The penultimate weekend of this year’s ABB FIA Formula E World Championship saw the Teams and Drivers head Stateside for two Portland E-Prix’s!
Winner: Antonio Felix da Costa
When is Antonio Felix da Costa not a winner at this point? Antonio drove a smart Race on Saturday and took advantage of a Mitch Evans time penalty to take victory whilst da Costa kept his cool in Sunday’s E-Prix to take his third win on the trot! Like, Antonio Felix da Costa is being seriously impressive right now, and he’s now only 33 points off the Championship lead heading into the final weekend so he’s doing all he can to give himself a chance!
Loser: Nick Cassidy
A weekend of what could’ve been for Nick Cassidy I feel. Nick drove a really good Race on Saturday and looked set for victory until a mistake on the penultimate lap of the E-Prix saw him tumble all the way down to the back! On Sunday, Cassidy was once again climbing through the field well before he picked up an unfortunate puncture meaning the Championship leader failed to add to his points tally at all in Portland! Nick still has a 12-point lead heading into London, but it’s a lot closer than it has any right to be!
Winner: Jean-Eric Vergne
Jean-Eric Vergne can be very pleased with his weekend in Portland as he started off with a Podium in Round 13 before he scored another 13 points in Round 14. Whilst JEV will probably be slightly disappointed to drop from Pole to 5th in yesterday’s Race, it’s still a very strong points haul which gives him an outside shot of the Title heading into London!
Loser: Jake Dennis
It looks almost certain now that Jake Dennis will not be retaining his World Championship Crown! Jake had a difficult Race on Saturday, flying high at the start and dropping back at the end before he ultimately came home in P6. On Sunday, Andretti deployed a smart tactic that was working very well for Dennis until he got hit from behind and suffered a puncture. Amazingly, thanks in part to a Safety Car, the Brit was still able to score 1 point, but I genuinely think Dennis could’ve won this Race had things not gone against him. It’s also ultimately left Jake 45 points behind Nick Cassidy which is simply too much to overturn.
Winner: Robin Frijns
After a very difficult season for Envision Racing, Robin Frijns managed to give the team something to smile about with a great weekend! On Saturday, Robin stayed out of trouble, looked pretty quick, and managed to come home second, and he did exactly the same thing on Sunday too! The impressive thing for me about Frijns this weekend is he just looked so comfortable with the car, and fair play to him because a double Podium is a very impressive result!
Loser: Jake Hughes
How Jake Hughes has left this weekend with zero points is beyond me! Jake was super quick in Qualifying on Saturday and he was looking amazing in the Race until an issue tumbled him right down to the back. In Round 14, Hughes looked really competitive again and was leading at times before he was at the back again after going off! I honestly don’t know what happened to Jake Hughes this weekend, but it was certainly a massive opportunity missed!
Winner: Nico Muller
For me, the perfect way to end this article is to talk about ABT CUPRA’s Nico Muller. Nico Muller showed a great level of pace and calmness throughout the weekend and it ultimately paid him big Championship points with a P5 on Saturday and a P6 on Sunday! That actually doubled Muller’s points tally from the rest of the season, and it’s these types of weekends that help keep you on the Grid for the foreseeable future.