Season 11 of ABB FIA Formula E kicked off with a frantic Race around the streets of Sao Paulo!
Winner: Mitch Evans
We just have to start with the man who took the season opener by storm, Mitch Evans! A technical issue for Mitch saw him fail to take part in Qualifying meaning he had to start all the way down in last place! However, Evans showed great pace to carve his way through the field whilst also avoiding incidents to be around P10 by the time the first Red Flag was brought out! And then, with an extra Attack Mode left in hand, The Kiwi was able to fly his way through more incidents to take the lead of the Race, and he then held his nerves on the second restart to complete a proper Last-to-First challenge! Well done Mitch!
Loser: Nick Cassidy
Whilst one Jaguar TCS Racing car had plenty of reasons to celebrate, the same couldn’t be said about Nick Cassidy! Nick started the E-Prix from 10th, and he carved his way through the field using the very powerful new Attack Mode to be towards the front of the pack! After a Red Flag, Cassidy had the advantage of having another Attack Mode which saw him shoot right to the front of the field, but then, in what was a very unfortunate incident, The Kiwi made contact with Maximilian Gunther before he flipped over the TAG Heuer Porsche of Pascal Wehrlein, meaning he ultimately finished the Race down in P15! Just not a great start to the year for one of the Championship favourites!
Winners: NEOM McLaren
Heading into Season 11, there weren’t too many expectations of NEOM McLaren being a front-running team (certainly on my side anyway). That only got backed up when Sam Bird and Taylor Barnard qualified P16 and 17 respectively, and things got even worse for them when they were given Drive Through Penalties for overpowering! However, due to the first Red Flag, this actually helped them as they had both an Attack Mode and way more energy to use! This allowed Sam and Taylor to make it into the Top 7, but after Barnard past Bird and the 3-way collision between Cassidy, Gunther, and Wehrlein, it all of a sudden meant that the Rookie was on the Podium! Now, Taylor potentially could’ve won this Race, but my oh my, to finish third in the season opener whilst your experienced teammate is right behind you in 4th is absolutely amazing! Also, NEOM McLaren lead the Teams’ Championship after Round 1 so well done to them!
Losers: Andretti Formula E
After a difficult Season 10, Andretti Formula E had looked to have found some pace as Jake Dennis found himself in the Top 3 in all 3 of the weekend sessions so far! However, things were not going well for Nico Muller, and it only got worse as the Swiss driver was out pretty early on after an incident with Jake Hughes (both guys were unlucky honestly)! This then meant that it was all on Jake Dennis to score the team big points, and Jake looked on for it, having more energy than everyone in front of him whilst also having an Attack Mode remaining. Unfortunately for Dennis, a car issue saw him retire prematurely (this is what brought out the first Red Flag) meaning Andretti left the weekend bottom of the Championship without a single point to their name! That’s not good!
Winners: Mahindra Racing
Mahindra Racing, a team that really struggled in Season 10 despite having two really strong drivers, were hoping for a much better go at it in Season 11! I mean, Qualifying was mixed with Edoardo Mortara up in 7th whilst Nyck de Vries was down in P21, but with a crazy Formula E Race that felt more like demolition derby at times, anything was possible for the Indian Racing Team! And what would you know, Edo Mortara came home in P5 ahead of de Vries who finished P6 meaning Mahindra left the weekend with 18 points! What a terrific start for them, now let’s see if it continues!
Loser: Oliver Rowland
Oh Oliver Rowland, what could’ve been! Oliver did a great job to get his Nissan into the Qualifying Final, and he showed really good pace throughout the E-Prix to lead at multiple points! I mean, Rowland was leading before the first Red Flag, and he managed to retake the lead at the restart before he pulled away to a near-4 second gap over P2! However, in what was a really unfortunate thing for the Brit, he was given a Drive Through Penalty for overpowering meaning he dropped well out of the points-paying places and ultimately finished P14! Tough luck for Ollie Rowland, but this has definitely shown that the pace is there!
Winner: Dan Ticktum
Dan Ticktum did a good job to qualify P11 in his Kiro Race Co, but the problem with that car has always been it’s efficiency and Race pace! However, in an E-Prix with lots of incidents, Safety Cars, and Red Flags, it made everything a little bit easier for Dan who also did well to avoid all of the carnage! In the end, Ticktum came home to finish P8 and bag 4 points for the team, and that’s a terrific result when you consider his last points finish was back in April (10 Races ago)!
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