti Autosport with a podium finishes and 12 points finishes from 22 races but in the first era of Formula E, Andretti Autosport was not a team at the sharp end of the grid and Frijns got the most out of what he was given. I expect an improvement from his previous stint and I think he will beat his career-best championship finish of 12th but it is hard to pinpoint where he will fall. In four seasons, Bird has had five different teammates at Virgin Racing and the best championship finish for those teammates is ninth. I feel like Frijns might end up there.
Teams Notes: Bird is responsible for all five of Virgin Racing's victories.
Bird is responsible for 15 of Virgin Racing's 18 podium finishes.
Bird has been the top finisher for Virgin Racing in 29 of 45 races.
Virgin Racing has not had a pole position since Berlin 2016 with Jean-Éric Vergne.
Mahindra Racing
Jérôme d'Ambrosio: #64 Mahindra M5Electro
What did he do in 2017-18: D'Ambrosio's best finish was third at Zürich but he scored 27 points over the course of the season and he was 14th in the championship.
What to expect in 2018-19: Though this team has had success and d'Ambrosio is a Formula E race winner, this could be the sneaky pick of the season. The team was quick during testing and this could be a shot in the Belgian's arm after two rough years at Dragon Racing. He should be in the top ten of the championship.
Pascal Wehrlein: #94 Mahindra M5Electro
What did he do in 2017-18: Wehrlein returned to the DTM after two seasons in Formula One. His best finish was third at Lausitz and he finished eighth in the championship on 108 points.
What to expect in 2018-19: Wehrlein is going to miss the opening round due to him not being able to get out of his Mercedes-Benz contract until the start of 2019. That means Felix Rosenqvist will get one final round before his Formula E career comes to a close and he moves to IndyCar. My concern with Wehrlein is we haven't seen him do much in single-seaters in six years and he never got the results expected. He didn't have many flashy days in Formula One. He wasn't in great equipment but for some reason I do not have high expectations for him. I think he will do well but he will be in a tough fight for the top ten in the championship.
Teams Notes: Mahindra finished on the podium in the first three races last season but did not finish on the podium in the final nine races of the season.
D'Ambrosio made all 45 Formula E starts with Dragon Racing.
D'Ambrosio is tied with Felix Rosenqvist for seventh all-time in podium finishes in Formula E history with seven podium finishes.
Wehrlein will become the third-to-last driver alphabetically by last name all-time in Formula E history ahead of Justin Wilson and Sakon Yamamoto.
Nissan e.dams
Oliver Rowland: #22 Nissan IM01
What did he do in 2017-18: Rowland ran twice in the Blancpain Endurance Series, including the Spa 24 Hours and he ran in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for CEFC TRSM Racing. Rowland has made one Formula E start. His only start was for Mahindra in the 2015-16 season at Punta del Este and he finished 13th.
What to expect in 2018-19: Rowland got one test day at Valencia, the final day, and even then it wasn't clear who Nissan's second driver would be. After the tussle over Alexander Albon was lost to Toro Rosso, Rowland got the seat. This has the feeling of a team not ending up with who they wanted and has the potential of Rowland never really being embraced by the team. Nicolas Prost did not get great results last year in that seat, as Prost only scored eight points. Rowland should do better than that but this could be a case where Rowland is quite a distance below his teammate.
Sébastien Buemi: #23 Nissan IM01
What did he do in 2017-18: Buemi did not win a race last season, the first time he was shut out in his Formula E career but he had four podium finishes and he was fourth in the championship. Buemi won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Fernando Alonso and Kazuki Nakajima and they currently leads the World Endurance Drivers' Championship.
What to expect in 2018-19: You would think Buemi would bounce back after not winning a race last season. But Nissan has not shown the dominant pace that e.dams had with Renault at the start of this series. I think Buemi will be toward the front but this team is not leading the pack any more. He could win a race but he will not be reeling them off like he did a few years ago.
Teams Notes: e.dams has the most victories for any team in Formula E history with 15.
Buemi is the all-time leader in Formula E history in victories (12), pole positions (11), fastest laps (7), laps led (405) and races with at least one lap led (17).
Buemi is tied with di Grassi and Bird are tied for most total races with points at 36.
Five of Buemi's seven fastest laps occurred in the 2015-16 season.
Rowland is the first non-French speaking driver to join e.dams in Formula E.
Panasonic Jaguar Racing
Nelson Piquet, Jr.: #3 Jaguar I-Type III
What did he do in 2017-18: Piquet, Jr. finished ninth in the championship with his best finish being fourth in three races and he scored 51 points.
What to expect in 2018-19: For the inaugural champion, Piquet, Jr.'s Formula E career has been crap. He has not had a podium finish since he won at Moscow in June 2015! He started last year well with four points finishes from the first five races but that was followed with five retirements from the next six races. I don't think he finishes in the top ten in the championship. If he does, he finishes tenth.
Mitch Evans: #20 Jaguar I-Type III
What did he do in 2017-18: Evans had a third place finish at Hong Kong and he finished seventh in the championship on 68 points.
What to expect in 2018-19: Jaguar had a pendulum of a Valencia test. Both cars were at the bottom of day one, both were toward the middle of day two and Evans was fourth on the final day but Piquet, Jr. was 19th! I am not sure where this car falls in the pecking order but Evans went from 14th to seventh over his first two years and he has finished ahead of his teammate each season. I do not see that changing. Evans had one podium finish last year and on certain days he might have the ability to finish in the top three but I don't think those days will be frequent. He will finish in the backend of the top ten of the championship.
Teams Notes: Jaguar Racing went from six points finishes to 13 points finishes from 2016-17 to 2017-18.
Only four times has Jaguar Racing had both cars finish in the points.
Evans became the third youngest pole-sitter in Formula E history last season when he won pole position at Zürich.
Venturi Formula E Team
Felipe Massa: #19 Venturi VFE05
What did he do in 2017-18: Massa spent most of the year on the sideline after 16 years in Formula One. He made two starts in Stock Car Brasil. His first was at the season opener at Interlagos co-driving with Cacá Bueno and he started at Goiânia.
What to expect in 2018-19: This team is going to be middle of the road, scoring one week and then not scoring the next. I am not sure it can compete for podium finishes but I would not be surprised if Massa scored in six or seven races with his best finish being fifth.
Edoardo Mortara: #48 Venturi VFE05
What did he do in 2017-18: Mortara finished second in the second race of the season at Hong Kong but his next best finish was seventh in the season opener from Hong Kong and he missed three races due to Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. He ended the season with 29 points and 13th in the championship.
What to expect in 2018-19: I think Mortara can match his results from last year, runner-up at Hong Kong aside. I think he and Massa will be in a tough fight for best Venturi driver, similar to last season when Maro Engel finished one position and two points ahead of Mortara.
Teams Notes: Venturi has never won a race and it has never finished better than sixth in the teams' championship.
Mortara's second place finish at Hong Kong last year was the team's third podium finish and Venturi has contested all 45 Formula E races.
The team has never won a pole position or scored a fastest lap.
Massa will be the seventh driver in Venturi history.
Massa will become the seventh oldest driver in Formula E history at Saudi Arabia.
NIO Formula E Team
Tom Dillmann: #8 NIO Sport 004
What did he do in 2017-18: Dillmann ran three races substituting for Mortara and he finished fourth in the first race from Brooklyn. He scored 12 points and finished 18th in the championship.
What to expect in 2018-19: NIO was not fast in testing. Dillmann was never better than 12th at the Valencia test. He scored 12 points from three races last year and I am not sure he is going to score more than that in 2018-19.
Oliver Turvey: #16 NIO Sport 004
What did he do in 2017-18: Turvey rounded out the top ten of the championship with 46 points with his best result being second at Mexico City. He missed the final round from Brooklyn due to a fractured fifth metacarpal bone on his left hand.
What to expect in 2018-19: Like Dillmann, Valencia testing was not kind to Turvey. He was never better than 15th on any of the three test days. He is destined to take a big step back from his 2017-18 results. I think it will be a tight fight between who will be the best NIO driver in the championship but unfortunately, both drivers might be fighting outside the top fifteen in the championship.
Teams Notes: NIO has not won in the last 36 Formula E races.
The team has four top five finishes in the last 36 races.
With the exit of Nick Heidfeld and Stéphane Sarrazin, Turvey leads all active drivers with 35 entries without a victory.
Geox Dragon Racing
Maximilian Günther: #6 Penske EV-3
What did he do in 2017-18: Günther ran in the Formula Two series and he won at Silverstone and finished second at Bahrain, both sprint races. He ended the season on 41 points, 14th in the championship.
What to expect in 2018-19: Dragon Racing has slid from second in the champion in year one to fourth, eight and ninth last year. Günther ended the three-day Valencia test strong but he only had 13 laps over the first two days and that is a concern. We really haven't seen a driver come into Formula E from GP2/Formula Two and do well. I think he will be finishing toward the back of the championship.
José María López: #7 Penske EV-3
What did he do in 2017-18: López had three points finishes last season and was 17th on 14 points. He has also been running for Toyota in WEC and he has won two of five races this season.
What to expect in 2018-19: While Günther struggled to get laps, López did well the first two days and I think López will carry the load for this team. He will likely finish outside the top ten of the championship but it would not be surprising if he scored points in five or six races.
Teams Notes: Dragon Racing picked up its ninth podium finish last year when Jérôme d'Ambrosio finished third at Zürich.
López has scored points in ten of his 20 starts.
Günther will become the third youngest driver in Formula E history in Saudi Arabia. Only Matthew Brabham and Pierre Gasly started a race at a younger age.
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
Alexander Sims: #27 BMW IFE.18
What did he do in 2017-18: Sims has spent the last two seasons driving for BMW Team Rahal Letterman Lanigan in IMSA and he won five races over the two seasons including two races in 2018.
What to expect in 2018-19: Sims topped two of three days of the Valencia testing in October. He has been kind of a sleeper the last few years. He came to IMSA and was successful right off the bat. This will be his first time in a single-seater since he ran a Formula Three round at Hockenheim in 2016. He has not won in a single-seater since the 2013 GP3 sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps. He will be competitive, could win a race or two and he should be the best rookie.
António Félix da Costa: #28 BMW IFE.18
What did he do in 2017-18: Da Costa scored 20 points and finished 15th in the championship but his best finish occurred in the first race of the season in Hong Kong when he finished sixth.
What to expect in 2018-19: Da Costa was fastest on the second day of Valencia testing. This should be his best season in Formula E yet. He seems to have finally landed in the right car at the right time. I expect him to score at least 80 points and get a victory or two.
Teams Notes: Andretti Autosport has never won in Formula E competition.
The team has not had a podium finish in the last 32 races.
The team has had four different drivers finish on the podium (Franck Montagny, Jean-Éric Vergne, Scott Speed and Robin Frijns).
Sims is the 14th driver for Andretti Autosport in Formula One history.
With the increased BMW influence, the team has switched to a German team from an American team.
HWA Racelab
Stoffel Vandoorne: #5 Venturi VFE05
What did he do in 2017-18: Vandoorne raced with McLaren in Formula One and he scored 12 points, good enough for 19th in the championship. His best finish was eighth at Bahrain and Mexico City.
What to expect in 2018-19: Vandoorne could have left one difficult situation for another difficult situation. HWA was not toward the top of the grid in testing and I fear what Vandoorne was hoping would be a restart for his career could end up being another set back that some will use it as proof he is not as a great of a talent despite his junior formula success.
Gary Paffett: #17 Venturi VFE05
What did he do in 2017-18: Paffett won the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters championship, his second title in the series, after winning three races and having ten podium finishes from 20 races.
What to expect in 2018-19: This is Paffett's big move back to single-seaters about 14 years later than expected. He was once a McLaren test driver on the sidelines waiting to breakthrough and Prodrive's attempt to enter Formula One seemed to be his shot but it never materialized. I am not sure how many points will come but the goal should be to keep up and beat his teammate.
Teams Notes: This will be HWA's first season in Formula E.
Vandoorne will be the second Belgian driver in Formula E history.
Paffett will become the sixth oldest driver in Formula E with his start in Saudi Arabia.
Final Takeaways:
The early favorites appear to be the BMW team. Not only was the team fast but it appears other teams have taken notice and are expect to have to up their game.
Alexander Sims has been a bit of a silent assassin in sports cars and he transitions back to single-seaters. Meanwhile, António Félix da Costa has made a career in Formula E after appearing to be the best Red Bull development driver to get the short straw and not get a crack at Formula One.
Audi Sport Abt has never wavered from the front of the Formula E grid and last season the team had a sluggish start but rallied at the end, who the teams' championship and got Lucas di Grassi to second in the championship. It is hard to see Audi Sport Abt fall from the top and not give BMW a run for its money.
Jean-Éric Vergne is coming off a career year that included last season's Formula E championship. Techeetah still appears to have the pace but it will be difficult for Vergne to keep up his level of consistency. While Virgin Racing did not top any of the test sessions, the team has the Audi powertrain and Sam Bird has been just as consistent as Vergne in Formula E.
Mahindra is shaking up its lineup after a rather stable two seasons with Felix Rosenqvist and Nick Heidfeld. While Jérôme d'Ambrosio has gotten results in Formula E and I think he will be able to do respectable for the team I expect the team to take a step back especially with the rise of BMW.
What about Nissan? The re-branded team is coming off a surprisingly winless season and Sébastien Buemi was quick but not up there competing at the top of the test. Nissan and Jaguar are two teams that will have good days but it feels neither will quite have it in every race.
I think the championship will come down to Sims, da Costa, di Grassi, Vergne or Bird.
The youth of the series means its seminal moments happen more frequently and this is another big year for the series. It has ventured away from the novelty and inefficiency of the car swap and now races will be 45-minute fights. Conservation should not be a concern and we should see the series go away from the goal being to get the car to the end of a race but rather covering as much distance as possible in the allotted time. This change would hopefully set off the dominoes where tire conservation and increased passing attempts occur.
Then there is attack mode, the Mario Kart-ization of the series. The series is attempting to be different and we are going to see a change in how an actual race takes place. Formula E may be attempting to kill the racing line as we know and that could be the greatest thing to happen to motorsports with cars instead of running single-file on the same part of the racetrack for lap after lap to cars swerving left and right, missing apexes and running wide and increasing the action. It could also be a dangerous shakeup with increased movement on the racetrack increasing the number of accidents, some of which could be deemed unnecessary.
Attack mode might be a hit or it may fall flat with the time lost running offline not being worth the additional boost of power. The series will be faced with drivers realizing the lack of benefit and remain glued to the racing line and force the series' hand to make the power increase astronomically more or force the series to drop it and look for another way to leave its fingerprints on a race.
The important thing to remember is Formula E is not the Formula E of four years ago or last year. If you were one who did not fancy what was offered four years ago the good news is the series has evolved and like when the series was first introduced this is the time to give it a chance. It has implemented changes to many of the hot-button issues that drove people away or kept people from emotionally investing.
It would only be fair to give the series a chance and see if the changes were good enough.
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