The 2023 Formula E season is well underway, here are 3 talking points from the first 3 races in Mexico City and Diriyah.
Title rivals: Dennis vs Wehrlein
Coming into season 9 and the Gen3 era, Jake Dennis and the Avalanche Andretti team looked strong after finishing P6 in both the team’s and drivers standings. Pascal Wehrlein for the TAG Heuer Porsche team took his first win in the 2022 Mexico City E-Prix, finishing the season in P7 in the team’s championship with Wehrlein 10th overall.
Race one of the 2023 season saw a dominant display from Dennis, moving into the lead from P2 and building a monster gap behind. Dennis left Mexico with 26 points and the confidence that both himself and the team could bring something special to the 2023 title fight. Wehrlein fought through the pack from P6 to bring home a 2nd place finish, well clear of those fighting behind.
Neither driver looked particularly quick in qualifying for race 1 in Diriyah as neither got to the duel stages – Dennis started 11th and Wehrlein 9th. But the two capitalised on the mistakes and squabbling of those up ahead, quietly crawling through the field and finding themselves at the front. They battled hard in the dying stages of the race as Wehrlein defended from the man who bested him in the previous race. The German driver took the win, with Dennis P2 – they would be separated by only 1 point coming into race 3.
Race 3 saw both title protagonists start just one place apart – Wehrlein P5 and Dennis P6. In almost identical fashion to race 1 in Diriyah, the two drivers cut through the field like butter, managing their energy and overtaking those starting higher up the field. After a late safety car cut Wehrlein’s lead, Dennis looked ripe for the win with more energy and a fire in his gut. The two fought hard but it was Wehrlein who once again held off the charging Brit to take the win.
Pascal Wehrlein takes the lead of the 2023 championship with a 6 point lead over Jake Dennis – the fight between these two drivers looks set to continue as they race in a league of their own. All three races in 2023 have seen Dennis and Wehrlein occupy the top 2 podium places.
Mclaren vs Jaguar
The Mclaren’s of Jake Hughes and Rene Rast find themselves in a tight battle with the two Jaguar’s of Sam Bird and Mitch Evans in 2023.
The rookie Jake Hughes has shown tremendous early pace as the only driver to be in the top 3 in every qualifying so far this season, whilst his teammate is not far behind. Though Hughes has struggled in the first part of the season with energy management, his qualifying pace shows how fast he is over one lap.
Bird picked up no points in the opening race after a collision left him in the wall at turn 2 and out of the race, his teammate struggled to make much advancement from his P10 grid slot and finished the race in 8th with 4 points to end a disappointing weekend for the team. Oppositely, Mclaren finished 5th with Hughes, securing 10 points on debut as Rast suffered the same fate as Bird. For a brand new team, the pace shown in quali and the race promised positive things for the future.
Hughes started race 2 in P2, ahead of Sam Bird, but dropped back throughout the 39 to finish 6th overall. A first lap incident saw Evans lock up and run the Mclaren of Rast wide, picking up a 5 second penalty in the process and losing valuable championship points. Bird took P3 and capitalised on the misfortune of those behind.
The grid for race 3 saw Hughes on pole after narrowly beating Mitch Evans, Rast was close behind and ready to strike. Jake fell back early on in the race, struggling with energy usage and being swallowed by faster drivers behind.
From the midpoint of the race, the battle for the last place on the podium was between the two Mclarens and the two Jaguars. Rast came out on top, defending from Bird like his life depended on it. The scrap between Evans and Hughes took them a few seconds behind their teammates, coming to a head on the final lap of the race. Hughes was tight on energy throughout the 39 laps, with less than 1% remaining going into the last lap. He put his car in all the right places to keep Evans behind through the tight and twisty track but ran out of energy at the exit of the final turn. Evans ran into the back of Hughes, nudging him along the finish line and losing a place to Buemi in the scuffle. Despite running out of energy, Hughes finished above Evans and Buemi thanks to the bumpdraft from the Jaguar.
If the first 3 races are anything to go on, Mclaren and Jaguar will be battling closely throughout Season 9.
Energy struggles up and down the field in Diriyah
With increased energy for the Gen3 cars, many teams and drivers are struggling both with energy regeneration and conservation.
Jake Hughes has been open about his struggles, describing his first race as the “hardest race I’ve ever done”. Hughes has shown fast pace in qualifying, but hasn’t been able to capitalise on his high starting position due to managing his energy ineffectively and finding he has to overcompensate for this loss.
Dan Ticktum in the NIO 333 and Sergio Sette Camara are both drivers who have had issues with energy consumption, slipping down the field and picking up just 1 point between them despite high grid slots.
In opposite fashion, all 3 races have seen Porsche powered cars finish 1-2. The Porsche powertrain proved to be both quick in qualifying and efficient in the race, the perfect combination in what is a tight Formula E pack.
