FE Talk: King Frijns Reigns in French Showers

It was a weekend to remember for Robin Frijns who comes away from the Paris ePrix as the eighth different FIA Formula E winner from the eighth different nationality this season.

It was King’s Day in the Netherlands and after inheriting the lead in the early stages, Frijns ruled the roost as the rain poured down in the maiden wet race of FE history. To have gone four and half seasons without a proper wet race was impressive, but when it rains it pours. Within the space of four laps the cars had gone from dry running to Full Course Yellow due to the dangerous conditions, with Frijns managing the whole time.

The result also moves the Envision Virgin Racing driver to the top of the standings, a single point ahead of Andre Lotterer, who once again had to settle as the bridesmaid, picking up second place in the race. Rounding out the podium would be Daniel Abt finishing ahead of his Audi Sport teammate Lucas di Grassi, during a promising weekend for the German team.

Mahindra’s and Nissan’s Can’t Catch a Break

If you’d examined the field immediately after qualifying, you’d have got low odds for Pascal Wehrlein and Oliver Rowland to take race victory. Both lined up on the front row and had shown race winning promise this season. Even their teammates; Sebastien Buemi and Jerome d’Ambrosio were third and sixth respectively and should not have been ruled out. But by the time the flag fell at the end of the race, Wehrlein’s tenth was the only extra point either team had gained.

So what happened?

For Mahindra, their woes were discovered after qualifying. Failing to adhere to the minimum tyre pressures, both were disqualified. D’Ambrosio, who had proven himself to have genuine pace in qualifying and the race, jumping up to eighth from the back row of the grid. Sadly for the Belgian, who is quickly proving himself to one of the consistents during this topsy turvy year, his remarkable rise was not concluded, outbreaking himself with 3 laps to go after a safety car restart, hitting the barrier.

The race would be more sour for Nissan e.Dams, who thanks to Mahindra’s penalty locked out the front row. With their major rival for the race at the back, Rowland/Buemi should have had it all their own way. Instead, Rowland ran wide after an unforced error and Buemi’s car once again let him down, forcing him into the pits after dropping behind Frijns.

Rowland would continue, but once again crashed at turn 8, taking the unfortunate Alexander Sims with him during a five car incident that also saw Sam Bird caught up. For Mahindra, they now lie 39 points behind the breakaway DS Techeetah, far adrift from their early season form. Though for Nissan the result is more damning, remaining in seventh having squandered their third pole of the year, no other team has more than one. For Season 2 champion Buemi, this result could stretch relations further, especially with Rowland still ahead in the drivers championship.

Frijns Suffering with Damage

Before his car failed him, Buemi had pulled off one of the most audacious trips across the track to activate his Attack Zone. With Frijns slaloming behind, Buemi cut turn 7 sharply, collecting Frijns and loosening the front wing. For the Swiss driver, it was genius. It cut off the Dutchman’s momentum as he had to brake, to avoid further collision, thus saving Buemi from being outdragged on the run to T8, but the move was not so gladly recieved by Frijns, who complained about the scraping noise, asking his team frantically for advice.

From here on out, Frijns simply had to pray. Coming into the pits for a replacement would have ruined his chance of success, especially with Andre Lotterer now hunting him down, so Frijns waited for a miracle from the heavens. And oh my did it arrive.

By lap 10, the drizzle, that started a few moments ago, was getting more intense and not only rain, but hail pelted the circuit. This undoubtably would have weakened the structure even more, but the reduced pace due to the three virtual safety car periods ensured he did not suffer a failure before the flag. While it could have been dangerous had it have come loose at full speed, the ramifications of the wing was mostly overshadowed by the crashes around the track.

Exciting Racing or Dangerous Stupidity

Racing in the series has always been tough… but fair. However three VSC’s and a SC period was not entirely to do with the rain. Most notably, Edoardo Mortara’s collision with Mitch Evans not only brought out the safety car, but all but ended an exciting ePrix.

Mortara had locked up going into T11 and collected the innocent Evans leaving both cars damaged on the inside wall. Mortara admitted his mistake to the media afterwards, but it wasn’t his only misdemeanour, with Jean-Eric Vergne “angered” by the Swiss drivers defensive conduct, as Mortara had already made one trip into the wall. No-one was injured on Saturday, but the incident could easily have launched Evans into the barrier or debut into an oncoming car. For a driver with a race win under his belt, Mortara’s standard has been penalised in other series.

He wasn’t the only one. Rowland’s smash with Sims, D’Ambrosio’s smash with Bird (which means he has a 3 place grid penalty for Berlin) and Oliver Turvey hitting Felipe Massa all compounded to the discarded carbon fibre. Moreover, the numerous unforced errors from Mortara, Rowland, Massa and Tom Dillmann all added to the sense that a level of professionalism that would have been expected from any other FIA series, was not being maintained.

Consistency, Not Victories, Will Win the Championship

Lotterer, for the second weekend in a row and third time in his career, finished runner-up in Formula E, yet if the form is anything to go by, he could be the new favourite for the championship.

Hong Kong’s incident with Bird may be behind the German, but ignoring that result, Lotterer has been one of the consistent’s this season. Six out of eight of the races he’s finished in the top 6 and in a year of “number 2″‘s coming out of their shell, no driver has announced himself more than Lotterer, who has more than proven himself to be equal to Season 4 champion Jean-Eric Vergne.

He’s not the only one though. Audi Sport traditionally find traction in the second half of the year and with Di Grassi sitting third after a fourth place finish, could really benefit if the competition continues ro trip over themselves.

It was a quiet weekend for the Audi drivers, yet Daniel Abt picked up third after a tough wheel-to-wheel battle with Massa, only to be followed later by Di Grassi, pushing the team ahead of the Mahindra Racing crew to third in the constructors. They could yet be a favourite for the teams title.

Is it over for Bird?

Bird told the media he was “sick of getting hit” after being at the blunt end of multiple incidents during the race, having not started the day well due to incidents in practice. But the fact remains that this is the first time in his FE career he’s gone 3 races without a point.

Now 27 points behind teammate and series lead Frijns, Bird is fighting a serious upward battle from ninth in the standings. As the season draws more to a close, more pressure from management will be on to support one of the drivers and should the Englishmen remain more than a race win down, the team will be far more inclined to support Frijn’s bid.

Due to the nature of qualifying format, Bird has the pleasure of starting in Group 2 for Monaco, at a circuit (even for Formula E standards) will be hard to overtake on. A strong result could still realistically see him below the top five and thus have a favourable group again for Berlin, where overtaking will be easier and a second win could be on the cards.

Highlights from the City of Lights

Behind the top four, a best result for Maximilian Gunther saw him finish fifth. Gunther and GEOX Dragon teammate Jose Maria Lopez would have been the only drivers to continue the run of different drivers, teams and nationalities in Season 5, though the German did enough to prove himself as worthy after being dropped earlier in the season. His ten points elevates Dragon off the foot of the constructors standings having scored just one points finish up to this point.

Sixth was Vergne, who failed to repeat his heroics of 2018. The Parisian made notable progress, going from twefth to sixth as his colleagues fell around him and attacking the vunerable Gunther in the closing stages.

Another championship protagonist; Antonio Felix Da Costa finished seventh, keeping him just 11 points off the championship lead, while Gary Paffett was the only Brit to score points in eighth. Rounding out the top ten would be the incident plagued Massa and Wehrlein.

As we leave the eighth round of the season it’s worth noted how the season has affected the points. By the end of the Paris ePrix last year (also the eighth round,) Vergne led on 147 points, 66 ahead of what Frijns has now. In fact Frijns would only have fourth in the standings. While in the constructors, the top four are in the same order as last year at this time, though DS now sit 62 points adrift their 2018 comparison.