Discussing all the highs and lows of Season 7!
The 7th season of the all-electric series was one where no team really dominated, as the qualifying draws consistently mixed up the expected order on the grid. Instead, it was about maximising the opportunities you were given, as well as having some luck on your side, although I do think the best team and driver won.
It only took 2 years for Mercedes to become double champions, in probably the best car on the grid, but given their strength in world motorsport right now, I can’t understand why it took them so long! Their power unit looked to be the most efficient out there, with races like Valencia showing this off. The driver line up was also of the highest quality, with 2 F2 champions, who shone at various points in the season. Their weakness came seemingly from getting the car set up at certain tracks, which may have been down to a lack of experience. Weekends like New York were disasters for them, and there seemed to be no clear cause of the issues. Other teams may be glad then, that they aren’t sticking around for the long term, as when Mercedes gets its act together, we could have seen them dominate another world championship! As I mentioned, De Vries was a worthy champion, showing raw speed at many points in the year, meanwhile Vandoorne could so easily have been in the same position, if luck had been more on his side.
Another year, another missed opportunity for Jaguar! Last year, Evans came into Berlin right with Da Costa in the title mix, but they couldn’t get the car to work on the concrete slabs at Tempelhof. This time, they had the pace, and Evans had the track position to possibly take the title in the last race, until an error on the car lost them everything! This will be tough for Mitch and the team to come back from, however, they can take solace from improvements year on year by the team, so next year could be the one! Also, if we are being honest, some of the mistakes made by the team and Evans before that final race, would have made it feel not quite right if they had won. Bird if anything was the more deserving champion of the two, he just was blighted with poor fortune, as he DNF’d from 3 straight races, which mostly weren’t his fault.
DS Techeetah might be the most confusing team this year, as we saw they had pace on multiple occasions this year, without them being able to follow through and get the points. For a team looking for their 4th title in a row, this is rather unexpected. It may have been that they relaxed too much, after their recent success, although I doubt that very much. As for the drivers, both had their moments during the season, but neither had a string of results which resembled a championship challenge. You can be sure that for next year they will be back, pushing harder than ever, going for another title!
On bowing out of the sport, Audi cannot be disappointed with how things ended, it may not have been the title they would have hoped for, yet 2 wins and 4th in the constructors in this competitive a series, can still be considered a high note to end on. The car for the most part looked to be solid but not spectacular, with race pace being their real forte, as proved by so many fastest laps. Both Rast and Di Grassi were brilliant, but in very different ways, Rast was probably the most consistent driver of the whole season, other than Frijns. Whereas Di Grassi got the team the wins they wanted so much, including at home in Berlin. In their tenure in Formula E, Audi has been one of the big names in the sport, with so many wins, controversial moments, and some titles!
Envision Virgin Racing plateaued this year it seems, I get the feeling that just like Audi, whose powertrain they have, their car wasn’t incredible, yet with good set ups, they were able to get a lot of podiums out of it. This kept Robin at the front of the championship for so long, as he racked up points almost every race weekend. Cassidy improved throughout the year, and by the end was looking like a promising driver for the future of the sport. He may still rue that Lap 1 error at Rome though! Otherwise, it is hard to see where the team will be going forwards, with so many other strong outfits out there!
In a similar vain to Audi, BMW can be pleased with their efforts across the season! I thought they may have already switched off pre-season, and just coast their way through 2021, but that was certainly not the case. 3 wins and being so close to winning the title shows how hard they worked. The peculiar thing about them, is that only one driver would be fast in a certain race, and it wouldn’t carry over both races of a weekend. I have no idea why that was, however, it really hampered their efforts. Dennis was a rookie revelation, and one of my drivers of the season, he handled pressure so well, and had so much raw pace. If it hadn’t of been for the regen error, he could have won the title. As for Guenther, opportunities were missed for him, and he didn’t stack up well against his less experienced teammate! Missed opportunities can be used to sum up BMW’s time in the sport, as they got many wins, with strong cars and drivers, without getting any titles from it!
For a team of their size, ROKiT Venturi made the most of what they had, which was basically just the Mercedes powertrain. We saw they had brilliant efficiency just like Mercedes, and the cool calm Mortara was able to score good points with it. They got close to the driver’s title, but it wasn’t to be this year. Nato on the other hand saved the best till last, as he dominated the season finale, to score his first win in the sport.
Mahindra and Porsche were mostly midfield teams, although both got their chances at the front, with both arguably deserving a win. Beyond that they collected points, and probably planned for better in the future. All of their drivers had ups and downs, as they try and stay in the sport for the long term.
It has been an absolutely torrid year for Nissan, who seemingly stood still this year, and allowed many teams to fly right by them. It is the same issues that still plague them, with the car having great one lap pace, but lacking the efficiency to stay there in the race. If they can’t get their act together soon, we may even see them paying to get out of the sport during the Gen3 era. Part of their issues may be attributed to a lacklustre performance by Buemi, who couldn’t match Rowland for a large part of the year, not what you expect from a champion, and multiple Le Mans winner!
In the past, Dragon Penske and NIO 333 have barely been able to get points during a season, so in that vein, this year has been a major success for them. However, they are still behind the rest of the pack, and that gap will not be easy to make up. I think that the Gen3 cars will be a prime opportunity to close the gap massively. Otherwise, their drivers did their jobs well, in getting as many points as they could.
It was a short season in terms of duration, although we got plenty of action to keep us entertained. Despite an anti-climax for the title, this was probably the most competitive year of Formula E so far, with most of the grid having a chance to win, let’s hope it stays the same for next year!
-M
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