Written by Katie Jeromson
With the lead of the 2024 Formula E championship changing six times over the course of 14 races, it is no surprise for the season finale in London to be set up for a truly thrilling end.
Seven drivers are in with a chance of taking the Formula E crown, mathematically, but it is the duo of Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy for Jaguar TCS Racing drivers, and Antonio Felix Da Costa alongside Pascal Wehrlein for TAG Heuer Porsche at the sharp end.
Rounds 15 and 16 are taking place this weekend, and the London ExCel, the only track on the calendar to take place half indoor and outdoor. Moving from one surface to another, the grip level changes immensely, creating a new challenge for the drivers, luckily for them warm temperatures in London mean rain isn’t looking likely.
We have had eight different winners so far this year, leaving everyone guessing as to who will emerge victorious in London across the two races this weekend, in both drivers, constructors and manufacturer’s championships!
After a technical disqualification robbing him of a win in Misano, Antonio Felix Da Costa has pulled in a hat trick of wins to put Porsche just 33 points behind Jaguar in the Teams, and ahead by 19 points in the Manufacturers.
In the drivers, there are just 12 points covering the top three (Cassidy, Evans and Wehrlein,) with a massive 58 points on offer across the weekend.
Da Costa, 21 points behind his teammate, upon speaking to DIVEBOMB in the media pen, admitted that he doesn’t believe championship is on offer if he is totally honest, however “stranger things have happened in the world of motorsport.” If anything is on offer, he will be sure to snap those points up but is ready to help out his team mate if he is in a position to do so.
So what of the top three drivers, heading into this weekend?
Championship leader Nick Cassidy told the press conference this afternoon that he is feeling confident. He knows he needs to have a great weekend, but interestingly doesn’t see the races as must win, so perhaps is considering a more cautious approach to the season finale.
Teammate Mitch Evans seems to be taking a different approach, he is at the second time of asking for the world title and declared to the media that he is always hungry for it. If he drops down to third or fourth in the championship, he doesn’t really care, it’s all about the win. Evans finished first and second in London last year, so will be looking to replicate that success.
Pascal Wehrlein is tied with Evans on 155 points, seemingly looking at all angles as to how he can take his maiden championship. Sunday’s race will be three laps shorter and of course means the energy conservation will be less of a factor, so Wehrlein is particularly interested on how this can play out for him.
Of course, the drivers are not the only ones under pressure, the teams themselves still have their part to play this weekend. James Barclay, Team Director for Jaguar, told the press today that the pressure is a privilege, and that sport is about these big moments. The plan being to let the drivers fight it out on track, both being equally supported.
However, if Saturday does skew things in one drivers’ favour, they won't be slow to put their full support behind one driver. What Barclay did highlight though is the fierceness of competition, as in any other Formula E year, their points haul would have already won them the championship.
Florian Modlinger, Director of Factory Motorsport for Porsche, was keen to point out that the team have proved they can be successful on all track types. Ultimately though, they need to “try to postpone or stop the party” for the Jaguar Team. Modlinger jested that the competition from the Jaguar team had been 98% fair.
Deputy Team Principal for DS Penske, Phil Charles, is perhaps looking backwards rather than forwards.They are 105 points adrift of Porsche but Andretti are only 16 points behind, with Nissan a further 11 points back. Charles said to “expect the unexpected here” and even with the two teams behind still in the hunt, he wants to make the Jaguar and Porsche teams squirm.
Once the cars got on track for their first practice, the fastest lap chopped and changed but the Envision racing car of Robin Frijns was sitting pretty for a considerable time, with a 1:11.928.
Then with just under ten minutes to go, championship contenders Wehrlein and Evans topped the time sheets, Wehrlein getting the best time with a 1:11.804. Oliver Rowland didn’t want to be discounted though and went purple in all sectors, producing a 1:11.574.
With just under three minutes to go, Evans took the top spot with a 1:11.490, only to be replaced by Jean-Eric Vergne 30 seconds later with a 1:11.290. Keen to get final clean laps in, the track became rather congested, with drivers slowing down to build a gap, but no one was able to top the time set by the DS Penske driver.
During the course of the session there were a few causes for steward involvement, Jake Hughes and Nyck De Vries getting the black and white flag for driving too slowly, De Vries getting a reprimand from the stewards.
Dan Ticktum also received a reprimand for not following the race directors instruction, he should have taken a slip road after going off track, instead he spun around to re-enter the track, although the track re-entry was safe.
Heading into tomorrow, there is lots of work to be done, reigning champion Jake Dennis explained after the practice session, that the track is lower grip each year and with some of the track getting a new surface, it is a real challenge for the drivers.
The London ExCel has had some construction work done this year, so the chicane has had to alter and turn 16 has gone from outdoor to indoor, meaning there are more light and surface changes to contend with. For a track that is aggressive on tyres, it seems the London E-Prix may bite back!
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