Down to the wire: four contenders, one race, one championship title. Who can win?
12 races, 12 cities, nine different winners from eight different teams and five continents. It’s fair to say, the 2018/19 ABB FIA Formula E Championship has been the best yet. But it’s far from over. After a chaotic and unpredictable race on the streets of Brooklyn delt firm favourite Jean-Eric Vergne a devastating blow, once again it’s going down to the wire in the final race of the season. Ahead of the final day, we weigh up each of the four contenders’ chances of winning the championship.
For DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne, the Frenchman was half expecting to be heading home from day one of the double-header with the Championship trophy in hand. With a 32 point lead on nearest rival Lucas di Grassi, it looked all but certain that he’d go down in history as the series’ first driver to seal a second consecutive title in New York City. But, after a chaotic race on the streets of Brooklyn, the Frenchman was left broken after a brutal last lap crash with Felipe Massa destroyed any chance of scoring points.
“I’m feeling pretty disappointed with the race today, but it is motorsport – you have good days and bad days,” said the reigning champ. “The incident with Massa, I went down the inside like I did for nearly all the drivers I overtook in the race. “We touched and my car was destabilised and I went wide and he passed me again and then I was next to him in the corner. “And then he did not leave me any room, I was breaking but I had the wall and his car, so we collided,” he explained.
What he needs to do to win…
Now, Vergne retains his top spot, although the points gap separating him and di Grassi has been reduced from 32 to just 22 points – less than a race win. In the final race, Vergne must score eight points to win the championship, which means he needs to place at least sixth.
