2024 Formula E London E-Prix | 8 talking points

Wehrlein strikes to take championship glory

The German arrived in London third in the championship, and equal 12 points with Evans behind leader Cassidy. He lost out in the duels to a lightning-fast Sebastien Buemi, but lined up third on the grid with Evans on pole. With Cassidy seemingly out of the equation down in 17^th on the grid, this was a huge opportunity for one of them to make a move to the top of the standings.

After holding third place for the first 20 laps, Wehrlein struck a match on lap 22 when he scythed up the inside of Evans into Turn One to take the lead. Then, with a two per cent energy advantage, he pulled out a massive gap in two laps to take his first Attack Mode and retain the lead. From there, he was imperious and cruised to victory.

For race two, Cassidy was back at the front of the grid, and Wehrlein’s championship chances looked to be diminishing as he engaged in a two vs. one battle with the two Jaguar cars on Sunday. Sandwiched between two Jaguar drivers each arguing with their team over who should be given strategy priority, Wehrlein was content to bide his time.

Time looked to be running out for the Porsche driver however, as with five laps to go neither he nor Evans had taken a dose of Attack Mode. When the safety car was deployed for a collision that put Cassidy out of contention, both of their races appeared to be in jeopardy.

While Evans faltered, Wehrlein executed the final five laps brilliantly to beat his rival and claim an incredible championship victory. His consistency over the course of the season kept him in contention throughout, and he pulled together a perfect weekend right when it was needed to seal the title. 29-year-old Wehrlein, seven years after he was dumped out of Formula 1, leaves London as a deserving world champion.

Evans’ Attack Mode disaster ends title hopes

With three laps to go in race two, it looked for all the world that Mitch Evans only had to finish the race to become world champion. Then disaster struck as he went for his second Attack Mode, only for the system not to register the attempt.

Evans admitted on the radio he thought he’d missed the detection zone, but Jaguar had been struggling with a sensor issue the day before which had stopped Cassidy from being able to active Attack Mode.

Whatever the cause, it was the moment that cost him the championship, but even so he too had plenty of frustration to direct at his team in the aftermath. He felt Jaguar had chosen to benefit his team-mate Cassidy, and that his late Attack Mode strategy was forced upon him.

Despite all of that, Evans performed admirably all weekend in London, and more often than not put himself in prime position for title glory. He put it on pole on Saturday, and led for much of race two, but ultimately the force of Wehrlein proved too difficult to stop.

Cassidy’s poor Saturday and over-complicated Sunday

You got a sense listening to Nick Cassidy over the radio this weekend that he expected to walk away from London as the Formula E world champion. On a weekend where drivers around the world seemed to be more tetchy than normal, Cassidy’s airwaves were filled with terse comments to his team and his fellow competitors. It is of course understandable that tensions would run high as his championship aspirations slowly evaporated in front of his eyes.

You have to say though, that the weekend would have been a whole lot easier had he not put together such a poor qualifying session on Saturday. From 17^th on the grid, he was immediately on the back foot and surrendered his championship lead going into the final round.

He rectified things on Sunday with pole position, and Jaguar looked in a strong place to claim its first teams’ championship, but the intra-team fight for drivers’ honours inevitably boiled over as the laps counted down. Cassidy had followed the team instruction to give up the lead and take Attack Mode. He dropped to third, behind Evans and Wehrlein, but was stuck in the queue from then on as the two ahead refused to give up track position.

The implosion was complete on lap 28 as Cassidy was hit from behind at the final corner and forced to pit. His frustrations with having been left among the melee were obvious, and his call for a public apology from his team underlined his emotions. A hugely impressive season from the Kiwi ended in disaster as he dropped to third in the standings, and despite his disappointment on Sunday, Cassidy’s poor performance on Saturday was to blame.

Jaguar takes first teams’ championship

Despite all the chaos for the drivers at the London E-Prix, Jaguar did at least manage to cling onto the team’s championship. Porsche won more races, but the duo of Cassidy and Evans were far more consistent with 14 podiums between them.

It’s Jaguar’s first Formula E crown, and the brand’s first in motorsport since 1991. The team has worked so incredibly hard on the efficiency of its powertrain, and that performance advantage paid off with several dominant displays over the course of the season to amass the highest ever points total from a single team.

It will be of little consolation to the team’s two drivers, though, who will both have to wait yet again to finally get their hands on the drivers’ trophy.

Dennis’ frustrating season ends with collision

The reigning champion’s torrid title defence came to a frustrated end in London. Jake Dennis has been bemoaning the performance of his car from as early as the third round of the season, and he has found it increasingly difficult to hide his misgivings as the poor results have mounted.

Despite a win at the second race of the season and a further three podiums, Dennis no-scored on six occasions to eventually finish seventh in the standings. The car has clearly been underperforming, but the 2023 world champion has often allowed his frustrations to get the better of him.

Things again got out of hand at the London E-Prix, as Dennis was involved in a number of incidents across both races, eventually retiring from race two after an altercation with Edoardo Mortara. He’ll be glad to see the end of this campaign, but he and Andretti will need to bounce back quickly if they want to compete next season.

Rowland ends on a high

Amid all the title drama, Rowland did what he does best in race two of the London E-Prix; to keep a cool head and take his second win of the season to end his best Formula E season to date in style.

Like Cassidy and Felix da Costa, Rowland hit his own purple patch through the middle of the season as he scored six podiums, including one win, in eight races to put himself in title contention with five races to go.

His run was abruptly ended by illness that sidelined him for the Portland E-Prix, but after a collision with Da Costa during race one in London, he got it together for an event free race two and made the most of the chaos at the front to sneak into the lead and take the chequered flag.

Formula E proves itself once again

The London E-Prix once again hosted a thoroughly entertaining weekend of motor racing that, perhaps most importantly, was the backdrop for an enticing title battle that went quite literally to the wire. It was drama on a level with Abu Dhabi 2021, but for all the right reasons, rather than the controversial mess of that particular championship decider.

Cassidy’s disastrous Saturday set the scene for an enticing three-way battle on Sunday, and it duly delivered an unmissable finale. If you haven’t watched it, you should, because it’s a wonderful reminder that a world championship doesn’t have to be over by mid-summer.

Perhaps F1 will finally follow suit this season, but Formula E has consistently delivered enjoyable and generally good quality racing in 2024 with endless side-by-side action and plenty of opportunities for drivers to make their mark.

We’ll be tuning in next season to do it all again.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.