Why FE's well-travelled new arrival can surpass expectations

When Nick Cassidy starts his debut Formula E race next January in Santiago, the vast majority of people watching will have seen little of the talented Kiwi racer in action. And that pretty much sums up why the reigning Super Formula champion decided to take the plunge with Envision Virgin Racing, replacing the outgoing Sam Bird, and in doing so give up his status as the number one foreign driver on the Japanese scene.

Last year, when Cassidy wrapped up the Super Formula title at Suzuka to complete the 'triple crown' of Japanese motorsport (following his 2015 All-Japan Formula 3 and 2017 Super GT successes), there was perhaps a feeling that he had pretty much achieved everything there was to achieve in the country, and not long after his 25th birthday.

Armed with a lucrative Toyota contract that afforded him the chance to fight for wins and titles in two of the fastest and most professional categories in the world, nobody would have blamed him for staying put and trying to rack up more titles in Japan. But it had been clear for a while that Cassidy's ambitions went further than that - permanently staying within his comfort zone isn't really his style. Just witness his outings in GT3 machinery last year, or his Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 programme at the start of this year.

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For Cassidy, there was always a sense of frustration that his stock internationally wasn't as high as it should be. When he topped the FE rookie test in Marrakech back in February for Envision Virgin, he joked to this writer that one not-particularly-representative lap on a fast-evolving track had earned him more column inches than five seasons of racing in Japan. Even if that may not be quite accurate, it showed vividly how he was thinking.

Cassidy's appearance in Morocco came not long after it emerged that he had joined the Julian Jakobi management stable. Considering Jakobi can count some of FE's biggest stars on his books, including Jean-Eric Vergne, Bird, Lucas di Grassi and Andre Lotterer, it was a clear sign that Cassidy was eyeing up the all-electric series as the next step for his career.

Speaking to Autosport late last year, Cassidy made no secret of his admiration for three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Lotterer and the career the German has had, pointing out that he earned his international stardom off the back of success in Japan with TOM'S - the same team with which Cassidy won all three of his Japanese titles.

Just as back in the early 2010s LMP1 was the place to be, so FE now is the category that gives drivers the highest salaries and exposure outside of F1 thanks to its sheer depth of manufacturer involvement. So once Cassidy got his foot in the door of the all-electric series with the Marrakech test, it seemed likely that FE would be where he would head.

That's not to say that he would have accepted a drive with any old team just to get his foot in the door, and indeed it's understood that Cassidy turned down at least two other teams (including Mahindra, which was scrambling for a replacement for Pascal Wehrlein for Berlin and the following season before ultimately settling on ex-DS Virgin and Jaguar driver Alex Lynn). Having the fallback option of staying in Japan with Toyota gave him the luxury of being able to wait for an offer that he knew would enable him not to merely make up the numbers in a championship that has become renowned for a relatively high driver 'churn rate'.

It's also fair to say that the COVID-19 pause ultimately did Cassidy a favour, allowing him to focus solely on working out his future at a time when the Japanese motorsport world was on hold, and pushing back the start of the 2020-21 FE season so that it wouldn't interfere with his existing commitments - although it's possible that the official test in early December could clash with the penultimate round of Super Formula at Suzuka.

For the want of just five points (equivalent to a sixth-place finish), Cassidy and Hirakawa could have taken a clean sweep of Super GT titles across the Lexus LC era thanks to their staggering level of consistency in a championship that deliberately punishes success

So, what can those who haven't seen Cassidy in action expect of the friendly New Zealander? Besides raw pace, which certainly is in no short supply, his adaptability and ability to work with a team are two great strengths that have contributed to his success in Japan. They are qualities that will surely serve him well as he looks to establish himself in FE.

When he first joined Super Formula in 2017, he did so with the Kondo Racing team that had finished eighth in the previous year's teams' standings. But, applying what he had learned working with single-seater powerhouse Prema in European Formula 3 in late 2015 and '16, he led a resurgence for the team, culminating in Kondo's maiden teams' title in 2018, and Cassidy missing out on the drivers' crown by a solitary point to Naoki Yamamoto.

That led last year to Toyota putting him with its spearhead squad TOM'S. The team had struggled in the latter years of the outgoing Dallara SF14 chassis, plummeting to sixth in the standings in 2018. But with the arrival of the SF19 and Cassidy's move coinciding, TOM'S came away with its first championship in five years. And just in case you needed further convincing of the level in the Japanese series, consider that Cassidy's title rival Alex Palou finished on the podium in his second IndyCar road course start last weekend at Road America.

In Super GT too, Cassidy and his partner in the #37 TOM'S Lexus, Ryo Hirakawa, have been the standout duo of the past three seasons. For the want of just five points (equivalent to a sixth-place finish), the pair could have taken a clean sweep of titles across the Lexus LC era thanks to their staggering level of consistency in a championship that deliberately punishes success with its handicap system to keep things close.

Cassidy and Hirakawa missed out by just three points to Yamamoto and Jenson Button in 2018, and last year finished second again, this time just two points behind Kazuya Oshima and Kenta Yamashita.

Given it was TOM'S that gave Cassidy his big break in 2015, the decision to accept Envision Virgin's FE offer won't have been made lightly. And while discussions are ongoing about potentially continuing in Super GT for 2021, it's clear that in the case of clashes FE would have to take priority, and the sheer amount of simulator work required will further limit the time he has available to race in Japan. Just ask Lotterer, who gave up Super Formula and later the WEC to focus fully on his FE commitments, first for Techeetah and then Porsche.

But keeping the Toyota link alive could help when it comes to Cassidy's other big international ambition, which is to fight for outright victory at Le Mans. While there are no seats available next year, that could change for 2022, although Cassidy will face competition from former Kondo team-mate Kenta Yamashita and newly-signed Toyota reserve Nyck de Vries (also a Mercedes FE pilot) should there be a driver reshuffle at Cologne.

Then there's Formula 1. When Cassidy's name was absent from Toyota's announcement about its Super Formula drivers at the start of this year, there was speculation in the Japanese press that he had landed a reserve role with a grand prix team. While this proved wide of the mark, the 25-year-old admits F1 is very much still on his radar.

While FE has yet to prove itself as a springboard to F1 stardom, the fact that Cassidy's prowess in Japan has gone largely unnoticed by many in the motorsport world could work in his favour. Despite having been a paid professional driver for a major manufacturer for four years, he goes into FE as a rookie and an unknown quantity, but with vastly more experience than a driver making the move from, say, Formula 2.

Cassidy will be 26 when the new FE season starts, and while it's not exactly common to be making your F1 debut at such an age, it should be remembered that fellow Kiwi and Toyota-contracted LMP1 racer Brendon Hartley was coming up to his 28th birthday when Toro Rosso came knocking in 2017. Yes, he only lasted a year and a bit, but the point is Hartley got a chance at the big time when most people assumed that he would be stuck racing sportscars forever. That the ex-Porsche LMP1 man was in and out of the door doesn't seem to worry Cassidy.

"It looked tough for him, but I would imagine he's still proud of the fact he got the shot, and I'm sure he would have learned a lot," Cassidy told Autosport last year when asked if Hartley's experience would put him off pursuing a drive in F1. "And he's still in a good position now [with Toyota and GEOX Dragon in FE]. I don't think he regrets it.

"So, if the chance was there, I would give it a shot. For sure I believe my performances have been strong enough, and I could step in and do a decent job if I was given the opportunity."

Whether the chance comes or not, only time will tell. But at least Cassidy will have a much better shop window from which to advertise his abilities in FE than he has had in Japan.