Formula E driver and team championship battles continue to tighten up

With six races remaining on the 2018-2019 Formula E schedule, the driver and team championship battles are tightening up beyond belief.

Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans became the seventh different winner through the first seven races of the 13-race 2018-2019 Formula E season, as he held off DS Techeetah’s Andre Lotterer to win the Rome ePrix.

Evans’s victory in this 29-lap race around the 21-turn, 1.77-mile (2.849-kilometer) Circuito Cittadino dell’EUR temporary street circuit in Rome, Italy also impressively made Panasonic Jaguar Racing the seventh different team to win a race through the season’s first seven races.

Unsurprisingly, with the first seven races of the season having been absolutely chock-full of parity among drivers and teams, the driver and team championship battles are tightening up beyond belief heading into the second half of the season.

With 29 points up for grabs for each driver in each race, including 25 for winning the race, three for taking the pole position and one for recording the fastest lap, 11 drivers are within striking distance of the top of the driver standings.

All 11 of these drivers have the opportunity to shoot to the lead of the driver standings following the next race, the Paris ePrix, at the 14-turn, 1.20-mile (1.931-kilometer) Circuit des Invalides temporary street circuit in Paris, France.

Here are the current driver standings among these top 11 drivers.

Rank – Driver, Car, Team, Manufacturer: Points (Behind)
1st – Jerome d’Ambrosio, #64, Mahindra Racing, Spark-Mahindra: 65 (0)
2nd – Antonio Felix da Costa, #28, BMW i Andretti Motorsport, Spark-BMW: 64 (-1)
3rd – Andre Lotterer, #36, DS Techeetah, Spark-DS Automobiles: 62 (-3)
4th – Mitch Evans, #20, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, Spark-Jaguar: 61 (-4)
5th – Lucas di Grassi, #11, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler: 58 (-7)
6th – Robin Frijns, #4, Envision Virgin Racing, Spark-Audi: 55 (-10)
7th – Sam Bird, #2, Envision Virgin Racing, Spark-Audi: 54 (-11)
7th – Jean-Eric Vergne, #25, DS Techeetah, Spark-DS Automobiles: 54 (-11)
9th – Edoardo Mortara, #48, Venturi, Spark-Venturi: 52 (-13)
10th – Daniel Abt, #66, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler: 44 (-21)
11th – Pascal Wehrlein, #94, Mahindra Racing, Spark-Mahindra: 37 (-28)

The distance separating first place from ninth place in these standings is only 13 points, which is the difference between the point totals awarded to a race-winning polesitter and a third place finisher.

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Nissan e.dams’ Oliver Rowland is just out of striking distance of the lead of the driver standings, as he sits in 12th place in the standings with 35 points, a total that trails the total of d’Ambrosio by 30 points.

With 47 points up for grabs for each team in each race, including 25 for winning the race, 18 for finishing in second place, three for taking the pole position and one for recording the fastest lap, five teams are within striking distance of the top of the team standings.

All five of these teams have the opportunity to shoot to the lead of the team standings following the Paris ePrix.

Here are the current team standings among these top five teams.

Rank – Team, Manufacturer: Points (Behind)
1st – DS Techeetah, Spark-DS Automobiles: 116 (0)
2nd – Envision Virgin Racing, Spark-Audi: 109 (-7)
3rd – Mahindra Racing, Spark-Mahindra: 102 (-14)
3rd – Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, Spark-Audi: 102 (-14)
5th – BMW i Andretti Motorsport, Spark-BMW: 82 (-34)

Venturi are just out of striking distance of the lead of the team standings, as they sit in sixth place in the standings with 67 points, a total that trails the total of DS Techeetah by 49 points

When the 2018-2019 Formula E ends in mid-July, which driver and which team will be crowned champion of the sport’s fifth season? It is truly anybody’s guess in regard to both battles at this point, and that doesn’t look like it will change in the near future.