Formula E: Jean-Éric Vergne defends his title

Sebastien Buemi (Nissan) and Robin Frijns (Envision Virgin Racing) won the double header in New York, while Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah) claimed a historic back-to-back FIA Formula E championship.

A fastest lap on Saturday and 7th place finish on Sunday was enough for Vergne to secure his driver standings lead with 136 total points in front of Buemi (119) and Di Grassi (108). In the teams’ ranking DS Techeetah claimed a first-ever team title with 222 points ahead of Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler (203) thanks to constant points from Vergne and Andre Lottere.

„I couldn’t be prouder of my team“, said Vergne. „Last year we did an amazing job being a private team with no test days, with very little resources. This year, DS brought in more and of course, it took time to successfully work as a team. But in the end, we did a great job and I’m so proud of them.“

Season 5 was full of unprecedented action und unpredictable excitement. 13 races saw 9 different winners from 8 different teams. Remember that last round in Mexico, when Lucas Di Grassi caught Pascal Wehrlein with just meters to go, because the German’s battery was empty?

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Dieter Gass, Head of Audi Motorsport: “With eight title candidates before the final weekend, we’re currently seeing the most exciting Formula E season to date and expect the competition to become even fiercer with Mercedes’ and Porsche’s entries next season.” Gass was pretty happy with the final results for Audi Sports and their works team Envision Virgin racing finishing second and third in the teams’ ranking.

BMW i Andretti Motorsport ended its premiere season on a high note in the Big Apple with Antonio Felix Da Costa coming in 3rd on Saturday and team mate Alexander Sims driving for Pole Position and 2nd place on Sunday.

Watch @AlexanderSims' reaction to his maiden podium in @FIAFormulaE 🎥#RacingBeyond #BMWiMotorsport #BMWi #ABBFormulaE #NYCEPrix pic.twitter.com/sJPAKeRDrn

— BMW M Motorsport (@BMWMotorsport) July 14, 2019

Innovations like Attack Mode, that remind many of Super Mario Kart, and the next level Gen 2 car added more excitement to season 5. In the final race the drivers even had 3 Attack Mode activations to use instead of the original 2. Whether or not the Fanboost is still in use next season is still undecided. On one hand it’s an efficient tool to get the fans involved on social media during race week, on the other hand its often the same drivers that win the voting (like Vandoorne, Da Costa, Abt and Di Grassi).

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Now is the time for drivers to secure their seat for next season. Audi confirmed last week that Daniel Abt will drive alongside Lucas Di Grassi next season. The successful German Brazilian duo will remain with the team for a sixth season. With a track record of 40 podium finishes and a grand total of 1,057 points, Abt and Di Grassi are the most successful duo in Formula E. With a partnership dating back to the first race in Beijing in September 2014, the two drivers have contested 58 races together.

The future of many other drivers is still up in the air. There are rumors that Andre Lotterer will be teaming up with Neil Jani for Porsche next season. Mahindra’s Pascal Wehrlein is already active as Ferarri’s simulator driver. The former DTM champion would like to take the next step in F1 from

this year’s development role. Even with 3 races less the youngest of all Formula E drivers, Maximilian Günther, outscored his team mate „Pechito“ Lopez 20 points to 3. Still that doesn’t guarantee him a seat next year with GEOX Dragon. We’re excited to see which faces will be in new places for the start of season 6 on November 23 in Saudi Arabia.