Why Formula E's London return delivered anarchy in the UK

The latest Formula E-hatched unconventional world first for motorsport with a part-indoor, part-outdoor circuit. The long-awaited return of London to the electric calendar. A brilliant second victory for series rookie Jake Dennis to tee-up a genuine but totally unforeseen title challenge. A maiden victory for Alex Lynn, which arrived so soon after the Briton learned that his services would no longer be required by Mahindra Racing for the 2022 season.

All these remarkable story threads will be remembered in good time for their own small place in racing history. But the masses of internet comments posted in response to last Sunday’s race at the ExCeL would have you believe there was only one talking point.

Lucas di Grassi sat in eighth as the safety car was deployed for Andre Lotterer squeezing reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa into the pitwall in their dice for 12th. The DS Techeetah driver then abandoned his damaged machine at Turn 1, its front-left wheel buckled after the “sore loser” Porsche driver had made a “super dirty” defensive move.

The position of the wreckage meant the Mini safety car slowed to a crawl down the main straight, which created a window of opportunity.

Audi called di Grassi into the short pitlane, he slowed to the 50km/h limit and dived out of view of the TV cameras behind a staircase that blocked the garage. He then trundled to the pit exit where he slipped ahead of race leader Stoffel Vandoorne into an unlikely first place.

For all the criticism that was soon directed at the Brazilian and his team, by the letter of the law they had legally gained seven places. The sporting regulations read: “the pit lane entry and exit remain open and cars are free to pit provided that they stop in front of their pit.”

The Safety Car Lucas Di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, Audi e-tron FE07

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

But missed by the cameras in those crucial moments was a minor skid from di Grassi as he attempted to slow the car on the super-slippery exhibition hall surface. The tyres briefly locked, so while the wheel speed registered zero, his car had never been truly stationary.

“That will stay in my head for the rest of my life,” di Grassi would soon say when his small mistake meant the team fell just shy of a controversial but legal strategy masterclass to win.

Adjudged not to have a fully stopped, the 2016-17 champion was handed a drive-through. Team principal Allan McNish bolted to the race stewards to contest the decision, confident he could defend the deft tactic. While the contest waged behind closed doors, race engineer Markus Michelberger kept schtum over team radio and di Grassi crossed the line in the belief he had snared a second victory of the season to go with his Puebla spoils.

Then as the provisional results landed, di Grassi was bumped back to eighth. But for failing to serve his reprimand, to which he was oblivious, he was eventually disqualified. Audi was handed a suspended €50,000 fine and a debate spawned concerning when the interests of any team should fall into second place to protect the public image of Formula E. Not for the first time in 2021, it wasn’t a good look.

For all the criticism that was soon directed at the Brazilian and his team, by the letter of the law they had legally gained seven places

Fortunately, di Grassi copped his black flag before the finish. That meant, unlike in Mexico, when on the road victor Pascal Wehrlein was excluded moments after crossing the line, the attention could switch to the success story of Lynn as he arrived home for his first win.

The Saturday polesitter had fallen back in race one when he cooked his rear tyres thanks in part to the ZF powertrain in the Mahindra that hangs too much weight over the back axle.

“It's no secret that we aren't the fastest package in a race,” said the local Essex lad after he had slipped to third behind Dennis and Nyck de Vries in the opener. “We tend to destroy our tyres a lot more than most.”

Lucas Di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, Audi e-tron FE07, Alex Lynn, Mahindra Racing, M7Electro

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

His role was reserved on Sunday, and the hunted became the hunter. Lynn lined up third on the grid behind Oliver Rowland and Stoffel Vandoorne, who had snared a fourth pole over his Nissan e.dams rival by four hundredths.

Qualifying for race two had been a thriller. While the usual trend of the group one runners struggling to set a competitive time on a green track continued, rain briefly arrived in time for the next 12 in the championship to set their flying lap. That meant on this unique circuit, as the indoor track offered up more grip with every pass of a Michelin all-weather tyre, the outdoor section became increasingly slippery and so the fight to progress into the superpole shootout went down to the wire.

It was Rowland who earned the better launch and forced Vandoorne to chop across to the middle of the circuit to defend his line into Turn 1 and from there, the pair took control.

Nyck de Vries soon threw his Mercedes up the inside of Lynn through the fiddly and unpopular Turn 10 hairpin. Lynn saw his rival coming and gave him space, but both still ran out of steering lock and tagged, which bent the rack on the Silver Arrow machine and would remain a headache for de Vries for the duration.

In the fortnight leading up to the penultimate round of the season, the FIA had deducted 4kWh from the usual 52kWh race energy total in a bid to avoid the prediction from team simulations that the two London races would be flat-out sprints – not in the spirit of a series that pins so much of its competition on battery management.

But the small reduction didn’t go far enough in the eyes of many. As a result, the two usual attack mode power boosts were doubled in duration to eight minutes in a bid to make engineers and strategists sweat.

Rowland had been told by his team only to use his 35kW advantage after Vandoorne had done so first. But a change of heart on lap four of 30 meant the Barnsley-born racer took the initiative and dived through the activation gate to take his first usage. He returned to the race line behind de Vries in third, a move that didn’t best please Rowland – communicated via a sweary radio message.

Oliver Rowland, Nissan e.Dams, Nissan IMO3

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

But the delay from the 2019 FIA Formula 2 champion only lasted for one tour. Both Mercedes moved for their attack mode and Rowland regained second place behind Vandoorne before the race was quickly neutralised by the first of two safety cars.

Trigged by Rowland’s Nissan e.dams team-mate Sebastien Buemi, the 2015-16 champion sent his car up the inside of Rene Rast’s Audi in Turn 10. They hit at the apex, Rast’s steering broke, and he weaved back into Buemi’s sidepod as his suspension failed. Rast retired and the stewards didn’t hold back in giving his Swiss rival a 10s stop-and-go penalty.

The safety car peeled in after two laps and Vandoorne timed his restart wonderfully. He waited for Rowland to reach the apex of the final outdoor corner, when the Nissan couldn’t lay down its power with so much steering lock on, and then bolted eight tenths clear.

In even better news for Mercedes, de Vries pounced on Rowland for an early 1-2 and both Stuttgart machines opted for their second attack mode. But that bought de Vries back behind Rowland as the next safety car – owed to Lotterer and da Costa – came into play.

"From a personal highlight [getting a win has] been one that has tortured me for many years now. My Formula E career has been quite an interesting one. There was a part of me, to be honest, that would have left with just a win Alex Lynn

Like so many watching on, Vandoorne was bemused when he saw the green and red flash of di Grassi’s car exit the pit and slot in at the front of the pack. However, he would have less than a lap to get used to the sight as Rowland made a critical error.

A massive lock up, with Turn 10 the site of the unwelcome action yet action, meant he careered into the side of Vandoorne. That forced the Belgian to find reverse and resume in 16th. “Rowland just fucking destroyed me”, was the blunt assessment.

The shunt opened the door for de Vries to sneak through, then passing di Grassi as he moved for attack mode, as Lynn climbed into the hunt for victory. De Vries could do little to respond having used both of his 35kW boosts. Lynn, by contrast, had the better part of five minutes remaining for his second activation and welded himself to the rear of de Vries’ car.

After Lynn’s slip to third in race one, Anand Mahindra – chairman of the massive Indian automotive firm – called on his 8.6 million Twitter followers to vote for Lynn in the Fanboost competition. His driver won the small power leg-up by a mile and then deployed it into Turn 3 to pass de Vries for the final time in a move that would prove decisive once di Grassi had been dealt with. The win was settled by six tenths as Mahindra snared its fifth victory.

Alex Lynn, Mahindra Racing, M7Electro, 1st position, takes the chequered flag

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Asked where he would rank his Formula E success among his career highlights, which includes a 2014 GP3 Series title and a Le Mans class win with Aston Martin, Lynn buzzed: “It’s up there. From a personal highlight it's been one that has tortured me for many years now. My Formula E career has been quite an interesting one. There was a part of me, to be honest, that would have left with just a win. I could have just ticked it off. At least I [could have told myself I] knew how to drive this category.

“It's really difficult to put into words because it's sort of four years on-and-off in Formula E and dreaming of one day maybe coming close to winning a race.”

Those words about the flux in his Formula E career hide a poorly kept secret in the paddock. Lynn – who scored a pole position on his New York City debut in 2017, was let go by DS Virgin Racing and then by Jaguar Racing – will again be a free agent after the final Berlin round in August. Ironically, given how the race unfolded for that win to arrive, he will be replaced at Dilbagh Gill’s squad by Oliver Rowland.

But after a podium in the first race and a win in the bout second last weekend, Lynn enters the final double-header absolutely in the title hunt. De Vries tops the table with 95 points, although is acutely aware that his chances of getting it over the line are slim thanks to the contrived group qualifying format. Robin Frijns’ fourth place on Sunday earned him second and pre-event standings leader Sam Bird holds onto third despite two crashes on his home weekend for Jaguar Racing.

Lynn sits sixth, just 17 points off the top and with 58 up for grabs. His one-lap pace is clear and performances in Valencia and now London have proved his ability to manage a race and drive around degrading tyres this season.

The slightly tiresome unpredictability of Formula E, which leaves 18 drivers still in mathematical contention for the crown, was likened by some in the paddock last weekend as equivalent to everyone winning a medal at a primary school sports day. Now, Lynn’s fight isn’t solely for silverware but more to take part in next year’s sports day and the one after.

When he signed for Mahindra Racing full-time for 2021 after his six-race Berlin cameo last year, Lynn was clear to Autosport. This was the year he would establish himself in Formula E and thereby earn his place on the grid for the long haul. His performances in the English capital accomplished one of those goals. Now he needs to be equally well-judged off-track to negotiate the paperwork to achieve the second.

Jake Dennis, BMW i Andretti Motorsport, Norman Nato, Venturi Racing, pole man Alex Lynn, Mahindra Racing

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Race one winner Dennis shares more than just scoring a popular home victory in common with Lynn. He too is fighting to show the pitlane that he’s worthy of a Formula E future.

Where the two Brits differ is in who they’re trying to impress. Lynn needs to find an all-new berth. Dennis, though, is attempting to charm Michael Andretti and squad boss Roger Griffiths into retaining him as the Andretti Autosport race team becomes an effective privateer for 2022 after its partner BMW has exited the series.

The case for retaining Dennis grows stronger by the day. This is a driver who, this time last year, had never driven a Formula E car. He became the unexpected winner of an internal shootout with fellow DTM drivers Philipp Eng and Lucas Auer to win the seat and since, he’s not stopped impressing.

His rookie victory from pole in Valencia was controlled, beautifully executed. But the smooth Circuit Ricardo Tormo was the furthest thing from a typical Formula E track. Last weekend in London, he showed another side to his armoury, deploying his attack mode perfectly around the narrow ExCeL streets to pounce on front-row rival Lynn.

Now fourth in the points, he said: “After [my debut] in Saudi, it was a bit of an eye opener for the level and obviously the nature of the championship. I’ve started getting my head around it now.”

The success came despite Dennis’s chagrin when his race engineer told him to go, then not, and then go again to activate attack mode. But Dennis soon regained his cool in the heat of battle. He then picked up a quite severe vibration at the rear of his car but adapted his driving to no meaningful loss of lap time.

Although there’s only been seven for Dennis to date, this was by some way his strongest weekend in the championship – capped off by ninth place in race two.

Having been second in the standings overnight, he was thrust into group one and qualified only 17th. That he made up so much ground to snare a point, without resorting to the pitlane, is the mark of a driver who deserves to stay in Formula E.

Jake Dennis, BMW i Andretti Motorsport, BMW iFE.21, 1st position, crosses the line for victory

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images