Formula E: 4 drivers set to enter 2018-2019 season finale in title contention

By Asher Fair | Jul 13, 2019

BERN, SWITZERLAND - JUNE 22: In this handout provided by ABB FIA Formula E, Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA), DS TECHEETAH, DS E-Tense FE19 battles with Mitch Evans (NZL), Panasonic Jaguar Racing, Jaguar I-Type 3 during the Swiss E-Prix, Race 11 of the 2018/19 ABB FIA Formula E Championship at Bern Street Circuit on June 22, 2019 in Bern, Switzerland. (Photo by LAT Images/FIA Formula E via Getty Images) /

Four drivers are still mathematically eligible to win the 2018-2019 Formula E championship heading into the season finale at Brooklyn Street Circuit.

With a 32-point lead in the driver standings over Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Lucas di Grassi and two races remaining on the 13-race 2018-2019 Formula E schedule, DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne had a chance to become the first two-time champion in Formula E history in the penultimate race of the season, New York City ePrix Race 1, at Brooklyn Street Circuit.

With a maximum of 29 points available for each driver for each race, including 25 for winning the race, three for taking the pole position for it and three for recording the fastest lap in it, Vergne appeared to be in a pretty good position to do so.

But after a wild 36-lap race around the 14-turn, 1.475-mile (2.374-kilometer) Brooklyn Street Circuit temporary street circuit in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York, di Grassi is still in championship contention, and shockingly, so are two other drivers not named Vergne.

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Four drivers are set to enter tomorrow’s season finale at the track still mathematically eligible to win the 2018-2019 championship.

In addition to Vergne and di Grassi, Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans and Nissan e.dams’ Sebastien Buemi still have a chance to win this title.

Di Grassi entered New York City ePrix Race 1 trailing Vergne by 32 points in the driver standings. After Vergne was involved in an early wreck, it appeared as though di Grassi would stay in the championship fight with a solid finish.

Di Grassi recorded that solid finish in the form of a fifth place effort, but Vergne clawed his way back into the top 10, effectively ninth place due to the impending 10-second penalty that was to be issued to Envision Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird. In addition to the two points Vergne was slated to get due to his ninth place finish, he was also slated to get an additional point for recorded the fastest lap among the top 10 finishes.

But on the final lap, he crashed and ended up finishing in 15th place, which resulted in him scoring zero points.

As a result, the 10 points that di Grassi scored as a result of his fifth place finish brought him to 22 points behind Vergne, and with a maximum of 29 points on the table for each driver in New York City ePrix Race 2, he still has a chance to beat Vergne to become the first driver to win two Formula E championships.

Meanwhile, Evans entered this race in third place in the driver standings, 43 points behind Vergne. He ended up finishing the race in second and scoring 18 points, bringing him to 25 points behind Vergne.

Finally, Buemi entered this race in seventh place in the driver standings, 54 points behind Vergne. He took the pole position for this race to secure three bonus points, bringing him to 51 points behind Vergne, and he led each of the race’s 36 laps en route to winning it to score an additional 25 points, bringing him to just 26 points behind Vergne.

Here is how these four drivers currently stack up against one another in the driver standings.

Rank – Driver, Car, Team, Manufacturer: Points (Behind)
1st – Jean-Eric Vergne, #25, DS Techeetah, Spark-DS Automobiles: 130 (0)
2nd – Lucas di Grassi, #11, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, Spark-Audi: 108 (-22)
3rd – Mitch Evans, #20, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, Spark-Jaguar: 105 (-25)
4th – Sebastien Buemi, #23, Nissan e.dams, Spark-Nissan: 104 (-26)

It is worth noting that Buemi absolutely must take the pole position for tomorrow’s race in order to remain championship eligible in it. If he does not, he can only score a maximum of 26 points in the race itself, and even if he does that and Vergne fails to score, Vergne would win the tiebreaker over him due to the fact that he has won three races this season. Even if Buemi wins tomorrow’s race, he will have won only two.

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Who will ultimately be crowned champion of Formula E‘s fifth season? Tune in to Fox Sports 1 tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of New York City ePrix Race 2 from Brooklyn Street Circuit to find out.