How Mercedes and De Vries achieved Formula E glory the hard way

When Nyck de Vries dominated the first race of what would be the most controversial and unpredictable Formula E season to date, it looked as though Mercedes was in for a cakewalk. But as the campaign wore on, the path to a title double became increasingly rocky. Neither driver or team would be assured of the crown until the closing stages of the very final race on a weekend of struggle in Berlin

Matt Kew Sep 17, 2021, 1:55 PM

Upd: Sep 17, 2021, 3:25 PM

The pandemic created a sliding doors moment for Mercedes. There’s what happened in reality, in which it snared the drivers’ and teams’ Formula E title double. But what took place on the other side of the glass was almost certainly less prosperous.

In either case, Daimler likely would have announced its plan to kill the electric programme at the end of next season. The pivotal point in question came as a result of the High Performance Powertrains site at Brixworth being repurposed to manufacture breathing aids to support the battle against COVID-19. Engineers fully switched over to assist the hugely commendable venture and, understandably in the circumstances, the Formula E effort ground to an absolute halt.

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Author Matt Kew

Matt Kew is Autosport’s F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 following stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better-suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham’s banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing are undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.