Championship battle heats up
The fight for the World Championship title is on a knife-edge as just 16 points – comfortably less than is on offer for a single victory – split the top three drivers as the second half of the biggest-ever 16-race campaign gets underway in Jakarta.
With eight rounds and five different race winners in the books, standings leader Stoffel Vandoorne of Mercedes-EQ, heads ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Edoardo Mortara and DS TECHEETAH’s double champion Jean-Éric Vergne.
Mercedes-EQ has stolen a march in the Teams’ running after a dominant second win of the season for reigning champion Nyck de Vries in Berlin. Add to that a pair of podiums courtesy of teammate Vandoorne and it was some haul for the German giants on home soil on the weekend the team’s future became clear, with McLaren taking the reins of the title-winning squad from Season 9.
Jean-Éric Vergne continued his scoring streak, now at eight races and the only driver with a 100% record in 2021/22. The Frenchman is  desperate for that first race win of the season but Formula E’s only double and consecutive champion is just 16 points shy of leader Vandoorne with eight  rounds to come.
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans’ strong form continued with more solid points in Berlin, following up on a Rome win-double and silverware in Monaco. Robin Frijns (Envision Racing) qualified down in 20th for race one at Tempelhof which proved to be costly – the Dutchman having top six pace at worst all weekend. Still, he’s just two points back from Evans in fifth, though the pair have fallen 12 behind third in the standings.
Reigning World Champion de Vries pulled a dominant drive out of the bag on home soil for Mercedes-EQ in Round 8 to bite back from a run of two points from four races in the best way possible.
FIA Girls on Track
This weekend Formula E will also be delivering the third of its FIA Girls on Track initiatives following events in Mexico City and Berlin earlier this year. This is part of Formula E’s commitment to social diversity and encouraging girls to pursue their interests and careers in motorsport.
This Friday 100 girls will be given behind the scenes access and educational workshops to learn more about motorsport, Formula E, engineering and how events such as the E-Prix are organised and delivered.
Formula E in Asia
Formula E has been a regular in Asia since the championship’s outset in 2014/15, with 16 races at five locations so far in the region. The very first Formula E E-Prix was held in Beijing while the 50th race was in Hong Kong, with Sanya (China), Putrajaya (Malaysia) and Diriyah (Saudi Arabia) all hosting races. This season will climax in Asia with a double-header of races in Seoul, Korea, another debut city for the championship.
Jakarta is home to over 11 million inhabitants and is the capital city of Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia and fourth most populous nation in the world with over 270 million people. The Asia Pacific powerhouse has a huge motorsport fanbase with Formula E races airing live nationally on free-to-air and digital channels.
