Following the fifth race of the 2018-2019 Formula E season, four drivers are within two points of the lead of the driver standings, and seven others are within striking distance.
Whenever a motorsports season, regardless of which series, begins with five different winners representing five different teams in the season’s first five races, the driver standings are inevitably going to be close at the top.
Five different winners representing five different teams have, in fact, each won one in the first five races of the 13-race 2018-2019 Formula E season, and the battle at the top of the driver standings could not be closer than it is.
Envision Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird left the season’s fifth race, the Hong Kong ePrix, with what appeared to be an 18-point lead (71 to 53) over Mahindra Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio in second place in the driver standings, and he appeared to become the first driver to win more than one race in the 2018-2019 season with his victory in this race, as he also won the season’s third race, the Santiago ePrix.
But after the race ended, Bird was issued a five-second time penalty for causing an incident with DS Techeetah’s Andre Lotterer when Lotterer was leading the race and Bird was running behind him in second place.
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This incident cause the right rear tire of Lotterer’s car to go flat with less than two second remaining on the race’s 45-minute timer. As a result, Bird took the lead and went on to lead the race’s final two laps to take the victory.
Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara finished in second place and was declared the race winner when Bird was issued his penalty.
The penalty that Bird was issued dropped him to sixth place in this race, which he ended up leaving with just a one-point lead (54 to 53) in the driver standings over d’Ambrosio in second. But d’Ambrosio, who won the season’s second race, the Marrakesh ePrix, is not the only driver who is right on Bird’s tail when it comes to leading the driver standings.
In fact, four drivers are within two points of the lead of the driver standings. Mortara and Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Lucas di Grassi, who won the season’s fourth race, the Mexico City ePrix, sit in a third place tie in the standings. They sit just two points behind Bird with 52 points each.
In addition, seven other drivers are within striking distance of Bird’s lead in the driver standings. A maximum of 29 points are on the table for each driver in each race, as race victories are worth 25 points each, pole positions are worth three points each and fastest laps are worth one point each. These seven additional drivers are all within 26 points of Bird’s lead.
BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Antonio Felix da Costa, who won the season opener, the Ad Diriyah ePrix, sits in fifth place in the driver standings. He sits just seven points behind Bird with 47 points. Envision Virgin Racing’s Robin Frijns sits in sixth in the standings. He sits just 11 points behind Bird with 43 points.
Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans and Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Daniel Abt sit in a seventh place tie in the driver standings. They sit just 20 points behind Bird with 34 points each.
Mahindra Racing’s Pascal Wehrlein and DS Techeetah teammates Andre Lotterer and Jean-Eric Vergne are currently the lowest three of these seven additional drivers in the driver standings, as they sit in ninth, 10th and 11th place with 30, 29 and 28 points and trail Bird by 24, 25 and 26 points, respectively.
The highest driver in the driver standings who is not currently within striking distance of Bird’s lead is BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Alexander Sims, who sits in 12th place with 18 points and trails Bird by 36 points.
With half of the full-time field of 22 drivers still in legitimate contention to win the 2018-2019 Formula E championship, who will ultimately be crowned champion? Will more than these 11 drivers sneak into the championship mix?
The season is scheduled to continue with the sixth of its 13 races on Saturday, March 23 with the Sanya ePrix, which is set to take place at Sanya Street Circuit in Sanya, Circuit. Be sure not to miss this race to see what kind of effect it will have on the driver standings.