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Formula E News

2020/21 Formula E: Team-by-Team End of Season Preview - part one
The 2020-21 Formula E season has been unpredictable to say the least.
Jul 08, 2021 at 8:00 PM
by: Laura Leslie
Formula E
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The 2020-21 Formula E season has been unpredictable to say the least. 8 winners in 9 races, 18 drivers on the podium, 10 separate disqualifications, 4 different championship leaders and any of a dozen drivers could come out on top at the ExCel London arena at the end of July.

Mercedes EQ

Mercedes-EQ head into the New York double-header with a 3 point lead over DS TECHEETAH in the championship. However, there is only a 24 point gap between the German squad and 5th placed Envision Virgin Racing. The team is one of two so far this season to have both its drivers, Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne, win a race and the only to have one of those drivers – de Vries – win more than once. Neither driver currently has a spot in the top 5 of the drivers’ championship though.

With 5 no-scores for de Vries and 4 for Vandoorne, inconsistency has cost the team dear when it’s clearly been one of, if not the, top package of the season. Both drivers will head into New York confident of a turnaround. No driver has led the drivers’ championship for more rounds than de Vries (4), but the Dutch driver is currently in 6th place and 13 points behind Edoardo Mortara in the standings. Vandoorne is 5 points further back in 7th.

DS TECHEETAH

Joining Mercedes-EQ as the other team to have both its drivers win a race in 2020-21, the reigning champions are in a decent position to make it 4 driver titles and 3 team titles in a row if it has a strong end to the season in New York and London. Sitting just 3 points off the championship lead, the recent double-header in Puebla resulting in just 12 points for the team could be costly – additionally this was on a weekend its nearest rival Mercedes-EQ also came away with a measly score of 8 points.

The pace is very much there, as demonstrated by the double podium finish in Monaco, the consistency is lacking though. Both drivers, Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa, have had 4 no-score races this year – one round resulting in a complete no score for the team at the 1st race in Diriyah. A disqualification for Da Costa in the 1st Valencia ePrix – he was one of 5 drivers to be disqualified from that race - can also be blamed.

Despite this, Da Costa still only sits 12 points behind championship leader Mortara. The reigning champion will head into New York confident of a good result, having been on the podium during the last double-header visit there in 2019.

Jaguar Racing

It has been a season of ups and downs for Jaguar. The team scored its only win of the season at the 2nd Diriyah round through new signing Sam Bird, however Bird has only scored 6 points in the last 6 rounds. This unfortunate slide in form has seen Bird drop from being the championship leader after the Rome ePrix weekend, to being outside the top 10 after the most recent race in Puebla. Bird is 24 points away from the championship lead, therefore wins in the final races are a must.

Team-mate Mitch Evans has not won a race in 2020-21, but he has finished on the podium 3 times, something only matched by Mortara. If Evans can get onto the top step, then that 12 point gap between him and Mortara will start to look very small indeed.

Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler

It’s been a rough year for an Audi Sport team who went winless last season for the 1st time in series history. In particular for Lucas Di Grassi, who despite winning the opening Puebla round, has failed to make an impact on the higher points positions all year. Before Puebla the 2017-17 champion has only scored 14 points and was down in an unfamiliar 18th place in the standings. That Puebla win lifted him to 13th – 35 points off the championship leader.

Di Grassi’s team-mate, Rene Rast, has seen slightly better results – although no wins. Rast finished behind Di Grassi in round 1 at Puebla to help take Audi Sport’s first 1-2 finish since the first 2017-18 New York City ePrix. Rast is 4th in the driver’s standings and like Jaguar’s Evans, is 12 points off the top spot.

Despite the mixed fortunes, Audi Sport finds itself in 4th place in the teams’ championship, on the same number of points as Envision Virgin Racing and 14 behind leaders Mercedes-EQ.

Envision Virgin Racing

Despite losing team stalwart Bird to Jaguar over the off-season, Envision Virgin have put together one of the most consistent campaigns out of all 12 teams. It hasn’t won a race, but it has scored double figure points on 5 occasions – equal to RoKit Venturi Racing and BMW i Andretti Motorsport.

Robin Frijns has scored a brace of 2nd place finishes to put him 2nd in the standings, 10 points behind Mortara. 5 no-score results have cost the Dutchman dear though, including a double no-score at the most recent round at Puebla.

Team-mate Nick Cassidy also has 5 no-scores. Cassidy has momentum on his side going into New York however, with a 2nd place in round two at Puebla saving his team from an awful weekend and keeping it in sight in the team’s championship – on 99 points and 14 off the top spot just like Audi Sport.