The Formula E narrative over the past 12 months has been driven by the influx of manufacturers into the all-electric racing series. And with Mercedes, Porsche, BMW and Nissan signing up to take on Audi, DS, Jaguar, NIO and Mahindra (Renault is leaving at the end of this season) that can come as no surprise. But on-track the story is very different. Despite the resources - both financially and technically - of the manufacturer teams, it's an independent sitting at the top of the points table: Techeetah.
The story of how the Chinese-owned and backed customer team has been able to take on and beat the manufacturers is a classic David-and-Goliath tale. It's also testimony to how the rules the FIA and Formula E have put in place have found a perfect balance between allowing technological development while at the same time keeping a handle on costs, which in turn creates the sort of unpredictable results and races the fans crave.
"The biggest thing in this series is that the power is capped," says Techeetah team principal Mark Preston, an F1 veteran of Arrows, McLaren and Super Aguri. "I don't think people have fathomed that that is such a huge thing. If you are in F1 and the MGU-H has unlimited development and you're Mercedes you keep going and going and going, and if you're Honda you're always trying to catch up.