Why achievements of 'lost world champions' still matter

Nelson Piquet Jr, Sebastien Buemi, Lucas di Grassi and Jean-Eric Vergne have one thing firmly in common - they are all Formula E champions.

But, from the start of the 2020-21 season, they (plus another, should someone else win in '19-20) will be uniquely separated from the rest of the electric championship's history.

From next season, the respective FE teams' and drivers' champion will officially be FIA world champions. Currently, only the title winners from Formula 1, the World Endurance, World Rally and World Rallycross championships are elevated to that status by the governing body.

But FE has fulfilled the criteria for having world championship status - it has four manufacturer competitors and races on at least three continents - since its second season. Indeed, had the opportunity to gain the lofty grade been taken back in 2015-16 then Piquet would be alone in not being an FE world title winner. This is because in FE's first season it was a spec formula.

Actually, the one-off nature of that first championship will still put Piquet in a place all on his own. While the inaugural FE champion could never possess world title status, the winners of the five subsequent campaigns could have done. Therefore, without wishing to denigrate their considerable achievements in the slightest, we might consider Buemi, di Grassi and Vergne FE's 'lost world champions'.

It is understood that the delay in FE becoming a world championship was related to higher associated team entry fees, but its start-up nature also played a part, reckons DS Techeetah team principal, Mark Preston.

"I suppose the only disappointing thing [about the new status] is that we didn't get to have our world championships - yet," jokes Preston, whose team scored a double title win in 2018-19. "When we started, it was such a big risk to start such a new thing. I try to explain to people how silly people thought we were to go electric car racing - and at the first event in Beijing I don't know how many times our car stopped, but it was certainly chaotic.

"So I potentially assume the FIA thought, 'Let's get it going and let's get it started before we switch it over'. And you can't just switch it over from one day to the next because with a world championship comes more things that the FIA themselves do. It's really part of the growing up of Formula E and showing that it's now come to the top."

All things considered, upgrading FE to world championship status won't make a huge amount of difference to outside observers. It shouldn't affect the close racing, which has always been a category strength

FE has indeed come a long way since its first season in 2014-15, during which, don't forget, it nearly collapsed as it faced a debt of $25million after its opening rounds. Investment from Liberty Global (F1 owner Liberty Media's sister corporation) and Discovery Communications led to the two entities becoming significant FE shareholders and in the years since the championship has grown hugely in terms of technology, driver talent and new host cities.

But, as ever when discussing FE these days, it is the influx of manufacturers that has strengthened the series more than anything else. And this has relevance when assessing why the move to make it a world championship matters.

For these major manufacturers, now including - once more for emphasis - Mercedes and Porsche, being able to use the moniker of world champion is a considerable PR boost. Audi, an FE competitor more or less since the beginning through its Abt tie-up, gained considerable status and a sales boost when it started racking up Le Mans wins. And while that is just a single race rather than a world championship (winning Le Mans arguably has more prestige than a WEC title, but that's for another column), it nevertheless demonstrates the value a higher-profile achievement can have for a brand - and by extension individual teams and drivers.

"It's a nice story to tell - and that's what they're in it for," agrees Preston.

But, all things considered, upgrading FE to world championship status won't make a huge amount of difference to outside observers. Winning team adverts will include the words 'world champion', and they will be etched on the trophies the FIA hands out to the champion squad and driver each year. But it shouldn't make a difference to the close racing, which has always been a category strength.

"It was always our ambition to one day become an FIA world championship," says FE founder and now chairman Alejandro Agag. "Everything we have done and delivered to this point has been working towards this particular moment in time."

In all that work lies the achievements of Piquet, Buemi, di Grassi and Vergne. To win one FE drivers' title is pretty impressive given the strength of the grid (which has increased considerably over time), and therefore even if those successes lack the world champion moniker, they shouldn't be treated with any less reverence than that which will accompany the prestige of the world title winners from the start of the next FE season.

In fact, if FE is indeed to a have a long and successful future, the triumphs of the 'lost world champions' (sorry Piquet), will stand out as a unique footnote.