The 10 best Formula E drivers of 2019-20

In order to reduce any travel headaches for drivers and teams alike, six races were held within nine days at the Tempelhof Airport. Run in three batches of two, on three different layouts, the finale gave us all the drama and action we’d missed in the six months Formula E was on hiatus.

With action aplenty over the 11-race season, we look back at the top ten drivers from the past eight months, as Antonio Felix da Costa strolled into the record books as the last Formula E Champion not to be classed as an FIA World Champion.

10 – Nyck de Vries – Mercedes Benz EQ

Championship: 11^th

Points: 60

Best result: 2^nd

Making his debut in Formula E, along with the Mercedes EQ team, de Vries showed why he was the standout Formula 2 star in 2019. Having never raced in electric motorsport before, it was always going to be a steep learning curve for de Vries, but one that he took with great aplomb. While not able to put in performances as his more experienced team-mate, Stoffel Vandoorne, de Vries finished five of the 11 races in the points, four of which were top five finishes. In a hugely tight season and the robust style of racing often found in Formula E, to end your debut year in 11^th, with a 1-2 finish for the team to round out the season, is nothing to be sniffed at and given de Vries’ incredibly strong pedigree, I think there’s plenty more to come from the young Dutch driver.

9 – Maximilian Günther – BMW i Andretti Motorsport

Championship: 9^th

Points: 69

Wins: 2

Maxi Günther’s debut year in Formula E wasn’t the most impressive, only scoring points in two fifth placed results with the Geox Dragon team. Moving up to BMW i Andretti for the 2019-20 season, he proved the pace was definitely there, but only managed to finish in the points one more time than he did with Geox. However, those three points finishes were all podium results, including two victories – the only driver other than the eventual champion to win multiple races this season. Given how ridiculously close the points (from 2^nd down) were, had Günther not retired from three of the six races in Berlin for the season finale, he could easily have ended the year higher than ninth in the points. If the pace remains in Season 7 for Günther and BMW, they will both be strong contenders to be crowned the first ever Formula E World Champions.

8 – Lucas di Grassi – Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler

Championship: 6^th

Points: 77

Best result: 2^nd

It says something about the quality of a driver when they can finish sixth in an incredibly close season and call it disappointing. Lucas di Grassi has been a constant in Formula E since its inception, and 2019-20 was the first season where he hasn’t ended the season in the top three in the points. Not only that, it was di Grassi’s first season where he didn’t come away with at least one ePrix victory. It was his consistency in a hugely competitive year that got him to sixth in the table, finishing in the points at all but two races. However, there were several questions raised across the course of the year over his somewhat heavy handed approach when in traffic. By the end of the year whenever you saw di Grassi move a position on the scoreboard, you just waited for the replay to see where the contact was...

7 – René Rast – Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler

Championship: 15^th

Points: 29

Best result: 3^rd

René Rast’s first taste of electric motorsport came at the Berlin round of the 2015-16 season with Team Aguri, but was not classified after contact with Bruno Senna. Aside from that one ePrix, Rast had not competed in single seat racing since Formula BMW ADAC way back in 2004, focusing on GT and touring car racing to great success. A three-time Porsche Supercup champion and reigning DTM champion, Rast was parachuted into the Audi Sport Formula E Team following Daniel Abt’s suspension from the team following his use of a professional sim racer during the Formula E “Race at Home” challenge. While it took him a couple of races to get up to speed, he ended with a third and fourth in the final two races and left many hugely impressed. While nothing is confirmed for next year from an Audi perspective, here’s hoping Rast gets the nod once again, as there’s certainly unfinished business to attend to.

6 – André Lotterer – TAG Heuer Porsche

Championship: 8^th

Points: 71

Best result: 2^nd

All eyes were on Porsche in 2019-20 as the giants of Sportscar racing stepped away from Le Mans and into the world of FanBoost and Attack Mode. With their multiple Le Mans winning team of André Lotterer and Neel Jani at the wheel, the quality was there, but would they come up with the goods? While Jani’s season was a bit of a damp squib, Lotterer impressed. With two solid seasons with the Techeetah squad under his belt, Lotterer was quick out of the blocks, scoring a second in the very first race for the Porsche 99X Electric, a result he’d equal at the first Berlin race at the season finale. Lotterer struggled in rounds two to four, including disqualification from Santiago for an excessive use of energy, before going on a run of six points-scoring finishes, a feat only bettered by eventual champion Antonio Felix da Costa and former champion Lucas di Grassi.

5 – Sébastien Buemi – Nissan e.dams

Championship: 4^th

Points: 84

Best result: 2^nd

e.dams’ most loyal driver, Sébastien Buemi is one of those driver’s that’s just always there. After a shaky start to the year, Buemi finally got on the scoreboard after a podium in Mexico City. A further fourth in Marrakesh before visiting the podium three times out of six Berlin races were enough to stay ahead of teammate Rowland in the standings by just a single point. It was a disappointing season by the Swiss driver’s incredibly high standards, equalling his worst performance in 2017-18, but he still remains one of the best drivers on the grid.

4 – Oliver Rowland – Nissan e.dams

Championship: 5^th

Points: 83

Wins: 1

It shows just how close the 2019-20 season was when you consider that nine races Oliver Rowland was ninth in the standings. After a win in race ten he jumped to second, before a DNF in the final round he dropped down to fifth. Much like Lucas di Grassi, Rowland’s consistency paid dividends come the drop of the last chequered flag. After a mixed bag in Nissan’s debut year last year, Rowland plugged away throughout the year before coming good in a totally dominant drive at the penultimate Berlin round. Finishing only four points shy of the vice-champion’s spot, e.dams will be rueing 2019-20 as the season that really got away.

3 – Stoffel Vandoorne – Mercedes-Benz EQ

Championship: 2^nd

Points: 87

Wins: 1

No-one could have predicted that Stoffel Vandoorne would end up as vice-champion, especially going into the final race of the year. Following a lacklustre year with HWA Racelab in 2018-19 (despite a podium result in Rome), his legions of fans were desperate for a better year and it showed, being one of only two drivers to enjoy FanBoost at every single race. After starting the season off for the new Mercedes squad with a very impressive brace of podium finishes in Diriyah, Vandoorne followed up with a strong sixth in Santiago, before a pair of races to forget in Mexico City and Marrakesh. After some average-at-best results in the first five of six home races for Mercedes, he just streaked away from the field at the final round to lead home a Mercedes 1-2 and secure himself the runner-up spot in the final standings in the process.

2 – Jean-Eric Vergne – DS Techeetah

Championship: 3^rd  

Points: 86

Wins: 1

The only multiple champion in Formula E history, Jean-Eric Vergne would have been hoping to make it a hat-trick going into the 2019-20 season, he certainly wouldn’t have planned on only having four points after the first three rounds of the year. Two DNFs, one at the opening round in Diriyah and another in Santiago left Vergne in a less than ideal spot, and even with two solid points hauls before the pandemic-enforced break, he needed a good run in Berlin to have any shot at a third title. After a strong start in the first German race, Vergne suffered an intense amount of tyre wear and plummeted down to 20^th. The same problem returned for the second race, but this time he was able to salvage a point and finish in 10^th. A third and a win in the following pair of races were enough to keep Vergne in the driving seat for the runner’s up spot before two disappointing qualifying sessions ruined his shots, and ended up slipping behind Mercedes’ Vandoorne by just one point.

1 – Antonio Felix da Costa – DS Techeetah

Championship: 1^st

Points: 158

Wins: 3

While many would have said the smart money on Vergne at the start of the season, Antonio Felix da Costa had other ideas. After a struggle in Diriyah, da Costa returned in Santiago to finish second, repeating that result in Mexico City before a win at the last race before the lengthy break. Self-isolation did nothing for his momentum, as he returned in Berlin to take a further two victories and all but secure the championship for himself with four races to spare. He officially claimed the title two races later with a second in a Techeetah 1-2, which was handy as he only scored one point in the final two races of the season. One thing is for certain, with both Vergne and da Costa confirmed at Techeetah for the 2021 season, I’d be worried if I was in any other car.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.