HANKOOK DEBRIEF: Five things we learned in Shanghai

Feature by Katy Fairman

Shanghai delivered another two very different races with six different drivers reaching the podium across the double-header. We had a momentous milestone for one team, a familiar face back on the winners’ step and a new team taking charge of the standings. 

Here are the things you need to know from our visit to China for Rounds 10 and 11 of Season 11. 

Rocky weekend for Rowland 

Over a season where Oliver Rowland has shown some insane consistency, it is notable when two races without some silverware come around. After seven top-two results in eight races, Shanghai was a slightly different story for the Nissan driver with 10 points added to his tally – a fifth place for the first round and 13th on Sunday. 

MEDIA PEN: The drivers react to Shanghai Round 11

The gap Rowland has in the championship fight is still incredibly impressive though. He has 171 points with five rounds left to go, with his nearest rival being reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein of TAG Heuer Porsche on 103 points after his second place for Round 11. 

After qualifying 17th, with rain disrupting normal proceedings, Yorkshireman Rowland was able to progress up the grid to 13th at the chequered flag. 

“It’s a disappointing result today,” Rowland said after the race, “but to be honest it was one of the hardest races I’ve ever done with such limited visibility due to the spray, so it was just not possible today to do any more. 

“Despite that, the weekend overall has still been a positive one. We still remain in strong contention for all three championships, which is the focus heading into the final part of the season.”

What a difference a day makes 

Formula E double-header races can certainly be unpredictable, especially now with the addition of PIT BOOST spicing up the strategy. However, Shanghai really showed that things can change a lot from day to day. 

Maximilian Guenther experienced some huge highs after helping DS PENSKE secure their first one-two result with the victory and Jean-Eric Vergne delivering some last-lap heroics to finish second behind. Yet, the next day he was forced to retire from the race as a result of a battery issue. 

It was the other way around for TAG Heuer Porsche, who had a pointless finish despite big potential on Saturday. The duo of Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix da Costa finished 12th and 13th respectively, but fast forward 24 hours and it was second and third on the podium. 

‟It was a very strong result today in very tricky and challenging wet conditions,” Florian Modlinger stated after the double podium result for Round 11. The 34 points for the results, plus fastest lap from Wehrlein, also promoted Porsche to top of the Teams’ World Championship by a single point to Nissan. 

“We are really happy with these points and regaining the lead in the Teams’ Championship by a single point,” The Porsche Formula E boss added. “It will be a very hard fight to the end of the year. Overall – with three Porsche in the top six with Nico Mueller – we can be very happy.”

Cassidy’s ‘Love Story’ Continues 

The wet conditions didn’t seem to impact Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy, who topped every session on Sunday on his way to a lights-to-flag victory from the Julius Baer Pole Position. It is surprising that was his first career win in over a year, but the rain proved a great leveler and is the second top spot for the Jaguar team in the GEN3 Evo era. 

As Taylor Swift’s Love Story blared out of the stadium speakers – a tradition after a Cassidy win – it seemed a fitting weekend for such a victory, after silly season speculation starts to begin and his future at the British manufacturer remains unclear. 

It was a tough start to the new regulations for Cassidy, picking up 10 points across the first six races thanks to a fifth place in Jeddah. A podium in Monaco was some welcomed silverware and points, but even after his win reigning team champions Jaguar remain eighth in the World Championship standings. 

DS PENSKE unlock a new achievement 

Securing a first and second place as a team in Formula E is quite the rarity. It was last seen last season by Jaguar when Mitch Evans won in Monaco and Nick Cassidy came home in second. In fact, there have been 11 instances of teams obtaining a one-two finish in Formula E:

It should be noted that DS PENSKE and DS Techeetah are different entity, that just share the same title sponsor. It is a cool statistic that Vergne had a part to play in the very first one-two in Formula E and is now a part of the most recent – just two-time champion things! 

The rain follows Formula E everywhere

Back when I covered Formula E in the early season, the joke would be to attend an E-Prix if you wanted a sunny holiday as it never rained. Then came Season 5, Paris, and all the rain that hadn’t fallen in those first few years seemed to come down at once. 

Fast forward to Season 11, and rain has been present at every single race weekend this season apart from Jeddah. The wet weather disrupted our pre-season photocall ahead of the weekend in São Paulo, there were mixed conditions for second free practice in Mexico City and Miami’s Shakedown was cancelled after a huge downpour. 

Monaco, Tokyo and Shanghai have all experienced one wet race of the double-headers, and next we’re off to Jakarta which is known for its humidity and tropical storms. Nevertheless, the grid have all proved their talents behind-the-wheel by navigating these challenging conditions time and time again.

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