ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME: ETERNAL CITY SET TO STAGE DOUBLE DOSE OF STREET FIGHTING SPECTACLE
The class of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Season Eight travel to the Italian capital with an intriguing storyline of prior success, scores to settle and title challenges to kick-start...
‘All roads lead to Rome’, so the saying goes, and that is certainly true for competitors in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship this weekend (9/10 April), as the Italian capital prepares to play host to the next two rounds in the all-electric single-seater series.
One of the longest tracks on the calendar, the undulating Circuito Cittadino dell'EUR has welcomed Formula E in three of the past four seasons – including a memorable double-header last year.
Winding around the streets of Rome’s EUR District against the backdrop of the iconic Colosseo Quadrato, the 3.380km, 19-turn lap is characterised by frequent elevation changes and an uneven surface, with its fast, technical nature and long straights offering multiple overtaking opportunities and invariably generating exciting action.
The event will mark the first European stop on the championship’s 2021/22 schedule, and true to form, the opening three rounds have yielded three different winners – Nyck de Vries and Edoardo Mortara in Saudi Arabia, and Pascal Wehrlein in Mexico.
It is the same trio that occupy the top three spots in the title chase, headed by Mortara. With an Italian father, the ROKiT Venturi Racing ace can consider Rome his home race weekend in Formula E, and he will be looking to consolidate or even extend the five-point margin he presently holds at the summit of the standings.
Defending champion de Vries – who set fastest lap in the second leg of last season’s Rome E-Prix – is Mortara’s closest rival, and the Mercedes-EQ star will be eager to avoid a repetition of his double DNF at the Circuito Cittadino dell'EUR 12 months ago.
After finally breaking his Formula E duck in Mexico City – leading home a commanding TAG Heuer Porsche one-two – Wehrlein is similarly solidly in contention, tied on points for third place with team-mate and compatriot André Lotterer. Both men have form in the Italian capital, too; Wehrlein reached the rostrum last year, while Lotterer has two podiums to his credit as well as a pole position.
Fifth in the championship hunt, de Vries’ Mercedes stablemate Stoffel Vandoorne is another former Rome pole-sitter – the qualifying lap record-holder, indeed. Contact with Lotterer dashed his chances in the first race last season, but the Belgian responded magnificently with a dominant victory 24 hours later. It was, meanwhile, two-time title-winner Jean-Éric Vergne (DS TECHEETAH) who most successfully dodged the drama in 2021’s attritional opening encounter to register his tenth career triumph, and the Frenchman currently lies just a point further behind in sixth.
Series sophomore Jake Dennis is next up for Avalanche Andretti – the Briton adding to his Formula E podium tally in Diriyah back in January – while Lucas Di Grassi returns to Rome with a score to settle, having looked set for victory in race one last year until his car suddenly lost drive with five minutes remaining. The 2016/17 champion – now competing for Venturi – was runner-up at the track in 2018.
Robin Frijns is also in the mix after taking the chequered flag second in Saudi Arabia, and the Dutchman has twice wound up just shy of the rostrum in Italy. Nick Cassidy in the sister Envision Racing entry grabbed pole position around the Circuito Cittadino dell'EUR in 2021, only to spin away his advantage early on.
António Félix da Costa (DS TECHEETAH) has had a quiet campaign so far by his usual high standards, and will be eager to improve significantly upon his previous best finish of seventh in the Eternal City as he endeavours to kick-start his pursuit of a second Formula E crown.
Two drivers boasting a stellar record in Rome, by contrast, are Jaguar TCS Racing’s Sam Bird and Mitch Evans. The Briton won the inaugural E-Prix held there in 2018, with the New Zealander repeating the feat the following season, in so doing achieving Jaguar's first international motorsport victory in almost three decades.
As team-mates, the pair then delivered the British outfit its maiden double podium in the series in 2021, with Evans posting fastest lap for good measure. Both men will be eyeing further success this weekend in their efforts to climb the championship order.
Others to have gelled with the unforgiving Italian circuit are Mahindra Racing duo Oliver Rowland and Alexander Sims. The former led last year prior to picking up a drive-through penalty, before the latter fought his way to a third career top three finish the next day. Ex-Formula 1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi, meanwhile, will be counting upon the support of the home crowd to help lift him off the bottom of the points table as the Puglia native continues to learn the ropes during his rookie campaign.
Round four of the 2021/22 Formula E season in Rome will get underway at 15:00 local time (CET) on Saturday, 9 April, followed by round five at the same time on Sunday, 10 April.
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.
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