Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team Archives

Mercedes-EQ team wins Season 8 of Formula E championship – and says farewell to the series

The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team successfully defended their title in the championship, ending their participation in a high note. However, the team will not be disbanded as it will be acquired by McLaren Racing for its entry into Formula E in the next season which will be the ninth in the series.

Stoffel Vandoorne, their driver, also ended his fourth season in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship as World Champion of the all-electric single seater series. Although taking runner-up in the first Seoul E-Prix in Korea, he had a 33-point lead over Jaguar TCR Racing’s Mitch Evans and enough to secure the Drivers title.

The final race

Unlike the downpour of the day before, a dry track greeted the drivers in Seoul for Round 16, the final one for Season 8. As the race got started, the frontrunners held their positions up to Turn 2 when things tightened up and Dan Ticktum (NIO 333) moved into sixth. Vandoorne picked his way through to hold fourth spot, with Evans gaining a place to go 12th after an important move on Nyck de Vries (Mercedes-EQ).

On lap 3, Edoardo Mortara (ROKiT Venturi Racing) saw a chance to jump Antonio Felix da Costa (DS TECHEETAH) for the lead with a switchback at Turn 22. The feint was bought by the Portuguese and the Venturi driver took the lead, with Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) following in second spot.

Ticktum had run with the leaders through the opening laps but was forced to pit with a technical problem at the end of Lap 3. A pity for the British driver who looked to be in with a chance of sealing NIO 333’s first points since Rome.

The first round of ATTACK MODE activations was kicked off by Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche), who had worked his way up five positions to 10th, before retiring at Turn 4. De Vries was fighting on Lap 7, too, with the Mercedes-EQ driver getting into Wehrlein – causing both race-ending damage; Venturi’s chances of overthrowing the German giants saw a significant boost.

With a third of the Formula E race gone and one of two mandatory 30-kW ATTACK MODE boosts down, Mortara headed Dennis and looked to be managing a cushion of just over a second. Both were 3 seconds up the road of Da Costa and Vandoorne, as Frijns, di Grassi, Askew, Vergne, Evans and Cassidy rounded out the top 10.

As it stood, Vandoorne had more than a hand on the Drivers’ World Championship trophy, with Evans needing to win. The Jaguar driver, meanwhile, was losing ground to the leader – some 10 seconds back.

There was big Teams’ World Championship drama on Lap 13 as di Grassi was forced into pitting to sort out a front-right puncture. That gave Mercedes-EQ a 16-point advantage – impossible to close without the Brazilian’s presence in the points.

With 22 minutes plus one lap to go, the Porsche Taycan Formula E Safety Car was deployed to recover Maximilian Guenther’s stricken Nissan e.dams. It seemed have something terminally broken on the front left corner. Was that to be a lifeline for Evans? The pack would be squeezed back up but Vandoorne, still fourth, held all the cards.

On the restart, leader Mortara and da Costa jumped for their second ATTACK MODE boost. At Turn 22, Dennis was on the defensive with da Costa hunting second with that extra 30 kW of power available. The Portuguese’ DS and Dennis’ Andretti came into contact and da Costa ended up nose-first in the wall and shuffled right to the back of the pack. The tense final laps saw Dennis penalised with 5 seconds added to his race time for that move – leaving him a net third at the final chequered flag of the Gen2 era and the completion of the 100^th Formula E race.

Mortara had a good margin as he headed for the finish line, winning by almost 4 seconds from Vandoorne, with Dennis third, Frijns fourth, Askew fifth and Vergne rounding out the top six. Evans’ seventh was valiant but ultimately not enough.

Formula E Gen3 racing car unveiled, to be used from Season 9 in 2023

Formula E Season 8/Round 12: New York City E-Prix

Formula E was in New York City this week for Round 12 and it was also the fifth year that the all-electric single-seater series was in the city fondly known as ‘The Big Apple’. The Brooklyn Street Circuit has served as the racetrack on 8 occasions in the past and season titles have been decided by e-Prix in the shadow of Manhattan’s skyline.

This year, for Round 12 of the ABB Formula E World Championship Season 8, it was Antonio Felix da Costa who led lights-to-flag to bring home his and DS TECHEETAH’s maiden win of the season. Chasing him across the finish line was Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes EQ Formula E Team), eating away at the points advantage of ROKIT Venturing Racing’s Edoardo Mortara at the top of the standings.

The Portuguese driver sprinted away from Julius Baer Pole Position and fended off the attentions of contenders early on before Vandoorne applied the pressure later in the race. However, the Mercedes-EQ driver could find no way through, to challenge da Costa and beat him to the chequered flag.

Vandoorne’s second spot was more than enough for one of Formula E’s most consistent scorers to leave the city with a smile on his face – especially with Drivers’ World Championship leader Mortara managing just a point at 10th spot, after a brake-by-wire issue in qualifying had marooned him at the back of the grid.

Jaguar TCS’s Mitch Evans wound up third, holding on to a mid-race half-spin as he tried to break into the top three by Alexander Sims (Mahindra Racing). The Jaguar TCS driver hit a bump in the Turn 6 braking zone and just managed to catch a huge sideways slide to keep it out of the wall. Fortunately, he dropped only to fifth and, by the end of the race, had fought his way back to third ahead of Sims.

Evans’ team mater, Sam Bird was able to scrap to fifth position from 16th on the grid. His impressive drive reignited their Teams’ World Championship push. Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns rounded out the top six in the Audi-powered racing car, with Nyck de Vries, the other Mercedes EQ drive, in seventh.

With just 4 rounds left, Vandoorne is back at the top of the Drivers’ World Championship, now with an 11-point margin to prior leader Mortara. Evans is 5 points further back in third with Jean-Eric Vergne (DS RECHEETAH) unable to score again.

The race
With the summer sunshine a change from the rain of the day before, da Costa fired away to an advantage of almost a second over Sims and Vandoorne. The Porsche of Andre Lotterer failed to get away at all, with the pack squeezing to avoid contact and the German sliding to 11th.

Come Lap 5, the chasing pack, led by Sims, had closed in on da Costa to within half a second while Vandoorne followed the same distance back just ahead of his teammate de Vries. Dan Ticktum in the NIO 333 Racing was the big mover in the early stages, up to 11th and a gain of 6 spots by Lap 7 with some very fast laps.

Just one mandatory ATTACK MODE activation for Round 12, and Ticktum was the first to blink. The leaders waited for one another to jump first – and it was de Vries and Sette Camara who went for it on Lap 11. The top two went through the loop a lap later and Vandoorne was able to jump them both to briefly take first.

Bird was another climber in the opening third of the race. The Jaguar driver had started from 16th position and had made it as high as eighth by Lap 13, before Dennis swept after taking his 30 kW ATTACK MODE boost.

On Lap 16, an error from de Vries saw his Silver Arrow 02 sideways and the door open for Evans behind. The Kiwi took his chance and crucially sat right behind fellow title challenger Vandoorne in fifth spot. The top five sat one behind the other with leader da Costa heading Sims, Vandoorne, Evans and de Vries, all within two seconds. Frijns was the next man back after dispatching Dennis with a regulation pass up the inside at Turn 1 on Lap 21.

Vandoorne was next to spy an opportunity, catching second-placed Sims out at Turn 6 with a rapid switch to the inside of the Mahindra on Lap 23. A lap later at the same spot, Evans tried to make it back by de Vries for fourth after the Mercedes-EQ had jumped him at the hairpin last time around. Evans almost lost his car over a bump on the brakes but produced an amazing piece of car control to hold on and, more importantly, also staying fifth.

Inside the last 10 minutes plus one lap, the field started to bunch back up again – the top 10 split by just 6 seconds. On Lap 30, de Vries got caught at the same bump as Evans had a couple of laps earlier while trying to make it beyond Sims for third and slipped wide at Turn 6 to hand fourth back to the Jaguar driver.

Unbelievably, on the very next lap, de Vries hit the same spot while defending from Bird, with the sister Jaguar able to profit and pinch fifth – an astonishing climb from fifth on the grid at lights out. Heading into the final couple of minutes, da Costa still had control and was eager to capture a first win of Season 8. Vandoorne couldn’t make FANBOOST count but behind Evans was able to dispatch Sims with a smart move at Turn 6 – after which his team said energy would now need conserving. Two positions gained after that big save.

With two laps to go, di Grassi got turned around at Turn 7 causing a bit of a traffic jam. In that mix, Vergne fell from the points to 19th position, which could prove costly in the championship battle. One point, minimum, slipping through his fingers.

From there, da Costa was able to bring it home for a first win for the Portuguese and DS TECHEETAH this season. Vandoorne followed for a strong haul and Jaguar’s third and fifth-placed finish, with Evans winding up third and Bird fifth had the British team’s mechanics jumping for joy.

After New York City, the series goes back across the Atlantic Ocean to London for another two rounds at the end of the month. The season-closing rounds will be held in Seoul, Korea, on August 15 and 16.

Porsche Taycan plays important role in Formula E as Official Safety Car

Formula E: Mercedes EQ Team moves into championship lead after Monaco round

The championship lead in Season 8 of Formula E again changed after Round 6 as Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team’s Stoffel Vandoorne claimed victory in Monte Carlo. Running a tactical drive around the famous street circuit, he beat polesitter Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) and DS TECHEETAH’s Jean-Eric Vergne.

Evans had been close to a win in Monaco last year, before DS TECHEETAH’s Antonio Felix da Costa snatched it from him seconds from the end. This year, he had been looking forward to finally scoring the win, but it was evident that he couldn’t quite capitalise on the searing pace that saw him fly to pole position. Anyway, 18 points and second spot after a Rome win-double sees the Jaguar driver’s hot-streak continue.

Having started fourth, Vandoorne managed to get to the front after then-leader Pascal Wehrlein (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team) retired from the lead with technical issues on Lap 16. The disappointed Porsche team was uncertain why their car turned completely off and shut down on the downhill section out of Mirabeau.

With Wehrlein’s car recovered, the racing got back underway until shortly after, a collision with Mahindra Racing’s Oliver Rowland saw Andre Lotterer hit the wall into Sainte Devote (Turn 1), ending his race early. Having secured the lead, Vandoorne stayed in control to emerge in a strong position after a full course yellow and Safety Car. He made good on both restarts to take the chequered flag first with race pace and energy in-hand.

*Porsche Taycan EV is used as Safety Car for the series this year.*

Vergne had sparred for the race distance with those ahead and fending off the late attentions of Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns who finished fourth, the Dutchman extending his consistent run of form. That made it a joint-high of three podiums for Vergne and he remains the only driver to score points in every race this season.

Antonio Felix da Costa made it two DS TECHEETAHs in the top five finishers, with Lucas di Grassi taking sixth for ROKiT Venturi Racing, Unfortunately, Edoardo Mortara retired late on having run much of the race alongside his teammate in the points.

The series will next be in Berlin for two rounds on May 14/15, at which time the championship will be at its halfway point. After Berlin will be a round in Indonesia, which will host a Formula E round for the first time at a purpose-built circuit in northern Jakarta.

Formula E Gen3 racing car unveiled, to be used from Season 9 in 2023

Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team to face new challenges to defend titles

Formula E, the single-seater motorsport championship for fully electric cars, began in 2014 and the first three carmakers to participate were Renault, Audi and Mahindra. Seven seasons have passed and for the eighth one, the team from Mercedes-Benz will again compete, having started in the 2018 – 2019 season.

The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team opts for continuity and will once again field the strong, well-proven driver pairing of reigning World Champion Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne in their third season.

Continuity is important
“Continuity and stability definitely play a big role,” said Team Principal Ian James. “How does the saying go? ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’ But at the same time, there’s another old adage that being successful does not automatically mean that there’s no room for improvement. Nyck and Stoffel both play an absolutely key role in that respect. They’ve been phenomenal as drivers so far while also making a huge contribution to the development of this team that we’ve built up from scratch, so having that continuity going into Season 8 is a tremendous advantage.”

There will be plenty of fresh challenges awaiting the team in the 16 races at 12 different venues that include new street circuits in Jakarta, Vancouver and Seoul. There is also a new qualifying format when drivers go head-to-head after the group stages. Both drivers think that the new qualifying format seems very promising and should prove really interesting.

More power for the racing cars
All Formula E cars are homologated for Season 8 but drivers will still have more power available, thanks to a number of changes to the rules. Power on tap in races will increase from 200 kW to 220 kW and drivers will in future have 250 kW at their disposal when using Attack Mode instead of only 235 kW.

Same platform to be used
Because of the team’s forward-thinking approach to development, they will be able to use the same hardware for the new season, and yet get more power out of the power unit. “That was part of our work when we opted for a platform homologated for 2 seasons,” said Pierre Godof, Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains. “Part of our durability testing included the duty cycle for Season 8, which we see as the second half of a long season to all intents and purposes. It’s why right from the start, we designed the power train so that it could also be used for Season 8.”

In another innovation, the race duration of 45 minutes plus one lap could be extended by as much as 10 minutes should there be any Safety Car or ‘Full Course Yellow’ periods. 45 seconds will be added to race time for every minute of an SC or FCY period. If, however, one of these periods proves necessary after 40 minutes has elapsed or starts subsequently, then no more time will be added to the race.

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