After netting a strong pole position in the final race of the season, and second of the New York City double-headers, BMW’s Alexander Sims got away from the start perfectly and settled into a contested but steady lead over race one winner Sebastian Buemi and later Virgin Racing’s Robin Frijns. Following a field-bunching during an early race safety car (to retrieve Jose Maria Lopez stranded car) Sims maintained the lead. A few laps later, however, Frijns put this masterful move down the inside and took the lead, never looking back.
It should be mentioned that this was Frijns’ second win in the series, having won the Paris E Prix back in April. That’s nine different winners for the 2018-19 Formula E season. Wild!
Jean Eric Vergne, who took the 2017-18 Formula E driver’s title as well, went into this race in a good position. So long as his closest title fighters Lucas Di Grassi and Mitch Evans didn’t win the season ender, he was in good shape to take minimal points and still exit with a second championship. As it so happens, on the final lap Evans ran his car out of juice and Di Grassi crashed right into him (inconsequential in the standings, as they were 6th and 7th at the time), and the two championship contenders took each other out! JEV settled into 7th to score just a few points and walked away with that championship.
The DS Techeetah team of Vergne and Lotterer managed to score enough points to secure the teams championship as well.
What a season, and what a race! It’s incredible to sit back and think about how far this championship has come in its 5th season. The racing has always been exciting, but it’s getting faster, more fun, and absolutely out of this world. If you’re not already watching Formula E, you’d better pay attention when the 2019-20 season begins in Saudi Arabia this November.