The top 10 Formula E drivers of 2019-20

The 2019-20 Formula E season should have been one of stability and sustained growth. The Gen2 car was about to embark on its sophomore campaign, while automotive giants Mercedes and Porsche were ready to take their place at the all-electric table.

Instead, the global pandemic dominated events. No fewer than nine rounds were cancelled and the series itself was officially suspended for three months. It would resume eventually, but via an exhausting nine-day and six-race finale all held at the Tempelhof Airport in Berlin.

There emerged FE's fifth different champion from its six seasons, Antonio Felix da Costa proving supreme once he'd settled at now double teams' title winner DS Techeetah.

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Naturally, the exaggerated quirks of a disjointed calendar ensure the final championship order goes someway to disguising the true ranking of the established stars and emerging talents, in Autosport's eyes.

10. Sam Bird (Envision Virgin Racing)

Championship position: 10th

2018-19 driver ranking: 9th

Sam Bird just squeezes into the top 10, and it comes at the expense of Envision Virgin Racing team-mate Robin Frijns. Honourable mentions should also go to Mahindra Racing's stand-out Berlin substitute Alex Lynn and race victor Oliver Rowland - who finished highest of the quartet in the standings in fifth. There's very little separating the four, but Bird squeezes in on account of his consistency in ailing machinery.

The Jaguar-bound Briton maintained his FE record of scoring a victory in every one of the six seasons, and he did that heavy lifting early on - kicking off the campaign with a win in the first Saudi Arabia race.

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But from there, Bird would only visit the podium once more. Like Frijns, he was hurt by the customer Audi powertrain's lack of pace in the first few races that meant he was never a safe bet for superpole or even a top-10 finish.

As a result, Bird recorded his lowest ever FE points tally in ninth place. Impressively, however, in eight of the 11 races he would gain positions from his grid slot. Again, this showed a driver who can often work around a sub-par powertrain to deliver the goods.

9. Lucas di Grassi (Audi)

Championship position: 6th

2018-19 driver ranking: 4th

The first five races were spent flying under the radar as, like Bird, Lucas di Grassi was wading into battle with the slightly damp powder of Audi's decline in performance relative to its rivals.

That left the 2016-17 champion to consistently and quietly score points in what is now becoming his trademark fashion. A second place in the first Saudi Arabia race would be his only rostrum visit until race two on the reversed Tempelhof Airport layout.

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The 2019-20 campaign marked di Grassi's first winless return in FE and that was largely owed to the car. However, too many clashes in Berlin - several very similar in nature - go some way to marking him down further.

But if you were being charitable, you'd attribute that to frustration with the machinery. More often than not, the tangles came when di Grassi was defending position rather than going for the overtake.

8. Andre Lotterer (Porsche)

Championship position: 8th

2018-19 driver ranking: 7th

Andre Lotterer flew the flag for FE debutant Porsche as partner Neel Jani struggled - being replaced by Pascal Wehrlein only days after the season's end.

The move from reigning teams' champion DS Techeetah to an entirely green outfit means the wait for a maiden FE win goes on for Lotterer, but pole position in Mexico was stellar. In the race, he risked glory over consolidating points, to his detriment as he clashed repeatedly and eventually retired.

Nevertheless, Lotterer was good for two podiums: coming out of the blocks well with second place in the season-opener and then finishing runner-up once more when the action resumed in Berlin.

7. Maximilian Guenther (BMW Andretti)

Championship position: 9th

2018-19 driver ranking: N/C

Perhaps the most divisive ranking of the 10: two victories form a solid foundation upon which to argue that Maximilian Guenther was the breakout star of the season.

On his and BMW Andretti's day, there was pace to consistently worry DS Techeetah and Jaguar. This came to a head in Santiago, when he topped the podium for the first time on genuine pace merit - even counting the critical battery temperature issues for da Costa (second) and a software error for Mitch Evans (third).

What the young German racer needs to work on is his consistency. If he didn't win or finish second, he didn't score a point all year. But a contract extension to stay on at BMW Andretti next season provides Guenther with the most stability of his short FE career to date.

There he can develop as the team leader and, car performance depending, potentially stitch together a genuine title-contending season. For now, however, there's still a little to be desired in terms of race craft. Navigating the pack in Berlin too often proved his downfall.

6. Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah)

Championship position: 3rd

2018-19 driver ranking: 1st

With four races to go, it looked like a paltry title defence as Jean-Eric Vergne sat 12th. He was yet to win, and the oft-criticised sulky temperament seemed to have returned. This was best (or worse...) seen after the first Berlin race when he felt that team-mate da Costa had ignored a pre-agreed strategy to manage pace in their bid for a 1-2.

Fortunately, a podium and a win earned in the second double-header climbed him to an eventual third in the standings.

Battling back from a virus to score a podium in Marrakech was a highlight; nearly running da Costa - who outclassed him all season - into the wall in Chile wasn't.

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Da Costa built his title success on mimicking the qualifying form that had worked so well for Vergne in previous years. As such, the double champion can take comfort knowing he absolutely has the ability to wrest the crown back.

If DS Techeetah can maintain its speed supremacy, the destination of the FE title will swing like a black-and-gold pendulum back and forth between Vergne and da Costa for the next few seasons.

5. Nyck de Vries (Mercedes)

Championship position: 11th

2018-19 driver ranking: N/C

Reigning FIA Formula 2 champion Nyck de Vries ranks a full nine places behind his Mercedes stablemate Stoffel Vandoorne in the points. But, make no mistake, he was a rookie sensation.

The main criticism of his maiden campaign can be aimed at repeated cases of overly aggressive veering under braking in his attempts to defend position - largely out of place on the narrow and concrete barrier-lined FE street circuits, however exciting to watch. Otherwise, de Vries's race-craft and one-lap pace in particular were superb.

Reliability and team errors explain much of the gap to Vandoorne. Mercedes overcooled de Vries's battery in Santiago at the expense of a first podium. A technical failure in the second Berlin race led to his retirement and a five-place grid penalty for the next round - handed out when de Vries jumped out of his car to push it off track.

Second spot in the final race of the season to bring up the rear in a Mercedes 1-2 is the headline result of the season, but seven appearances in superpole is arguably the more impressive feat for a debut season.

4. Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes)

Championship position: 2nd

2018-19 driver ranking: N/C

Stoffel Vandoorne was perhaps a touch fortunate to finish second in the points, not least because of a clumsy crash in Mexico and a day in Marrakech when he wasn't at the races. The latter was particularly reminiscent of those occasional weekends across his two seasons in Formula 1 when Vandoorne was nowhere and there was seemingly no apparent fix.

But two podiums in the opening Saudi Arabia double-header and an end-of-season victory show that when Mercedes has its mojo, so does Vandoorne. He controlled events from the front in Berlin especially well.

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Given the potency of the team's High Performance Powertrains site in Brixworth, a substantial factor in the marque's recent hybrid grand prix domination, maybe a little more should have been expected... especially as last season's HWA Racelab entry served as the perfect warm-up act.

With a solid rather than brilliant car at his disposal, similarly Vandoorne was consistent rather than remarkable. The topsy-turvy nature of the Berlin pecking order flattered his final standings return a little, but still a very sound second FE campaign.

3. Sebastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams)

Championship position: 4th

2018-19 driver ranking: 3rd

A lacklustre first three E-Prix - which ended in retirement plus a 12th and 13th-place finish - for 2015-16 series champion Sebastien Buemi came as Nissan e.dams had to change its powertrain philosophy.

The twin-motor configuration it reintroduced to FE last season was banned over the break, forcing the team to start from scratch and head in a completely different development direction.

The 158-day gap between Marrakech and the first returning race in Berlin allowed the crack outfit to regain much of its lost ground. That permitted Buemi to ape his form of last season, and he was truly ace in the German capital - climbing from 11th in the standings to fourth.

A detrimental set-up change prevented him from winning the last race of the campaign, when his expected challenge to polesitter Stoffel Vandoorne never materialised. This withstanding, he was still first-rate, even if he equalled his lowest ever FE championship finish in fourth.

2. Mitch Evans (Jaguar Racing)

Championship position: 7th

2018-19 driver ranking: 2nd

A final points position of seventh should largely be ignored when it comes to assessing the season of Mitch Evans. For his part, he was almost without fault.

The campaign was capped by a peerless victory in Mexico, when he won by 4.3s. That appears to pale in comparison to da Costa's 11.4s triumph in the following Marrakech race, but Evans' performance was the more dominant. He breezed past polesitter Lotterer on the run to Turn 1 and then managed events beautifully, backing off in the closing stages should a safety car have come into play.

But a software glitch in Santiago dropped him from an early lead and a team strategy error in Morocco qualifying meant he was sent out too late and failed to post a valid lap - although he recovered brilliantly from last to sixth.

Heading into Berlin, Evans was da Costa's nearest points challenger. But a stark loss of pace for both of Jaguar cars, largely due to wayward balance, stymied his genuine title credentials.

1. Antonio Felix da Costa (DS Techeetah)

Championship position: 1st

2018-19 driver ranking: 6th

The eventual title winner took his time adjusting to the DS Techeetah car after a late switch from BMW Andretti. That unfamiliarity with a new team, car and software was particularly prevalent in qualifying, but once Antonio Felix da Costa had adapted, he was the one-lap king with three poles and just as effective in the races.

As his nearest opponents struggled in Berlin, da Costa was utterly supreme - winning both races of the first double-header on the reversed Tempelhof layout. In particular, the Portuguese proved the master of the overheating rear tyres on the abrasive concrete.

But his German success means it's easy to overlook the most important win of his season, which came in Marrakech, where he was in total control.

If you were being kind, you might attribute his tripping over team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne in Santiago and Mexico City to sluggish team orders rather than either driver specifically.

Perhaps he lacked a genuine championship rival, but da Costa made the most of the bizarre circumstances and flourished within them to be crowned the deserved champion.