JACK NICHOLLS: The tight fight at the top of the Teams' championship

I don’t talk enough about the Teams' championship in general. Both on the television commentary and here on the website I tend to focus on the fight for the Drivers’ championship, but after Marrakesh the team battle is so finely poised that it’s worthy of further investigation.

We all celebrate the drivers, but for the teams - and perhaps in particular manufacturers - the Teams' championship carries a lot of prestige, and crucially for them this is where the prize money is awarded.

Tight title fights

The closest ever teams title fight was in Season 4, when Audi won by just two points ahead of DS TECHEETAH. Jean-Eric Vergne and Andre Lotterer had locked out the front row for DS in the final race in New York City, but a jump start from the German gave him a penalty, which effectively cost the team the title.

There were actually only four points in it last season, as Mercedes EQ sealed both titles on that dramatic final day in Berlin, edging out Jaguar for the championship. That was the second closest teams title fight that we have seen in Formula E.

So this season, with ten rounds gone and six to go, there are three teams separated by just seven points, as ROKiT Venturi Racing lead DS TECHEETAH by two points, and then reigning champions Mercedes-EQ are five points further back. Jaguar are the only other team who are realistically in the mix, but they are 50 points behind Venturi at the top.

Mercedes had been leading the championship since the fourth round of the season in Rome, until Venturi moved into top spot after Marrakesh. In fact, only Mercedes and Venturi have led the Teams’ championship at any point this season, despite the competitive nature of the field, and of course if either of those two teams seal the title it will be with a Mercedes EQ powertrain.

Interestingly, in the seven seasons of Formula E it's only been powertrains from two nationalities to have won the Teams Championship. The French Renault machines powered e.dams to the first three teams titles, then their compatriots DS won with TECHEETAH in Seasons 5 and 6. The other two titles were won by German brands, as Audi won in Season 4 and Mercedes-EQ being the reigning champions.

There's no "I" in team...

In terms of driver performance within each team, it’s interesting to examine the amount of points each driver has scored for their team as a percentage. Broadly speaking, these are not particularly shocking figures, as it’s pretty self-explanatory that in a drivers and teams title fight that are so close, the percentages are going to be similar at the top.

Edoardo Mortara has scored 68% of Venturi’s points so far this season, while Vergne and Vandoorne have both picked up 63% of their team’s tally.

The reason for Jaguar being adrift in the championship is made clear by the fact that Mitch Evans has collected 80% of the British brand’s points so far this season, comfortably the largest percentage in the top four. The most competitive percentage is from the two Porsche drivers, who as well as being 5-5 in qualifying performances, have a 52:48 percent split in Lotterer’s favour.

Jake Dennis has the biggest teammate advantage, having collected 95% of Avalanche Andretti’s points over the season so far.

Naturally, the focus will still be on the drivers' title, and who will win the eighth season of the Formula E World Championship, but that teams fight - and in particular the performance of the second drivers – is going to be fascinating as we enter the closing stages of the season.