Credit: LAT Images courtesy of FIA Formula E
Nick Cassidy won the final round of the 2022/23 Formula E World Championship, to secure Envision Racing the Constructors’ Championship at a rain-affected London E-Prix.
The New Zealander claimed victory by five seconds over Mitch Evans, whilst new World Champion Jake Dennis finished third in the 16th round and final round of the season.
Ahead of the race getting underway, it was confirmed that it would begin behind the Safety Car, with a substantial amount of rain having fallen throughout Sunday afternoon. It was a nightmare situation for both Jaguar and Envision, who were set to duel for the Constructors’ Championship.
As the Safety Car led the field away, the rain was clearly still falling heavily. The spray on the outside part of the circuit was very poor, to the extent that the race was red-flagged on the fifth lap. Prior to the red flag, the drivers were complaining about the conditions being too dangerous, something the race director seemingly agreed with.
The race was red-flagged for 30 minutes, before it restarted behind the Safety Car. Rain continued to fall though, with the amount of spray still being a concern. The intensity of the rain had actually intensified further, with the drivers having again complained of it being undriveable.
Following two laps behind the Safety Car, the race was red-flagged once again. Another lengthy stoppage followed; however, the drivers went back out onto the circuit again 40 minutes later.
Like the first restart, the drivers were led onto the circuit by the Safety Car. Yet again, the rain was still falling at a moderate intensity, with the spray still having been horrific.
Despite this, after two laps behind the Safety Car, the race fully got underway with a rolling start on the eighth lap. Pole sitter Nick Cassidy led the field away ahead of Mitch Evans, with Norman Nato in third. All the drivers were sliding at virtually every corner, as they searched for grip.
All eyes were on both Jaguar and Envision drivers, with the two teams fighting for the Constructors’ Championship, in what was the first wet race of the Gen3 era. Cassidy and Evans both broke away from Nato in third, with the leading duo having shown significantly better pace than all of those behind.
Behind the two New Zealanders, Nato was busy battling with Jake Dennis, who started the race in fourth. The World Champion collided with the Frenchman, but was able to overtake the Nissan driver when he activated his first Attack Mode.
Lap 11 and the leading duo boasted a six-second lead over Dennis in third, who was four seconds ahead of Nato in fourth. The leading drivers were all very spread out, unlike those in the midfield who were separated by next to nothing.
In the mid-pack, Dan Ticktum pulled off an excellent move on Edoardo Mortara at Turn 8, in the fight for the final position in the points.
Halfway through the race, and Cassidy led from Evans, Dennis, Nato and Stoffel Vandoorne, whilst Sam Bird and Sébastian Buemi ran in sixth and seventh. As things stood on Lap 17, Envision were doing enough to win the title.
Cassidy and Evans were in a complete league of their own, with the duo having been lapping around five-tenths of a second faster than the rest of the field per lap. The two Kiwis were constantly alternating fastest laps, in what was a race of survival.
Lap 22 and Jean-Éric Vergne tumbled down the order and entered the pits for a tyre change, in a bid to find some more grip presumably as only the rears were changed. Cassidy’s and Evans’ pace was sublime, with two seconds having separated the pair. Dennis was a further 10 seconds behind.
Cassidy was controlling the race beautifully, especially given what happened to him on Saturday where his title chances brutally ended. All the drivers were behaving themselves impeccably, with no yellow flag having been flown since the race went green.
Everything was going Envision’s way, as Buemi overtook Bird for sixth on Lap 27/34. Bird was clearly struggling for pace, as Buemi got himself over a second ahead of the British driver in just one lap.
At the front, and the gap dropped to just under two seconds, as Evans started to ramp up the pressure on Cassidy. The gap was down to just 1.5s as the race entered its final four laps, based on the scheduled number of laps. However, it was confirmed on lap 32/34 that there’d be an additional four laps, following the early Safety Cars.
It meant Evans had seven laps to catch and overtake Cassidy, for Jaguar to beat their customer team to the title. Dennis remained in a very lonely third, whilst Nato and Vandoorne remained in fourth and fifth.
Cassidy started to respond to Evans’ pressure by building the gap to back over two seconds; however, Evans wasn’t prepared to give up. The entire field were behaving themselves very well, as the season approached its climax.
As the race and season nine entered its final three laps, the entire field remained as they were, with very little overtaking having been taking place. The circuit was starting to ramp up though, resulting in the times tumbling.
Lap 37/38 and Cassidy had a 3.5s advantage over Evans suddenly, with the Jaguar driver’s pace having dropped. As Cassidy started the final lap, Jaguar required the Kiwi to make a huge error to clinch the crown.
The New Zealander didn’t make a mistake on the last lap of the season and instead he crossed the line to claim his fourth win of the season, and clinch the Constructors’ Championship for Envision Racing.
Evans picked up second with the new World Champion completing the podium, whilst Nato finished fourth ahead of Vandoorne. Buemi ended up in sixth with Bird, Nico Müller, Ticktum and Pascal Wehrlein completing the top 10. Every driver remarkably finished the race.
It wasn’t quite the Grand Slam for Cassidy, as Dennis clinched the fastest lap bonus point. Cassidy’s win also meant he secured second in the Drivers’ Championship, ahead of Evans in third.
In the Constructors’ Standings, Envision claimed top honours by 12 points over Jaguar, with Andretti jumping Porsche for third.
So, another season of Formula E is complete, with the championship having a new winner of both titles. The all-electric series will return in January 2024 for the start of season 10 in Mexico City.
Keyword: London E-Prix: Sublime Cassidy wins rain-affected season finale to secure Envision title