Formula E has come to South Korea for the first time in its history, and the final 2 races of the 8th Formula E season were held in Seoul this weekend.
Before the first race of the weekend, eyes were on the championship fight. Prior to the Seoul races, championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne was in first place, 36 points ahead of his closest rival, Mitch Evans.
Evans won the first race of the weekend yesterday, with Vandoorne finishing in 5th place. Thus, before the final race, the difference in points between the two had decreased to 21.
Winning Sunday’s race was essential for Evans to be champion, but the New Zealand driver was only able to place 13th in pre-race qualifying, making his job for the race difficult. Vandoorne, on the other hand, took the 4th place and increased his advantage before the race.
With the 5 red lights on, the final race of Gen2 in Formula E has begun. Pole man da Costa held the lead with a good start. Behind him, Edoardo Mortara, Jake Dennis, Stoffel Vandoorne and Robin Frijns also made good starts and kept their place.
Great chaos ensued in the rear. Maximilian Günther made an aggressive attack on Lucas di Grassi, and there was contact between the two. As the drivers behind them had to slow down to avoid colliding with the duo, there was contact between many drivers and after the first lap contacts, Andre Lotterer, Oliver Rowland and Dan Ticktum said goodbye to the race.
After the first round, Costa, Mortara, Dennis, Vandoorne, Frijns were the top 5. Evans, one of the two names with a chance to become a champion, was 12th at this point. Second-placed Mortara put the leader da Costa under pressure from the first lap, but struggled to overtake on the track.
When it comes to their first attack mode use, both Mortara and Dennis passed da Costa thanks to their smart strategies and Mortara, Dennis, da Costa, Vandoorne, Frijns became the top 5.
Championship leader Vandoorne started to put pressure on Costa at this point, but he didn’t want to risk switching as he was already in a safe position for the championship. Vandoorne’s rival, Evans, had moved up to 9th at this point, but the New Zealand driver needed a win. So Vandoorne was comfortable.
On the following laps, there was contact between Mercedes driver Nyck de Vries and Pascal Wehrlein. Wehrlein crashed into the back of the Dutchman on braking, and after this contact, both drivers’ race was over.
A few laps after this accident, Lucas di Grassi punctured a tire and had to come to the pits and change his tyre. Having contacted Günther at the start, di Grassi was leading the race in 6th place and was important to Venturi Racing’s championship hopes. The Brazilian returned to the track in 14th place after changing his tyre. This largely extinguished Venturi’s hopes of passing Mercedes and becoming champion.
20 minutes before the end, we saw that Nissan driver Günther pulled over. In order to clean the Nissan vehicle on the track, the safety car entered the track.
After a safety car period of about 8 minutes, the race resumed and Mortara restarted the race. The race continued with the top 5 of Mortara, Dennis, da Costa, Vandoorne and Frijns.
With the green flags waving, da Costa tried to attack Dennis to get the second place, but there was contact between the two and da Costa flew to the barriers with the contact. Dennis was given a 5-second time penalty for causing the accident.
Da Costa returned to the race with the 14th position. After this point, the drivers used the second attack modes, but the ranking did not change, so Mortara was the winner in the final race of the season.
The Swiss driver had been promoted to the championship lead in Morocco and was a serious contender for the title ahead of the London races, but was out of the race or unsuccessful in the races in London and the first race in Seoul.
The fact that he could not score 3 races in a row caused Mortara to bid farewell to his championship dreams this year as well. The Venturi driver fought until the end for the championship last year, but lost the fight in the last races.
Although Dennis crossed the line in second place, he was relegated to 3rd place with a 5-second penalty for contact with Da Costa. This meant that Vandoorne moved up to 2nd place.
With this result, the Belgian pilot became the 2022 FE World Champion. Since the beginning of the season, Vandoorne has always kept the number of errors low compared to other pilots and showed stable performances, and when necessary, he increased gears and achieved important drives and reached the championship. Thus, a Mercedes driver won the championship for the second time in a row. Last year, Vandoorne’s teammate de Vries also won the championship.
In the Constructors’ Championship, the championship went to Mercedes. The German team became the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Champions for the second time in a row. Thus, 4 championships in the last 2 years went to Mercedes. This was Mercedes’ last race in Formula E, and the German manufacturer left the series with a win.
Jake Dennis, with a 5-second penalty, crossed the line in front of Vandoorne, but regressed to 3rd place with his penalty and found himself on the last step of the podium.
Robin Frijns saw the checkered flag in fourth place, while rookie Oliver Askew put on one of his season’s best performances in fifth.
Jean-Eric Vergne placed 6th; Evans, who carried the championship fight to the last race, finished in 7th place. Evans, who could not get points in the first 3 races, tried to come back with strong performances in the next races, but his failure to score in the first races of the season seriously damaged him in the championship fight. The New Zealand driver will be one of the biggest contenders for the championship next season.
Behind Evans, Nick Cassidy, Sebastien Buemi and da Costa rounded out the top 10.
If we look at the championship after the last race; Vandoorne reached the championship with 213 points. Evans finished second with 180 points. Mortara took third place with 169 points. Double champion Vergne has 144 points and is in 4th place. Lucas di Grassi completed the top 5 with 126 points.
In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes took the first place with 319 points, followed by the German team Venturi Racing with 295 points. DS Techeetah finished the season in 3rd place with 266 points. Jaguar is fourth with 231 points, and Envision Racing is fifth with 194 points.
Thus, we have concluded the 8th season in Formula E. This race was also the last race of Gen2 cars in Formula E. Starting next season, more powerful, fast and efficient Gen3 cars will be introduced, and the third generation of Formula E will begin.
See you next season in Gen3.