AS IT STANDS: Who's leading the charge for inaugural Formula E World Championship honours?

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AS IT STANDS: Who's leading the charge for inaugural Formula E World Championship honours?

AS IT STANDS: Who's leading the charge for inaugural Formula E World Championship honours?

As Formula E prepares to cross the half-way point in its inaugural season as an FIA World Championship in Puebla, Mexico this weekend (June 19 & 20) with Rounds 8 & 9 of the campaign, we take a look at who's leading the charge, who's in form and just how close the points tables are as it stands.

Seven rounds have brought six different race winners in one of the closest-fought seasons to-date, in a championship notorious for its merciless level of competition.

Just 16 points - less than is on offer for a single victory - split Drivers' standings leader Robin Frijns (Envision Virgin Racing) and double champion Jean-Eric Vergne (DS TECHEETAH) in seventh spot.

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There's also only seven points between Mercedes-EQ at the top of the Teams' table and reigning champions DS TECHEETAH in third - with German and Sino-French squad sandwiching Brits Jaguar Racing. 

Audi customer team Envision Virgin Racing aren't far back in fourth, either, and with Frijns' form, and teammate Cassidy scoring in two of his last three outings, there's plenty of scope for them to stake their claim among the manufacturers.

 

As it stands

Any one of the top 10 drivers in the standings are in with a realistic shout of taking the Drivers' crown in Formula E's first campaign as an FIA World Championship, and with eight rounds of the season still to come, there's plenty of time for more to join the party as consistency at the top has so far proven hard to come by.

READ MORE: Frijns: 'We're leading now, but we need to be there at the end'

Frijns has been strong enough to grasp the advantage so far with second in Diriyah and last time around in Monaco. The Dutchman is taking the fight to the manufacturer might around him - but even he has three non-scores to his name and is yet to reach the top step of the podium in 2020/21.

Mercedes-EQ’s Nyck de Vries topped the pile heading into Round 7 in Monaco after a measured victory in the DHL Valencia E-Prix Round 5 and that storming opening-round drive in Diriyah.

READ MORE: "Monaco was painful," says Mercedes Team Principal Ian James

Zero points following a costly qualifying error, as well as a retirement last time out in Monte Carlo for the Dutchman means he now finds himself second, five points shy of his compatriot. Team Principal Ian James called it a "painful experience", and says the team can ill afford to lose more ground in a frenetic title chase.

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Mitch Evans (Jaguar Racing), is sitting pretty in third a further three points back. The Kiwi will fancy his chances of a repeat of his 2020 Mexico City E-Prix victory, and has all the tools at his disposal to pull it off. Both Evans and teammate Sam Bird sit inside the top six in the Drivers' running with plenty of silverware to show for it.

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Reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa (DS TECHEETAH) heads to Puebla fourth in the standings, fresh off the back of victory in one of the most memorable E-Prix of all time in Monaco - the Portuguese stealing the lead from Evans on the final lap to take to the top step of the podium.

READ MORE: Last-gasp Monaco victory a relief, says da Costa

He's been a runner-up in the last two outings in Mexico, and has some tricks of the trade to lean on from his manager Tiago Monteiro, who raced at Puebla back in 2009. It was at this point in the 2019/20 campaign where he really ignited his championship charge, too.

READ MORE: Formula E's Season 7 line-up, team-by-team

Bird, Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ) and Vergne sit fifth, sixth and seventh in the table and have all won in Season 7, while Rene Rast (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler), Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.dams) and BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Jake Dennis - himself a winner in Valencia - will need to pull something out of the bag this weekend if they're to fire themselves in-amongst the title favourites.