Formula E: DS Techeetah win 2018-2019 team championship

DS Techeetah secured their first Formula E championship in the 2018-2019 season after collapsing in the 2017-2018 season’s final race weekend.

DS Techeetah had a sizable lead in the team standings with just two races remaining in the 12-race 2017-2018 Formula E season, but they collapsed in the doubleheader New York City ePrix weekend to close out the season, and Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler capitalized to win their first ever team championship.

History did not repeat itself this year.

Entering the season finale, New York City ePrix Race 2, at Brooklyn Street Circuit, DS Techeetah led the team standings by 24 points (216 to 192) over Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler in second place.

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With a maximum of 44 points on the table for each driver in this race (25 for winning, 18 for finishing in second place and one for recording the fastest lap), as BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Alexander Sims took the pole position and the three points that came with it, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler had a decent chance to do what they did last year.

But they could not pull it off.

Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler teammates Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi finished this 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 in fifth and 18th place, respectively.

Abt scored 11 points as opposed to 10, as he recorded the fastest lap of the race, while di Grassi failed to score points. He was on pace to score six points with a seventh place finish, but he was involved in a crash on the race’s final lap with Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans.

Meanwhile, DS Techeetah teammates Jean-Eric Vergne, now a two-time Formula E champion, and Andre Lotterer finished this race in seventh and 21st place, respectively. Vergne scored six points with his seventh place finish as opposed to two with a ninth place finish because of the last-lap crash involving di Grassi and Evans while Lotterer failed to finish the race and did not score any points.

DS Techeetah ended up winning the team championship by 19 points (222 to 203) over Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler in second place. Vergne scored 136 points throughout the season while Lotterer scored 86.

The 2019-2020 Formula E season, which DS Techeetah are set to enter as the reigning team champion, is scheduled to begin with the first of two races of the Ad Diriyah ePrix on Friday, November 22, 2019. This race is set to take place at Riyadh Street Circuit in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.