Formula E is a funny new world. Edoardo Mortara finished runner-up in the standings, scored the second-biggest weekend points haul of any driver when he took a win and a third place in Puebla, and snared a further two podiums.
But for his third appearance in the Top 50 he lands his lowest ranking. That’s based partly on his car – Venturi’s Mercedes customer powertrain was clearly the pick of the crop, which meant good results were compulsory.
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While the title-deciding startline crash in Berlin was not his fault, his mid-pack position on the grid that day was reflective of frequent uninspiring qualifying pace.
Why Formula E drivers are ranked lower in 2021
No Formula E driver in this edition of the Autosport Top 50 comes close to matching the dizzyingly high rankings of Antonio Felix da Costa last year or Jean-Eric Vergne in 2018. Partly that’s because not one of their cases was strong enough on performance alone but largely it’s because the stature of each championship plays a defining role.
It’s extremely unlikely the British Touring Car champion, no matter how impressive a year they’ve had and whatever records they might have set, will ever enter the top 10. And the Formula E cohort have fallen victim to this factor to slide down the order as the series didn’t enjoy a vintage year.
The maligned, and now binned, group qualifying format produced random grids ad nauseam to deprive the championship of a clear narrative and a compelling championship battle. Clumsy red flag rule quirks around the non-use of fanboost led to frustrating penalties. There were disqualifications for incorrectly recorded barcodes on car technical passports that viewers found confusing and tiresome. Then the series hits its nadir in Valencia when a flurry of safety cars – and subsequent reductions from the useable energy limits – created a situation where well over half the field slowed to a crawl on the last lap.
While these problems were as much a result of the FIA rules and their application as they were part of the design of Formula E (the two parties should be viewed separately) the knock-on effect was damaging for the public image.
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Whether Formula E will recover to vie for second place with the World Endurance and World Rally championships behind Formula 1 in 2022 is tough to predict.
A new and more meritocratic qualifying system is on the way. The Monaco Grand Prix circuit, which delivered arguably the most thrilling race in the electric championship’s history at the first time of asking in May, will become a permanent fixture of a promising calendar. But with Audi and BMW now out of Formula E and Mercedes soon to depart, it dents the series’ stature once again.
Further beyond, the good news is that the incoming 470bhp Gen3 regulations are a prospect to relish and at least six manufacturers should be on the grid for their advent.
