For the first time in quite a while, Formula E returned to China for a double-header of the Shanghai E-Prix!
Winner: Mitch Evans
There’s no doubt that Mitch Evans is the best person to start with in this category, he literally scored more points than anyone this weekend! Mitch had a perfect Race on Saturday, keeping calm and making a great overtake on Pascal Wehrlein to take victory whilst he managed to keep out of trouble in Sunday’s E-Prix and take home a positive 10 points. With 4 Rounds to go, Mitch is currently 35 points off the Championship lead, so he’s going to need to be on his a-game from now until London!
Loser: Jake Dennis
Since he got taken out in Monaco, things just haven’t gone well for Jake Dennis. Saturday’s Race was fine, P5 is never a bad result, but you do feel like more was on the table at one point. As for Sunday, Jake just didn’t have the pace which is very odd and he came across the line in P11 (whilst his teammate got a Podium)! This now leaves Dennis 54 points off the Championship lead, and I cannot see how the Reigning World Champion can overturn that deficit!
Winner: Jake Hughes
We absolutely have to give Jake Hughes a mention as he was able to score the first Podium of his Formula E career! Saturday didn’t exactly go to plan for Jake, crossing the line in P16, but Sunday was a completely different story as Hughes had a terrific Qualifying to take Pole before he managed the Race superbly to take a second-place finish for NEOM McLaren (that wasn’t the only P2 McLaren achieved during that day)! Great work from Jake, and he’s now moved into the Top 10 in the Drivers’ Championship!
Loser: Sam Bird
However, whilst it went well for one of the NEOM McLaren’s, the same cannot be said about Sam Bird. We do have to remember that this was Sam’s first Race in a while due to him breaking some bones which is why I won’t go on too much about his P17 in Round 11. However, Round 12 is a different story as Bird completely wiped out Nyck de Vries and he ultimately retired whilst his teammate finished second! That simply isn’t good enough for a veteran like Sam Bird.
Winner and Loser: Nyck de Vries
After a pretty horrible couple of years, Nyck de Vries returned to form in a Formula E car this weekend with a fabulous E-Prix on Saturday that even saw him leading the Race at one point. Nyck ultimately finished 7th, but he can be very pleased with those 6 points. On Sunday, de Vries managed to qualify in a very strong 4th, and he was running well inside the points before Sam Bird decided to just take him out! So yeah, bad luck to Nyck, but this is much better from him!
Winners and Losers: TAG Heuer Porsche
TAG Heuer Porsche are the best example you will ever get for a “Winners and Losers” category. On Saturday, it was a great day for Pascal Wehrlein as he finished second, but Antonio Felix da Costa received a post-Race penalty that dropped him all the way down to P18! On Sunday, the roles were reversed as Pascal suffered a puncture (in an incident with Sam Bird) which took him all the way to the back of the field whilst da Costa managed to pick up yet another victory! So it was a very mixed weekend for TAG Heuer Porsche, and they’ve ultimately lost ground in the Teams’ Championship fight which isn’t great!
Winner: Nick Cassidy
And last but certainly not least, we have to talk about the Championship Leader! Nick Cassidy has been super consistent all year, and he proved that again this weekend with a P3 on Saturday and a P4 yesterday. It is worth mentioning that Nick could’ve won the Race on Saturday had his team Jaguar TCS Racing allowed him to do so, but at the end of the day, Cassidy’s Championship lead over the rest of the field is 25 points (to Pascal Wehrlein) which is a strong position to be in for the Kiwi!