Autosport Plus

Is a once wide-open title fight already over?

After its first eight races had eight different winners, the first title fight of Formula E's Gen2 era seemed as though it would conclude with a season finale battle royale featuring multiple contenders. But has one driver stolen too much of a march?

The 2018-19 ABB FIA Formula E drivers' championship looked as if it was building into yet another fiercely contested battle that would go down to the wire. When eight different drivers won the first eight races of the season, it seemed likely that more than half the field would be heading to this weekend's season finale in New York with a shot at claiming the crown.

But then Jean-Eric Vergne turned the screw.

By winning in Monaco in May, a victory the DS Techeetah driver secured by leaping from group one in qualifying to the front row (taking pole once Oliver Rowland's grid penalty came into effect), he became the first repeat winner of the season. Last time out in Bern he went one better, putting on a repeat effort to take the win after claiming pole position outright, despite the group-one handicap.

Share Or Save This Story

Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.