Formula E is applauded for its excitement and unpredictability and seven drivers go into this weekend’s season finale vying for the title.
While F1 rarely sees a champion crowned on the last race (the last being the infamous 2021 Michael Masi debacle), the all-electric series has gone down to the wire in all but one of their 10 seasons so far.
Despite a handful of contenders, this year’s title battle is most likely to come down to the trio of Jaguar TCS Racing teammates Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans and Tag Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein.
Cassidy heads into the final two races of the season at London’s ExCeL Centre with a 12-point lead over Evans – with German hopeful Wehrlein, level on points with Evans in third.
The remarkable story of the Jaguar teammates has dominated the buildup to the weekend – with both Kiwi drivers looking to bag their first world championship, at the expense of each other’s dreams.
The pair grew up karting together in New Zealand and, after competing all over the world, became teammates once again this season following Cassidy’s move from Jaguar’s customer team, Envision.
Mitch admitted to talkSPORT that it’s added a little more spice to this season’s finale.
“There’s been a massive push to create a story between Nick and I all year – in terms of trying to fuel the fire a bit. It’s a cool story.”
It’s not the first time Evans and Cassidy have been teammates. During their successful junior careers, the pair both won titles for Giles Motorsport in New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series.
Motorsport is no stranger to friendly teammates turning on each other in pursuit of victory, from Ferrari team-mates Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi to Lewis Hamilton’s epic fallout with Nico Rosberg.
However, while Evans admitted he’d rather crush any of the other driver’s hopes on his way to the top step, he knows whatever happens this weekend, his friendship with Cassidy will remain strong.
He added: “I know how much this would mean to Nick – I think if either one of us can come out on top, we’ll be happy for each other.”
“I guess people anticipate how we’re going to race each other this weekend, but I just see it as a normal weekend and hopefully the best man comes out on top”
Defending champion Jake Dennis still has a slim chance of retaining his crown for Andretti, although like fellow British hopeful, Nissan driver Oliver Rowland – it would take a remarkable turn of events to see a Brit holding the trophy come Sunday evening.
A consistent season also sees two-time champion Jean-Eric Vergne in with a shot for DS Penske, while second Porsche driver Antonio Felix Da Costa’s stunning run of four wins from the last five races has brought him into title contention.
A second world championship for the Portuguese driver is still an outside chance though, with Evans concluding that: “If one of them managed to win then the three of us (Evans, Cassidy, Wehrlein) have done something really bad this weekend.”
As for potential title-winning celebrations, it’s clear previous experiences of just missing out are keeping Evans grounded and focused on the job at hand.
“I’ll just do whatever comes to mind. I’ll worry about that afterwards if we can get it done.”
The final rounds of the FIA Formula E World Championship take place on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st of July at London’s ExCeL Centre, with last-minute tickets available at fiaformulae.com
Watch Formula E this weekend on TNT Sports, free-to-air on Quest and listen to exclusive highlights on talkSPORT2.