ABB FIA Formula E Season 9 Predictions
Formula E is probably the hardest championship to predict in the world and it’s a brand new
era of cars so I doubt this will look particularly great come the end of July!
P22: Norman Nato
For me, I expect Nissan to be the slowest car this season. Norman Nato finished 18th in his first full season in Formula E (season 7) but he spent last year as a test and reserve driver for Jaguar. He did race in the final two rounds in Seoul but he failed to pick up any points. Norman Nato has won a Formula E race before and his team Nissan have won plenty of times but I just can’t see him doing anything.
P21: Sacha Fenestraz
Sacha Fenestraz is about to take part in his first official season on the Formula E grid. Fenestraz spent a few years as reserve driver for Jaguar and he made his debut for Dragon / Penske Autosport in the final race of the 2021/22 season, replacing Antonio Giovinazzi who was injured. Sacha clearly has some ability as he managed to finish second in last season’s Super Formula championship but I just can’t see his car being competitive enough.
P20: Dan Ticktum
Dan Ticktum really struggled in his first season in Formula E and he will need to improve if he is to keep his seat for 2024. What doesn’t help Dan is the fact that his Nio car isn’t particularly quick. In the last 4 seasons, Nio haven’t finished a single race in the top 5 which is pretty bad. Can the new regulations be the turning point for both Dan Ticktum and Nio 333?
P19: Sergio Sette Camara
Sergio Sette Camara walks into a new team hoping for better results than he has had previously. Sergio scored 16 points in 2021 and only 2 in 2022 and his best-ever result was a P4 in Diriyah. Sergio is a decent driver but he hasn’t ever really raced for a team that’s capable of fighting at the front. Could be another tough year for the Brazilian.
P18: Nico Mueller
I’m already finding it hard to predict! Nico Mueller struggled in his first season for Geox Dragon and Dragon dropped him in the middle of season 7. He is now back and he comes into this season as a bit of an unknown. The reason I say this is that even though he was dropped, ABT have brought him in for Season 9 so they must think he is a pretty decent driver. ABT are also a little bit of an unknown as they didn’t compete in the last season of Gen 2 (Season 8).
P17: Sebastian Buemi
Sebastian Buemi was excellent for the first six seasons of Formula E but he finished in a shocking 21st place in Season 7 and only 15th last season. Sebastian is a 13-time Formula E winner (joint best of anyone) and he is joining an Envision team that has also won 12 races so you’d think this would go very well. However, I just can’t see it. I think the field will be pretty close and Buemi might get stuck fighting in the lower positions.
P16: Oliver Rowland
Now he’s driven a full season for Mahindra, Oliver Rowland has no excuses. Oliver has competed in 56 E-Prix’s and his one and only victory came at Berlin in Season 6. Rowland has finished the last two seasons in a very mediocre 14th place and he can’t afford to do that again. For me, I can’t see him doing any better. Oli Rowland is a solid driver but he isn’t as good as certain drivers. Also, Mahindra are never one of the quickest cars so I just couldn’t put Rowland any higher than 16th.
P15: Nick Cassidy
I think Nick Cassidy is a solid midfield driver but I just feel that the Envision car isn’t going to be as competitive as in previous years. Nick Cassidy finished 15th in his first Formula E season and he managed to improve to 11th last year. He also picked up his first E-Prix victory in New York. Like some of the guys below him, I just think the car is going to struggle compared to some of the others and Nick isn’t going to be able to pick up the sort of results he has gotten in the previous seasons. It wouldn’t be the worst season though if he does end up beating his teammate.
P14: Sam Bird
This might seem harsh but I’m wondering if Sam Bird is starting to drop off. Last year was his worst season in the sport (finished 13th) and he lost his record of being the only driver in Formula E history to win a race every season. Sam is now 35 years old and I’m wondering if this could potentially be his last year in Formula E. Let’s see how he gets on.
P13: Rene Rast
I’m really torn with Rene Rast. Rene drove for Audi in both season 6 and 7 and his best championship position was only 13th which isn’t amazing. However, he is driving for the brand new McLaren team. The big thing about this is McLaren have taken over Mercedes and Mercedes won both the drivers and the teams' championships in both season 7 and 8 so they must be good. Almost all of the staff, particularly the key staff are staying with the team so given that fact, surely Rene should do pretty well. In the end though, McLaren have a lot to prove after a disappointing run of results in other categories whilst Mercedes were so successful because they had two superb racing drivers in their team.
P12: Jake Hughes
After a couple of years of being the reserve/development driver at Mercedes-EQ and Rokit Venturi, Jake Hughes is finally getting his big break in Formula E. Jake won 6 races over 4 seasons in Formula 3 but he struggled to really find his form in Formula 2. Like I said with Rene, I think McLaren will massively underperform this season. This is partly due to the car not being as quick as it should be but I also think that the drivers will play a part in it. I haven’t really seen anything from Jake that tells me he is going to be contending for the championship come London. He should be happy with himself if he beats his teammate though.
P11: Pascal Wehrlein
I’ve been a fan of Pascal Wehrlein for a while now but it’s safe to say that his racing career has never gone as well as it should’ve. Pascal spent two years at struggling teams in Formula 1 before he made the switch to FE. Over the 4 seasons, he has competed in the all-electric series, he has only managed 1 victory and his highest championship finish was only 10th (both last season). It’s also fair to say that Wehrlein is driving for a Porsche team that has just massively underperformed in this championship. They’ve been here for three years and their highest finish in the teams' championship is only 7th place which isn’t particularly great. I expect them to improve this year but I still don’t think they’ll be at the front like the team and Pascal are hoping for.
P10: Maximilian Gunther
Max Gunther is walking into his fifth season in Formula E with his 4th different team. Max hasn’t had a great ton of success and his highest finish in the championship standings was 9th in 2022. However, Gunther is a three-time E-Prix winner so he does clearly know how to get the job done. Max is joining the brand new Maserati team who are taking over from Rokit Venturi Racing. Venturi have looked quick the last couple of seasons so on paper, Maserati look like they could be a championship contender. I certainly expect them to be and that is why I have put Gunther in the top 10. He really hasn’t been particularly quick in the last few seasons and I think if he was in a slower car, he would be a lot lower down on this list.
P9: Lucas di Grassi
I think Lucas di Grassi has clearly shown over the years that he is a fantastic racing driver. Lucas is a former Formula E champion and he is joint first for the most wins in Formula E history (13). However, Mahindra aren’t the best team in Formula E. They did finish third in the teams championship back in 2017 but they haven’t finished higher than 8th (in the teams' championship) for the past three seasons. However, I still think di Grassi is more than good enough to get himself into the top 10 in the championship come the end of the year.
P8: Robin Frijns
After 4 years with Envision, Robin Frijns has left to join the ABT CUPRA Formula E Team. Robin has been in FE for a while (six seasons) and he’s had some ok success. He’s won 2 races (both in 2019) and his highest championship finish was 4th place (also in 2019). The thing with Frijns is he is driving for a team that is pretty unknown. ABT were always a pretty quick team when they were competing in the sport as Audi but they also had a year out so it’s unclear as to just how competitive they are going to be. Whatever happens, I fully expect Frijns to comfortably outscore his teammate.
P7: Antonio Felix da Costa
Season 6 champion Antonio Felix da Costa is aiming for a positive first season with TAG Heuer Porsche. Antonio has driven in every season of Formula E but he has only won 6 races which is quite surprising. After his championship-winning year with DS Techeetah back in 2020, da Costa struggled to find his form again with DS (two 8th places) and he will really hope that he can get back to competing at the front. However, he’s definitely taken a step back in performance when it comes to his car. Porsche have only won once in Formula E in their three seasons in the sport so I’m interested to see if Antonio can double or even triple this record.
P6: Andre Lotterer
Andre Lotterer has had a strange Formula E career. He has driven in the sport for five seasons and he is definitely regarded as one of the better drivers on the grid. However, Lotterer is still yet to win an E-Prix and he’s had a couple of tough years in the TAG Heuer Porsche. However, he’s joining a team in Avalanche Andretti that are one of the better teams on the grid. I genuinely think that Andre can have his best year in the sport and if everything falls into place, he could finally pick up his first victory.
P5: Jake Dennis
Jake Dennis is entering his third season in Formula E off of the back of two pretty good seasons. Jake came close to winning the championship in his first season and he finished sixth in last season's standings. I expect Andretti to provide a stronger package this season and I think Jake will go on to win races. However, I don’t think Andretti is going to be quite quick enough to fight for a championship. P5 would be a good result.
P4: Jean-Eric Vergne
Now we’re getting to the real championship contenders. JEV is currently the only ever two-time Formula E Champion but he has never been called World Champion so that is definitely going to be his aim this year. JEV finished fourth in the Season 8 championship but one thing Vergne wasn’t able to do last season was win a race which was quite surprising. Vergne actually hasn’t won an E-Prix in his previous 28 attempts which casts some doubt over whether Vergne can deliver a third FE title. Also, DS Techeetah have basically molded with Dragon / Penske Autosport and I’m really intrigued to see how they get on. On one hand, DS have been one of the best cars on the grid for a long time. On the other hand, Dragon Penske were always one of the worst teams. I also think that JEV isn’t quite as good as the other championship contenders anymore.
P3: Stoffel Vandoorne
After Mercedes-EQ made the decision to leave Formula E, Stoffel Vandoorne found himself looking for a new team. Stoffel now drives for DS Penske as the reigning Formula E World Champion. Crazily, Vandoorne only managed to win 1 race last season (Monaco) but he only finished outside of the points once. Proof that consistency wins championships. Overall, I think Stoffel is a terrific racing driver but unfortunately for him, I’m not 100% convinced in DS’ ability to bring home the championship. I definitely think they will have a very competitive car and in all honesty, I expect them to win the team's championship. I just can’t give them the drivers too.
P2: Mitch Evans
For the third successive season, I think Mitch Evans is just going to miss out on the title. Besides his first season, Mitch hasn’t finished lower than 7th in the championship and in a series as tough as this, that’s pretty impressive. In 2021, Mitch Evans missed out on the title due to a mechanical failure that saw him fail to leave the grid. In 2022, Mitch managed to win four races, but he could only finish second in the championship, 33 points behind Stoffel Vandoorne. This is Mitch’s 7th season in Formula E and it’s also his seventh season with Jaguar so you can’t say he isn’t used to his surroundings. Overall, Mitch has proved his ability and Jaguar have clearly shown that they can deliver a championship challenger. However, I think they’ll just miss out again.
P1: Edoardo Mortara
Edoardo Mortara is my pick to win Season 9 of ABB FIA Formula E! Edo is entering his sixth season in Formula E and he has massively improved. In 2021, Mortara finished 2nd in the championship and he missed out on the title due to a start-line collision with Mitch Evans (what I mentioned above). In 2022, Edo Mortara managed to win 4 races and he came third in the championship. It’s also worth mentioning that Edo is now racing for the brand-new Maserati MSG Racing team. The reason this is so big is Maserati are a massive car brand and they will want to win races and championships straight away. Another big part of this is Maserati have taken over the Rokit Venturi team, a very quick team that Edo has been driving for his entire FE career (5 seasons). I genuinely think it’s set up for Edoardo Mortara to become Formula E World Champion.
