Formula E: Preview – Battles, Barriers and Bears in Bern

ABB Formula E returns to Switzerland for the second year running following a successful race in Zurich last season.

This year however, the Swiss ePrix moves to the picturesque city of Bern where the championship faces an unusual debut. It may be their only race though, with neither Bern or Zurich featuring on the provisional 2019-20 calendar announced this week.

Last season saw Di Grassi and Audi take a comfortable victory around the streets of Zurich and the Brazilian will be hoping for similar fortunes this year. Di Grassi currently sits 6 points behind championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne as the two former champions dual it out for the season 5 crown.

Last Chance Saloon in Title Battle

Despite there being a total of 87 points still available in season 5’s driver’s championship it is not the case that all the drivers down to Alexander Sims, who recently spoke to Motorsport Radio, in 16th place are in the hunt for the title.

No. In fact it seems most likely that only the top 5 drivers may still be in with a shout of winning this years crown. Robert Frijns currently occupies that 5th spot and sits 21 points off of leader Jean-Eric Vergne. Between them you have Lucas Di Grassi, Andre Lotterer and Antonio Felix Da Costa.

The reason why we should realistically be ruling out the drivers further down the order is simply down to Formula E’s up and down nature of results. One Saturday you are tasting glory on the top step of the podium and the next you are stuck in a unfavorable qualifying group, start in the bottom half and fail to make the points finishers at the end of the race.

Only two drivers have managed to follow up a victory with another podium finish this season, Jean-Eric Vergne and Lucas Di Grassi. Ironically also the only two drivers to win more than 1 race this season and the guys occupying 1st and 2nd in the standings.

These two are starting to display the sort of speed and race craft that has made them champions in seasons past. They seem to be the only guys capable of dealing with a poor qualifying group and or a bad starting position and then still go on to score good points.

Behind them, Lotterer appears to have lost his momentum that he had built up a few rounds ago and is slowly dropping away from his Techeetah teammate at the summit. Missing out on that elusive first Formula E victory in Hong Kong and Rome may be starting to wear away at his confidence. Despite having good pace it does not seem as if he has the resolve to get the job done in this category.

Then further back we find the pre-season favourite, Antonio Felix Da Costa. Currently 20 points behind Vergne we have to ask how much Da Costa is regretting the clash with teammate Sims back in Marrakesh which would have seen him come away with at least an extra 18 points.

Da Costa and BMW simply have looked nowhere near as quick as they had back at the start of the season. Based on recent results it would be a surprise to see Da Costa muscle his way back up the ladder but a clean victory in Bern would certainly worry rivals that maybe he and BMW have re-found their early season form.

Finally Robert Frijns. Like Lotterer Frijns seemed to have a flash in the pan spell of form. Unfortunately almost as quickly as he shot up the standings he has found himself falling back down them. Frijns has scored no points since his victory in Paris and looked well of the pace in both Monaco and Berlin.

Frijns should not foot the entire blame for this drop in form though, as the Envision Racing Audi has been just about the most temperamental car in the grid. One week he or teammate Sam Bird would look phenomenally quick and dangerous and the next both drivers are struggling to get a sniff at 10th place.

Coming into this Saturday though, team principal Sylvain Filippi is confident that his team will can bounce back and challenge for victory.

“Since the last race, we’ve been working extremely hard to analyse all the data and find improvements where we can. We’re confident we will see a return to the team’s true form in the Swiss capital.” – Sylvain Filippi

Should this be the case then we could be in for a proper five-way scrap for the title as we go into the final 3 rounds.

Can Buemi Finally Win

I must admit, I’m starting to feel a bit like a broken record when it comes to Sebastian Buemi. I have tipped the season 2 Champion for victory on numerous occasions this season, each time with good reason and genuine belief that should he have a clean weekend that no-one is better placed than he to come away with the winners trophy.

However, time and time again something seems to go wrong. To be fair to Buemi it has appeared that most of the time these are issues that are out of his hand.

In Santiago when it had appeared that he made a mistake while defending the lead from Sam Bird and planted the car into the wall on exit of a corner. As it turns out there was a power surge that went through his car which accelerated him while on corner entry and put him off-line resulting in the incident.

Then last-time out in Berlin, despite taking superpole, the Nissan in race trim was simply lacking in pace compared to the Audi of Di Grassi who overtook him on lap 4 and wasn’t seen again. Buemi however did well to hold off the charging Vergne in the closing stages and take a respectable 2nd place.

Now based on that previous result I would in normal circumstances admit that I don’t believe that Buemi and Nissan have the pace to win this season.

But, this race is in Buemi’s home country and the Bern circuit is vastly different from the one just raced on in Berlin. The wide open airfield has been replaced with the tight and twisty street circuit that we are used to on the Formula E calendar. Should Sebastian take another Superpole then we should expect and much more robust level of defence should a challenge arise from behind.

And if Buemi doesn’t take victory on Saturday then I promise this will be the last time I talk about him before an ePrix.

Don’t Crash at Turn 4

Formula E and crashes go hand in hand. The drivers of these single-seater machines treat their cars more like touring cars with the amount of bumping and barging we usually see. Quite often this results in cars being punted into walls, or occasionally cars being lifted up off the ground.

Well this weekend drivers may want to take a little extra care when battling down into turn 4. This is because the Bern ePrix circuit has an unusual feature located on the outside of the corner in question. A bear pit.

Yes that is correct. A bear pit.

The city of Bern has a longstanding history with bears and the large carnivores have been in the city since 1513. Until 1897 the bears lived in the city itself but then an actual bear pit was introduced to keep them in. In 2009 the ‘Bear Pit’ became more of a ‘Bear Park’ as a modern 6’000 square metre enclosure was opened up for them and remains one of the cities key iconic features.

For those genuinely concerned for the safety of the drivers and potentially the bears then don’t fret. Sufficient safety barriers and fences will be installed to ensure no-one will meet a grizzly end.

Listen to all the live action on Motorsport.Radio this Saturday on the Live Radio Feed.

Bern ePrix Start – 16:30 BST