NO TIME TO REST FOR ABB FIA FORMULA E WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PROTAGONISTS IN ‘THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS’
With just six races of the season remaining, this weekend’s North American double-header could prove critical for 2021/22 title hopefuls.
Frank Sinatra famously described it as ‘the city that never sleeps’, and there will certainly be no time to rest for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship title protagonists in New York this weekend (16/17 July), as they seek to stamp their authority on the chase for the coveted crown.
The legendary ‘Big Apple’ will play host to rounds 11 and 12 of Formula E’s 2021/22 campaign – the first of three high-stakes double-headers to decide the destiny of the Drivers’ and Teams’ laurels. The event will mark the all-electric single-seater series’ fifth visit to the North American metropolis, and excitement is guaranteed.
Snaking around the waterfront streets of Brooklyn – in the heart of the Red Hook neighbourhood and against the backdrop of the iconic Manhattan skyline – the technical 2.32km, 14-turn lap is renowned for its unforgiving nature. In the New York City E-Prix, no mistake goes unpunished.
Fresh from his third victory of the season in Morocco last time out – extending an unbroken podium run that began in Berlin just under two months ago – Edoardo Mortara arrives with an 11-point advantage over his nearest pursuer in the title table. The ROKiT Venturi Racing star, however, has never scored in four previous starts in New York – a statistic he will be keen to swiftly put to bed.
By contrast, closest rival Jean-Éric Vergne (DS TECHEETAH) boasts strong form at the track, winning in 2018 and taking the chequered flag second in both 2017 and 2021. A similar outcome this weekend could help the two-time champion to narrow the deficit or even supplant Mortara at the summit of the standings.
Mercedes-EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne is hot on Vergne’s heels three points further back in third, but like the championship leader, the Belgian is still searching for a good result in New York, having not finished any higher than eighth there to-date.
Mitch Evans completes the front-running quartet for Jaguar TCS Racing, with the top four having broken away from the chasing pack in recent races. The New Zealander – just a single point behind Vandoorne in the overall classification – was runner-up in ‘Gotham’ in 2019 and holds the current lap record.
After coming away from the most recent two E-Prixs in Jakarta and Marrakech empty-handed, fifth-placed Robin Frijns has slipped to more than 40 points adrift of Evans – but the Envision Racing driver knows what it takes to tame the demanding Brooklyn Street Circuit, having triumphed there three years ago.
Not far behind the Dutchman, 2019/20 title-winner António Félix da Costa (DS TECHEETAH) finally sprayed some podium champagne for the first time this season in Morocco to climb the leaderboard to sixth, and the Portuguese ace similarly reached the rostrum in New York in both 2019 and 2021.
Fellow former champion Lucas Di Grassi (ROKiT Venturi Racing) sped to his eighth career victory in the ‘Empire City’ in 2018 – the first of the Brazilian’s three podiums in the race. Defending title-holder Nyck de Vries, conversely, has just one previous appearance there – in last year’s double-header – yielding a best finish of a lowly 13th place, which the Mercedes-EQ driver will be looking to significantly improve upon this time around.
Characteristic of Formula E’s famous unpredictability, only three of the eight New York City E-Prixs held so far have been won from pole position – two of them by Sam Bird (Jaguar TCS Racing), who is the series’ most successful competitor at the circuit with three triumphs to his credit. The Briton doubled up in the inaugural running of the event in 2017, going on to prevail again in the most recent edition after posting fastest lap the previous day.
Amongst the other drivers to have excelled in Brooklyn are Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy – a pole-sitter in 2021 and second-place finisher 24 hours later – and 2015/16 champion Sébastien Buemi, who claimed a lights-to-flag victory there three years ago, tallying a brace of further rostrum results plus an unrivalled three pole positions from 2018 to 2019. The Swiss star’s Nissan e.dams stablemate Maximilian Günther, meanwhile, converted fourth on the grid into the top step of the podium last year.
Alexander Sims, finally, took the chequered flag as runner-up in New York after starting from pole in the second race in 2019, and the Mahindra Racing man will be targeting another points finish this weekend having only troubled the scorers once so far this season.
Round 11 of the 2021/22 Formula E campaign will get underway at 13:00 local time (19:00 CET) on Saturday, 16 July, followed by round 12 at the same time on Sunday, 17 July.
WHAT'S NEW FOR 2022
- Introduction of a new qualifying format featuring Groups and head-to-head Duels.
- Formula E’s all-electric Gen2 cars will be able to use 220kW of power, an increase from 200kW in Season 7, during races. Power during ATTACK MODE will also increase to 250kW from 235kW in Season 7.
- Races can now have extra time of up to a maximum of 10 minutes added when incidents result in a Safety Car or Full Course Yellow neutralisations during the standard 45-minute plus one lap race.
Please find here the 2021 - 2022 Sporting Regulations.
THE 2022 TRACK
MEDIA CENTRE
Opening Hours of the Media Center
- Friday 15 July 08:00 - 19:00
- Saturday 16 July 06:00 - 19:00
- Sunday 17 July 06:00 - 19:00
2022 ABB FIA FORMULA E NEW YORK E-PRIX TIMETABLE
Friday 15 July
Starts
Ends
Lenght
Activity
16:00
16:30
00:30
FREE PRACTICE 1
Saturday 16 July
Starts
Ends
Lenght
Activity
07:00
07:30
00:30
FREE PRACTICE 2
08:40
08:52
00:12
QUALIFYING Group A
08:57
09:09
00:12
QUALIFYING Group B
09:17
09:32
00:15
QUARTER FINAL
09:36
09:46
00:10
SEMI FINAL
09:50
09:55
00:05
FINAL
≈13:04
RACE (45' + 1 lap)
Sunday 17 July
Starts
Ends
Lenght
Activity
07:00
07:30
00:30
FREE PRACTICE 3
08:40
08:52
00:12
QUALIFYING Group A
08:57
09:09
00:12
QUALIFYING Group B
09:17
09:32
00:15
QUARTER FINAL
09:36
09:46
00:10
SEMI FINAL
09:50
09:55
00:05
FINAL
≈13:04
RACE (45' + 1 lap)
MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES
Friday 15 July
12:00 - 12:15
Team Representatives FIA Press Conference
Roger Griffiths - Avalanche Andretti Formula E
Nicolas Mauduit - DRAGON/PENSKE Autosport
Ian James - Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
12:15 - 12:30
Drivers FIA Press Conference
Oliver Askew - Avalanche Andretti Formula E
Edoardo Mortara - ROKiT Venturi Racing
Jean Éric Vergne - DS TECHEETAH
12:30 - 12:45
Media Pen
Avalanche Andretti Formula E
DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT
DS TECHEETAH
Envision Racing
Jaguar TCS Racing
12:45 - 13:00
Media Pen
MAHINDRA RACING
Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
NIO 333 Formula E Team
Nissan e.dams
ROKiT Venturi Racing
TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team
Saturday 16 July
14:30 - 14:45
FIA Press Conference top 3 drivers
14:50 - 15:10
Media Pen (All drivers)
Sunday 17 July
14:30 - 14:45
FIA Press Conference top 3 drivers
14:50 - 15:10
Media Pen (All drivers)
2022 ABB FIA FORMULA E NEW YORK E-PRIX ENTRIES
2022 ABB FIA FORMULA E WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS
The classification of the 2022 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is available on the following link.
2021 ABB FIA FORMULA E NEW YORK E PRIX RESULTS
Race 1
Pole Sitter
Nick Cassidy
Envision Virgin Racing
Race result
1
Maximilian Günther
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
2
Jean-Éric Vergne
DS TECHEETAH
3
Lucas di Grassi
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
Race 2
Pole Sitter
Sam Bird
Jaguar Racing
Race result
1
Sam Bird
Jaguar Racing
2
Nick Cassidy
Envision Virgin Racing
3
António Félix da Costa
DS TECHEETAH