The top 10 Formula E drivers of 2015/16

The battle between Sebastien Buemi and Lucas di Grassi for the 2015/16 Formula E drivers' title went down to the final race of the season.

A controversial first-lap clash between the two soured a fierce season-long fight, in which they largely enjoyed a duopoly on success.

Buemi emerged on top, but there were other star performers throughout the field - even if you have to look quite a long way down the championship standings to find some of the best.

1 Robin Frijns
Team Andretti Autosport
Starts 10
Best result 3rd
Position 12th

Ignore the simple matter of statistics that leave Frijns out of the top 10 in the drivers' championship. Until a double-DNF in London (thanks to a pair of accidents he was not at fault for) he was well on course to achieve that.

Results aside, the Dutch youngster's performances this year have been remarkable.

He was left with half a day of running once Andretti aborted its own powertrain at the last minute in Donington Park pre-season testing, and then faced a season with last year's technology.

After a lesson in energy management in Beijing, Frijns was a star performer, excelling in qualifying when the situation allowed and racing extremely well.

He wins Gilles Villeneuve style points for continuing in a broken car, crabbing his way to an incredible third in Putrajaya over the final laps with broken right-rear suspension, and a brilliant sideways braking move on Loic Duval in Berlin.

Frijns didn't quite have Antonio Felix da Costa's peaks with the same older powertrain, but also didn't have da Costa's FE experience or a team with a summer's worth of software development on its side.

And when they went wheel-to-wheel in Paris, it was Frijns who came out on top.

2 Sebastien Buemi
Team Renault e.dams
Starts 10
Wins 3
Position 1st

While di Grassi could point to Mexico and Berlin as issues outside of his control, so too could Buemi to Putrajaya and London.

And an issue of rust build-up on the braking system of his qualifying car, thought to have developed in transit from Putrajaya to Punta del Este, made his brake balance difficult to judge. That turned what should have been a serene run to the title into more of a challenge.

His victories in Beijing and Berlin were supreme and his fightbacks in Punta, Buenos Aires and Paris extremely well-executed. As was an incredible pole position in Sunday qualifying in London that proved he was not a driver that just wilts under pressure.

Still, he misses out on top spot because of the number of errors - not just in qualifying, but rear-ending Frijns in Long Beach too.

A deserving champion, but tantalisingly one with much more to come next season if the mistakes are eradicated.

3 Lucas di Grassi
Team Abt Audi Sport
Starts 10
Wins 3
Position 2nd

Until Sunday in London, di Grassi was a shoo-in for top spot on this list, and until then the Brazilian had put together almost the perfect season.

If there was a weak point it was qualifying, but he always came good in the races. Di Grassi rightly points out that "the championship is a sum of every single race", and feels what happened in London did not cost him the title - the exclusion from Mexico and not taking team orders in Berlin did.

Given his own efforts, it's harsh on him to be in this position. But if he'd won the title by virtue of that collision with Buemi on the first lap in London, he would have been questioned and criticised, and just because he didn't doesn't mean he escapes some kind of judgement.

It would be wrong to say di Grassi drove into Buemi on purpose without having evidence. But it was the biggest first-lap shunt FE has had, so if it was an error, it was colossal and if it wasn't, it was wrong.

Extremely aggressive is probably the best way to describe it, which is to be expected when there's a title on the line. But the consequences of getting it wrong were severe and didn't reflect the previous eight races, which were immediately overshadowed.

In those races, di Grassi was magnificent. For most of the season he left nothing on the table and was a clear number one.

4 Sam Bird
Team DS Virgin Racing
Starts 10
Wins 1
Position 4th

Bird can count himself unlucky not to be higher in this list, but he loses out for key mistakes in Long Beach and Paris that cost him podiums.

That he managed to go into the final three races as a title outsider was incredible given the difficult nature of the DS Virgin package early on. Beijing and Putrajaya were tough events for the Anglo-French squad, but Bird still came through the attrition in Malaysia to finish second.

Thereafter he was largely excellent, claiming a hat-trick of poles (one inherited) and brilliantly keeping a charging Buemi at bay to win in Buenos Aires. Were it not for a brace of technical issues in London, he might well have beaten Renault's Nico Prost to third in the championship.

5 Antonio Felix da Costa
Team Team Aguri
Starts 10
Best result 6th
Position 13th

Four points-finishes do not do the Portuguese driver justice this season. Obvious highlights were his frontrunning performances in Putrajaya and Buenos Aires, where he was in victory contention before suffering mechanical misfortune in each race, earning (a deleted) pole position in Long Beach and charging from the seventh row into the top six in both London races.

Less obvious was his fine run to sixth in Punta del Este, right behind Prost - who was in the same car that dominated the race.

In a Renault or an Abt, da Costa would have fought for the title. As it was he found himself in an Aguri squad that was constantly changing and made too many small mistakes - such as the tyre-pressure gaffe that sent him to back of the grid in Long Beach.

6 Jerome d'Ambrosio
Team Dragon Racing
Starts 10
Wins 1
Position 5th

A frustrating season for the Belgian, but not through his own doing.

When Dragon had its package working it was capable of great things, as d'Ambrosio's excellent poles in Punta del Este and Mexico City proved.

But after inheriting victory in Mexico when di Grassi was disqualified, Dragon's season turned. Were it not for a fortunate trio of penalties ahead of him, d'Ambrosio would have ended the year with a best finish of sixth in the final five races.

During the lean races there was very little between d'Ambrosio and team-mate Loic Duval, but the ex-Formula 1 driver had the edge and his ability to extract the most when more was possible was extremely impressive.

7 Oliver Turvey
Team NextEV TCR
Starts 10
Best result 6th
Position 14th

The McLaren Formula 1 development driver impressed on his FE inauguration in London last year, but couldn't have asked for a tougher full first campaign.

Lining up alongside champion Nelson Piquet Jr was always going to offer a stern benchmark, but when it became clear that the NextEV TCR001 was a dog of a powertrain, suddenly that benchmark was all Turvey had.

Not that the Briton was at all fazed. He defeated Piquet 7-3 in qualifying, including four top-10 starts in a row at the end of the season, despite the disadvantages of the team's heavy technical package.

He deserved a podium in London after two incredible superpole appearances, one by fortune and then one completely on merit.

It wasn't to be, but Turvey's stock rose highly this season.

8 Stephane Sarrazin
Team Venturi
Starts 10
Best result 2nd
Position 6th

A stunning qualifying performance in Putrajaya, where the Venturi driver was Buemi's nearest challenger, and a breakthrough podium in Long Beach are deserved highlights of a fine campaign.

Sarrazin obliterated 1997 Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve in the first three races, then outperformed his Toyota LMP1 team-mate Mike Conway when the Brit joined Venturi for the remainder of the season.

The versatile Frenchman has been a key part of the Monegasque outfit's steep learning curve in FE, and sixth in the drivers' championship was a fine reward for his efforts.

9 Nick Heidfeld
Team Mahindra Racing
Starts 9
Best result 3rd
Position 10th

Scoring a podium in Beijing was Heidfeld's seasonal peak, but it should not be viewed as a false dawn.

Mahindra was always more likely to start the season stronger than it finished it, because it had a less-revolutionary powertrain shift than the big guns.

A hand injury suffered in Putrajaya forced him to miss Punta, and his return in Buenos Aires was hurried - and he still finished seventh.

He managed two more superpole appearances over the balance of the season and finished every race he contested in the top 10. He generally had the edge over team-mate Bruno Senna, too.

10 Loic Duval
Team Dragon Racing
Starts 10
Best result 4th
Position 8th

This was a tricky one. It was Abt versus Prost versus Duval for the final slot, with Duval edging it based on comparison with his team-mate.

Prost was destroyed by Buemi in qualifying for most of the season, trailing him by more than half a second in several cities.

Abt closed out the season with three podiums in the final five races, though he blotted his copybook by not letting di Grassi past in Berlin, then crashing into Frijns in the first London race.

Duval was not the quickest Dragon driver, but he ran d'Ambrosio very close - no podiums, but a 100% in-the-points record in races he finished and a quartet of fourth-place finishes indicate he was always there or thereabouts when the car allowed.