A crazy battle for the world championship is looming in the 2024 Formula E season. Before the season finale in London (20/21 July), seven drivers have a theoretical chance of winning the title. The Porsche factory team continues to fight for its first triumph in the driver, team and manufacturer rankings of the electric formula series. In London there will be a big showdown with local hero Jaguar.
Antonio Felix da Costa returns: From Zero to Hero!
Completely unexpectedly, Antonio Felix da Costa, the second Porsche driver alongside Pascal Wehrlein, has entered the title fight. The Portuguese won both races in Portland, USA, at the weekend and is now in fourth place in the World Championship table. ‘The DAC is back’, and in a big way: Felix Da Costa achieved his third consecutive victory and the fourth in the last five races!
The 2020 champion has made a more than impressive comeback after a disastrous first half of the season – 26 points after eight races – and now has 134 points to his name. If he had regained the lost Misano victory before the International Court of Appeal, Felix da Costa would even be in second place overall. Either way: He couldn’t have given a better answer to the ongoing rumors of a split with Porsche.
Formula E: Title contenders after 14/16 season races
| Pos. | driver | team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Cassidy | jaguar | 167 |
| 2 | Mitch Evans | jaguar | 155 |
| 3 | Pascal Wehrlein | Porsche | 155 |
| 4 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Porsche | 134 |
| 5 | Oliver Rowland | Nissan | 131 |
| 6 | Jean-Eric Vergne | DS Penske | 129 |
| 7 | Jake Dennis | Andretti-Porsche | 122 |
Portland drama involving Formula E leader Nick Cassidy
The drama in Formula E currently has a name: Nick Cassidy. The Jaguar driver traveled to Portland as the leader, but came away empty-handed in both races on the permanent track. In Saturday’s race, the New Zealander threw his car away on the penultimate lap while in the lead, and on Sunday he had to make an unplanned pit stop after early front damage. Of all people, his teammate Mitch Evans had maneuvered him into another car.
Cassidy remains first with 167 points, but his cushion has shrunk noticeably: his lead over Evans (155 points) is now only 12 World Championship points. Jaguar veteran Evans missed the change at the top because a 5-second penalty in Saturday’s race after a collision with Jake Hughes (McLaren) dropped him from first to sixth place. In the second race of the weekend, the New Zealander managed a late comeback to make it onto the podium.
Pascal Wehrlein: In the points without a front wing
Evans shares second place in the World Championship with Porsche works driver Wehrlein, who has also collected 155 points so far. The former DTM champion and Formula 1 driver once again missed the ‘big points’ and only managed to score 13 points in Portland. Wehrlein’s last victory (Misano) was almost two months or eight races ago.
In the ultra-tight title fight, the ‘small’ points could ultimately be the deciding factor, and Wehrlein was eager to hoard them: On Saturday in Portland, he suffered damage to his vehicle early on and just managed to save himself in the points by finishing tenth. On Sunday, the race seemed to be over for Wehrlein after an early complete loss of the front wing, but the aerodynamic loss was limited – fourth place at the finish behind winner Felix da Costa, Robin Frijns (2x P2 in Portland) and Evans.
Is Porsche having a luxury problem in London?
The permanent circuit in Portland proved to be a graveyard for front wings once again in its second and final Formula E appearance: Hardly any car survived the energy-sensitive races with seemingly endless position changes without damage. Motorsport fans will be pleased that there is more full-throttle action in London, as the course of the energy-saving battles is difficult to follow even for experts.
If Felix da Costa continues his crazy streak in the first London race, Porsche could have a late luxury problem. So far, ‘DAC’ has supported his German teammate in the fight for the World Championship, even in Portland on the way to victory he asked the team for instructions. But because there were three other cars between him and Wehrlein, deliberately falling back would have been an insane maneuver given the close team and manufacturer championship. Felix da Costa was also ‘allowed’ to keep the second victory of the weekend.
Formula E 2024: Team ranking (top 5)
| Pos. | team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | jaguar | 322 |
| 2 | Porsche | 289 |
| 3 | DS Penske | 184 |
| 4 | Andretti-Porsche | 168 |
| 5 | Nissan | 157 |
Porsche fights for three world championship titles in Formula E
Porsche’s factory team made up a lot of ground on leader Jaguar in the team rankings and was able to reduce the gap to 33 points. 94 points will still be awarded at the grand finale in the port area of London. In the manufacturers’ championship, which was curiously introduced during the current season, Porsche and its customer team Andretti are even ahead of Jaguar/Envision – 407 to 388 points. The two luxury brands continue to dominate events in the Gen3 era at will, and in 2025 the competition will have a new opportunity with the Gen3 Evo.
Only absolute outsiders have a chance of winning the title: Oliver Rowland (Nissan) with 131 points, the resurgent double champion Jean-Eric Vergne (129 points, DS Penske) and the reigning world champion Jake Dennis (122 points, Andretti-Porsche). Bitter: Title contender Rowland had to pull out in Portland due to health problems and was replaced at very short notice by rookie Caio Collet.
The German team Abt Sportsline has nothing to do with the World Championship award in the second year after its return to Formula E, but was pleased with its best – and penultimate – appearance as a Mahindra customer team in Portland. Nico Müller scored points with fifth and sixth places, which saw the Abts move past the Indian engine supplier to P10 in the team championship. In 2025, Formula E pioneer Abt Sportsline will switch to Lola/Yamaha.