In an incredible action-packed opening round in Sao Paulo, Mitch Evans wins the first E-Prix of the year from 22nd and last on the grid.

Evans delivered a fantastic calm and controlled performance after having issues in both free practice 1 and qualifying because of a system issue with his Jaguar car. However, his sheer pace and skill in the E-Prix was fantastic as he took victory in a race filled with drama.

The New Zealander took the flag ahead of Antonio Felix Da Costa of Porsche who finished second. NEOM McLaren rookie Taylor Barnard finished third to take his first ever podium. In doing so, he would become the youngest ever podium finisher in Formula E history.

Evans would also make history by taking victory as he would be the first ever to win from last on the grid in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

The race would follow the qualifying session that would see Pascal Wehrlein, the reigning Formula E Champion take pole position for the second consecutive season at the Sao Paulo E-Prix. Wehrlein would have Nissan's Oliver Rowland alongside him.

With 21 on the grid following an aborted start after Robin Frijns had a mechanical issue, the lights would go out and Rowland would get the better of the starts on the front row as he sailed into the lead on the run down to turn 1.

Far from an ideal start it would be though from Wehrlein who would drop to second ahead of Maximilian Gunther, as contact from Jake Dennis saw him drop down a couple of places to fifth after the Andretti man started on the second row of the grid.

It was a good start from Evans who by the second lap had made his way up to 15th from the very back and 22nd on the grid. 

A few laps later and the green flag racing would see the first pause as the safety car would be called upon as Andretti's Nico Mueller and Maserati's Jake Hughes would come together and would take each other both out of the race. 

Both making their debuts for their teams would have been hoping for better but it would not be on that particular occasion. This would be investigated by the Stewards but no further action would be undertaken. 

On lap six, the safety car would be withdrawn from the circuit and racing would be back underway in Sao Paulo and there would be a flurry of action instantly from the restart. Rowland would maintain the lead as Nick Cassidy, Stoffel Vandoorne and Taylor Barnard would be out of the first set of drivers to take to the attack mode.

The attack mode would be really coming into play for Nick Cassidy and on lap eight he would take the lead of the race following on from starting 10th on the grid. A great race for Cassidy as he would be making use of his power advantage. 

Attack mode would be becoming a popular feature in the few laps that followed with the Porsche duo Da Costa and Wehrlein taking their first set of attack mode together to try and work as a team to compete against their opposition.

From the attack mode two drivers would be penalised for overpowering. This would be the first two of many throughout the E-Prix. Norman Nato of Nissan and Barnard of NEOM McLaren would be the two to be punished.

There would be a moment for Lucas Di Grassi directly at the restart following the conclusion of the safety car and the ABT Lola Cars driver would come to a stop in the first sector. He would get the car back going again but would become the fourth driver to withdraw his participation from the E-Prix.

Rowland would take back over the lead of the E-Prix as the Nissan driver was enduring his very first attack mode of the E-Prix but he would still have one more to serve as would many up and down the field.

This would be until the Porsche duo of Wehrlein and Da Costa would make it a 1-2 after using their second attack modes relatively early on in proceedings with half of the race to go but then Rowland would take the lead once again!

The E-Prix would then see the first of two red flags as a severe electrical fault for Jake Dennis would see him come to a stop at turn 1. The red flag would be brought out as with the electrical fault posing a huge risk, it would be unsafe to carry on the race behind a safety car.

Therefore, for safety reasons, the red flag was brought out and the race would be suspended while the Andretti of Dennis was moved in a safe fashion.

After a hefty delay to proceedings, the race would restart as a standing start and the drivers would take their places on the grid as the opening round of the 2024/25 season would get back underway in Sao Paulo.

It would be a positive restart from Rowland who would lead into the first corner ahead of Gunther and Da Costa. On the restart it would be revealed that the remaining Lola Cars driver Zane Maloney would be given a drive-through penalty for overpowering on race debut in the championship!

Attack mode would reach Cassidy a second time and he would make advantage of it to progress to second in the order and the Jaguar driver was having great pace in that part of the race.

On lap 28, there would be huge drama as race leader Rowland would be given a drive-through penalty as he would be the latest to be penalised for overpowering. The following lap would see four added laps added to the end of the race following the time spent behind the safety car,

Soon after, the second red flag would arrive for a frightening accident as Nick Cassidy and Pascal Wehrlein collided at turn four which saw Wehrlein's car overturned. Thankfully he would be okay. Cassidy had only just picked up suspension damage after contact with Gunther which also saw the DS Penske driver go into the wall. 

Once Wehrlein had got out of his car and the car and had been removed from circuit, the race was good to continue with Cassidy's car having been repaired in the stoppage as well as Gunther's. reigning champion Wehrlein however was out.

At the restart, after starting last on the grid, Mitch Evans was leading the race. He would keep it on the road and in the race lead. The New Zealander of Jaguar would manage to keep challenges from Da Costa and Barnard to open the campaign up perfectly.

This would be the only Formula E race of the 2024/25 season to take place in 2024, with round two set to take place in Mexico City with that E-Prix taking place on January 11

Brandon Whiteside
Writer & X Contributor - F1 Journal

Formula E reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein takes pole for the 2024/25 Sao Paulo E-Prix in a stunning effort to pick up from where he left off in the previous season.

Wehrlein delivered the lap after beating Nissan's Oliver Rowland, who had been showing consistent speed throughout the two practice sessions, and was able to replicate the speed throughout qualifying.

Wehrlein would beat fellow German driver Maximilian Gunther in the semi final whereas Rowland would beat fellow Brit Jake Dennis of Andretti - who topped the day's earlier FP2.

It would be a qualifying session that would take place not long before the very first race of the season. It will be the second E-Prix in succession at the Sao Paulo street circuit, that will see Wehrlein start from pole position.

It would be time for qualifying in Sao Paulo to get underway and the 22 drivers had been split into two groups for the first stage of the qualifying knockout format that Formula E uses to determine the grid for each E-Prix.

First up would be group A, which would consist of:

• Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske)
• David Beckmann (Kiro Race)
• Sam Bird (NEOM McLaren)
• Lucas Di Grassi (ABT Lola Cars)
• Antonio Felix Da Costa (Porsche)
• Sebastian Buemi (Envision)
• Nyck De Vries (Mahindra)
• Oliver Rowland (Nissan)
• Jake Dennis (Andretti)
• Nick Cassidy (Jaguar)
• Jake Hughes (Great Britain)

The green light would be on at the end of the pit lane and that would signify the start of the Formula E qualifying session as all of the drivers would head out to set their banker lap times. With the first laps, NEOM McLaren's Bird would go top with a competitive lap time. Di Grassi, Rowland and Da Costa would be the top four.

David Beckmann on his Formula E debut would also have a spell in the top four as the times were improving all the time and the positions were changing as the track was constantly evolving.

​By the end of the session, in a tightly fought group it would be Jake Dennis who would continue the fine form and he would progress through to the quarter final 1v1 duels.

Joining him in the quarter finals would be Porsche's Antonio Felix Da Costa, Nissan's Oliver Rowland and Jean-Eric Vergne of DS Penske. The other seven would be eliminated with the attention turning to Group B.

It would be then time for Group B which would see the other 11 drivers complete for the top four places to put themselves through to the first 1v1 duels of the season.

Group B would consist of:

• Maximilian Gunther (DS Penske)
• Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche)
• Mitch Evans (Jaguar)
• Stoffel Vandoorne (Maserati)
• Nico Mueller (Andretti)
• Norman Nato (Nissan)
• Taylor Barnard (NEOM McLaren)
• Zane Maloney (ABT Lola Cars)
• Robin Frijns (Envision Racing)
• Dan Ticktum (Kiro Race)
• Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra)

The green light would be back on at the end of the pit lane, as the drivers piled out onto the circuit to go and try and set some lap times and to get themselves through to the quarter finals.

However, not the session to be for Mitch Evans, as a reoccurring issue for Mitch Evans from free practice 1, saw him come to a stop on circuit. A nightmare for the Jaguar racer and the New Zealander would be out of qualifying.

The session would be back underway and a huge lap from Wehrlein would see him fly to the top of times with a 1:11.717 with Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara up to seventh overall. Nato and Ticktum had possession of the top four places as the clock continued to tick down.

At the end of the group, it would be Wehrlein top of the board with a fantastic effort. He took pole around the Sao Paulo street circuit last season and looked a contender once again.

Gunther, Nato, Mortara and Wehrlein would progress with the other seven in the group eliminated.

Time for the quarter final 1v1 duels. These eight drivers will battle in the quarter finals, 1v1. The winner will progress through to the semi final, with the two winners of the semi finals competing in the final. The fastest driver in the final would take pole position for the E-Prix.

The quarter finals would be as follows:

• Oliver Rowland (Nissan) vs Antonio Felix Da Costa (Porsche)
• Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske) vs Jake Dennis (Andretti)
• Maximilian Gunther (DS Penske) vs Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra)
• Norman Nato (Nissan) vs Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche)

First up would be the quarter final between Rowland and Da Costa, two drivers who won races in the previous season and both finished in the top six of last season's standings. Oliver Rowland would be the driver to progress though and he would just progress by 0.060 against Da Costa. An incredible effort from Rowland.

Second up in the quarter finals would be Vergne and Dennis going head to head for a place in the semi finals. An incredible lap from Dennis saw him beat Vergne by half a second and break into the 1m09s.

They would be the turn of Maximilian Gunther who would be competing against Edoardo Mortara. Gunther would get through into the semi finals and would out-qualify Vergne, his DS Penske teammate, in his first race with the team.

Last but not least Wehrlein would be the last driver to take the final semi final spot. The reigning champion would beat the Nissan of Norman Nato, who lost out despite having the edge in the first sector.

This would mean Wehrlein, Gunther, Dennis and Rowland would be the four drivers of the first semi finals of the season. The duels would be as follows: 

• Oliver Rowland (Nissan) vs Jake Dennis (Andretti)
• Maximilian Gunther (DS Penske) vs Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche)

In the first semi final it would be the battle of the Brits between Rowland and Jake Dennis and it would be as close as you could imagine as Rowland would progress by 0.001! Incredibly tight as the Nissan driver was through to the final!

As for the battle in the second semi final between the two German drivers, Pascal Wehrlein and Gunther, it would be an affair which would see reigning champion Wehrlein to progress through to the final - in an attempt to get his second consecutive pole in Sao Paulo.

In the final, it would be the reigning champion to come out on top as he beat the Nissan of Oliver Rowland. Therefore, Wehrlein would start on pole for the opening round in Brazil.

British racing driver of Andretti, Jake Dennis, set the fastest time on Saturday morning in Sao Paulo, ahead of the first E-Prix of the 2024/25 season.

It was a last-minute lap from Dennis that saw him rise up to the top of the timing sheets as the chequered flag was flying from the Race Control tower at the end of the second practice session.

The Andretti driver was fastest ahead of Porsche's Antonio Felix Da Costa, who was quick throughout but would have to settle for second place. His teammate and the reigning Formula E Champion Pascal Wehrlein was fourth - only two tenths behind the time of Dennis.

Nissan's Oliver Rowland showed great speed once again, following on from him finishing top of free practice 1 on Friday, but he would end up finishing in third place overall, less than a tenth off his fellow Countryman's time at the top of the finishing order.

For Jaguar, it was a varying session with Mitch Evans finishing fifth and Nick Cassidy all the way down in 16th but he would only be seven tenths off the pace.

There will be a lot of excitement for fans ahead of the first qualifying and E-Prix of the season. 

A very strong start to the weekend for Nissan saw their drivers finish 1-2 in the opening free practice session of the season on Friday, as Oliver Rowland was fastest.

Rowland took the top spot in a narrow margin as he and his new teammate Norman Nato showed great speed towards the end of the session to end on top of the first practice session of the new campaign.

The British talent finished ahead of his Nissan teammate in a 1-2 whereas 2023 champion Jake Dennis was third for Andretti. A great effort from Jake as he Edoardo Mortara and Taylor Barnard completed the top five.

Friday running would just consist of the one free practice 1 session before free practice 2, qualifying and the E=Prix will all take place on Saturday.

After the long wait since July, when the previous Formula E Championship concluded in London, race weekend action was finally back for a brad new season with new drivers and new teams raring to go in Sao Paulo.

The opening round would be taking place at the Sao Paulo street circuit, and will be the only round to take place in 2024 with the rest of the rounds to take place in 2025.

40 minutes would be the length of the opening practice session with the drivers and teams raring to go. The green light would come on at the end of the pit lane and the session would be underway.

Nick Cassidy, who came so close to glory last year was the first one out on track. There would not be long of the session at all until a full-course yellow would be brought out by the race director. A full-course yellow usually put out in FP1 as a test for drivers and the FIA to see how well they manage it.

There would be many drivers looking to set fast laps early on with the Lola Cars driver Lucas Di Grassi having the top time within the first 10 minutes, ahead of Envision Racing's Robin Frijns.

Many drivers would also be pushing the limits with many including Pascal Wehrlein, running off at turn 1 and carrying too much speed into the breaking zone and bailing out of the turn in case they collide with the barriers.

One driver who would have a bump with the barriers would be the new Andretti driver Nico Mueller. Mueller would clip the wall with his rear left wheel and would have to pit for urgent repairs. This once again a clear indicator of just how much street circuits in motorsport can punish the slightest of errors.

Wehrlein would have a stint at the top as he would put a decent lap together and would show the Porsche to have decent speed. Both Porsche drivers are champions, which makes them the only lineup in the championship to have both of their drivers as champions.

Times would be improving as the track was evolving and Envision Racing were showing great speed just like Porsche. Robin Frijns would end up going fastest overall with just under 15 minutes to go with a 1:10.632, which would drop Wehrlein to second.

Drivers would be continuing to pushing the limits with many drivers including Nick Cassidy having to use the run off in turn 1.

Frijns would be beaten with just under seven minutes remaining as Jaguar's Mitch Evans would beat Frijns by 0.032 to set a 1:10.6 exactly. Wehrlein would still be third ahead of Porsche teammate Da Costa.

The track was evolving towards the end of the session and therefore there were improvements looming and the inevitability for drivers to jump up to the top did not go missing.

Jake Dennis would be the first for Andretti in a series of latter stage improvements. Taylor Barnard in his first practice session as a full time driver would jump ahead of Mitch Evans with a great attempt. Also improving would be the two Nissan drivers!

Norman Nato in his first practice session for Nissan would see him jump to the top of the time sheets but when would be narrowly beaten by British driver Oliver Rowland. 

​The last two minutes would go without flying laps as yellow flags would be out for Evans' Jaguar, which appeared to have a fault with the running of the car. When the clock ticked down to zero, Evans had come to a stop. Work for the Jaguar mechanics as to do as they will want to assess what went wrong during the session.

At the end of the session it was a perfect start to the season for Nissan as Oliver Rowland topped the time sheets ahead of his new teammate Norman Nato, who just missed out on top spot. Jake Dennis was third for Andretti.

Mahindra's Edoardo Mortara put in a fantastic final lap to finish fourth with NEOM McLaren's Taylor Barnard completing the top five. Evans would end up sixth despite the late mechanical issue ahead of Envision Racing's Robin Frijns in seventh. The two Porsche drivers, Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix Da Costa were eighth and ninth respectively. 

Nick Cassidy completed the top 10.

After a session of great importance and with it being the first session of the racing Formula E calendar for the 202/25 season. Action will continue on Saturday, where the very first E-Prix of the season is set to get underway.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

This coming weekend, the 11th season of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is to get underway as the 2024/25 will begin in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The beginning of a new season will bring unpredictability once again and it could potentially see the 10th different champion be crowned in the championship's history or potentially a repeat champion with Pascal Wehrlein, the reigning champion, hungry for more success.

Pre-season testing was completed in the very early days of November and with 11 teams and 22 drivers confirmed to be part of the grid for the 2024/25 season, the 11th campaign will head to Sao Paulo for the only race of the season to be held in 2024.

Three rookies enter the grid with Kiro Race cars taking on Curpa and replacing ERT and Lola Cars becoming part of the ABT fold, in place of the Cupra brand. Whatever happens this season, it is bound to be exciting and it all begins in Brazil.

To start off the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship the very first race of the season will take place at the Sao Paulo street circuit in Brazil, for just the one round and one E-Prix across the weekend - taking place on Saturday.

Situated along the Sambadrome of Anhembi, the Sao Paulo street circuit is making a return to the calendar for its third ever visit from the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and in both visits there has been a different winner, so it would not be a great surprise to see a third different winner in three events. 

Being the only South American venue on the calendar, the Sao Paulo street circuit is not too far from the iconic Interlagos circuit, roughly 27km to be precise, making Sao Paulo the motorsport capital in Brazil.

The circuit itself is made up of 11 corners and has a lap distance of 2.933km, which is equal to 1.822 miles. The Formula E lap record was set by Sam Bird in 2023 when the British driver was with Jaguar. The time was 1:13.684.

It will be the third ever visit to the Sao Paulo E-Prix circuit for Formula E and the second time within the calendar year of 2024, as Sao Paulo was visited in March to be part of the 2023/24 season, where Sam Bird took victory in a last lap duel with Jaguar's Mitch Evans.

The pole position would go to Pascal Wehrlein who took pole for Porsche after beating DS Penske's Stoffel Vandoorne in the final.

However, it would be Bird's day in the sun as he won the Sao Paulo E-Prix with a sensational final lap pass on Evans to get the win for NEOM McLaren. Evans was second for Jaguar while Oliver Rowland of Nissan completed the podium.

Sebastian Buemi would set the fastest lap  of the race after finishing 10th from 18th on the grid. Buemi's time for Envision Racing was a 1:15.717.
​

Only within a week of the opening round of the season would every single seat be confirmed for the 2024/25 season of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship as Cupra Kiro were the last ones to confirm their duo with it being returning Brit Dan Ticktum and German rookie David Beckmann.

As has been the case for many years, the grid will consist of 22 drivers on the grid, with 11 teams having two drivers each with many experienced drivers and three rookies all set to come in to make the grid freshened up, with young drivers looking to prove themselves in an FIA World Championship.

Three rookies include Beckmann who was awarded the full-time drive at Cupra Kiro after a strong performance in the pre-season testing in Madrid, as he finished fourth in the overall testing results from across the four days of running. 

Over at NEOM McLaren, Taylor Barnard will be enduring his first full season in the championship after standing in for three rounds in the 2023/24 championship for his now teammate Sam Bird, who was sidelined with a broken hand. This will make it the second all-British lineup in succession.

Lastly, flying over from his final Formula 2 race on December 1, in Qatar, Zane Maloney will become the first ever driver from Barbados to race in the championship as he is to partner Lucas Di Grassi at ABT Lola Cars. 

Here in full is the 2024/25 Formula E grid that will begin action for the racing season at Sao Paulo on December 6:

• ​Andretti Formula E - 27. Jake Dennis | 51. Nico Mueller
• DS Penske - 25. Jean-Eric Vergne | 7. Maximilian Gunther
• Envision Racing - 4. Robin Frijns | 16.Sebastian Buemi
• Jaguar TCS Racing - 9. Mitch Evans | 37. Nick Cassidy
• Kiro Race Co - 33. Dan Ticktum | 3. David Beckmann
• Lola Yamaha ABT Formula E Team - 11. Lucas Di Grassi | 22. Zane Maloney 
• Mahindra Racing - 48. Edoardo Mortara | 21. Nyck De Vries 
• Maserati MSG Racing - 55. Jake Hughes | 2. Stoffel Vandoorne 
• NEOM McLaren Formula E Team - 8. Sam Bird | 5. Taylor Barnard
• Nissan Formula E Team - 23. Oliver Rowland | 17. Norman Nato
• Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team - 1. Pascal Wehrlein | 13. Antonio Felix Da Costa

Brandon Whiteside
Writer & X Contributor - F1 Journal