The 2021–22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship was the eighth season of the FIA Formula E championship, a motor racing championship for electrically powered vehicles recognised by motorsport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for electric open-wheel racing cars.
It was the final season of the Formula E Gen2 era, with the Formula E Gen3 being used from the 2022–23 season onwards.
Teams and drivers All teams used a spec Spark SRT05e chassis and Michelin tyres. Team Powertrain Drivers Rounds NIO 333 Formula E TeamNIO 333 001 3 Oliver TurveyAll 33 Dan TicktumAll Envision RacingAudi e-tron FE07 4 Robin FrijnsAll 37 Nick CassidyAll Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 5 Stoffel VandoorneAll 17 Nyck de VriesAll Dragon / Penske Autosport Penske EV-5 7 Sérgio Sette CâmaraAll 99 Antonio GiovinazziAll Sacha Fenestraz16 Jaguar TCS Racing Jaguar I-Type 5 9 Mitch EvansAll 10 Sam Bird1–14 Norman Nato15–16 ROKiT Venturi Racing Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 11 Lucas di GrassiAll 48 Edoardo MortaraAll DS Techeetah DS E-Tense FE21 13 António Félix da CostaAll 25 Jean-Éric VergneAll Nissan e.dams Nissan IM03 22 Maximilian GüntherAll 23 Sébastien BuemiAll Avalanche Andretti Formula E BMW i FE.21 27 Jake DennisAll 28 Oliver AskewAll Mahindra RacingMahindra M8Electro 29 Alexander SimsAll 30 Oliver RowlandAll TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team Porsche 99X Electric 36 André LottererAll 94 Pascal WehrleinAll
Team changes As announced on 30 November 2020, Audi Sport and their team Abt Sportsline have left Formula E at the end of the 2020–21 season. However, Audi remained in the sport until the end of the 2021–22 season as powertrain supplier for Envision Racing. As announced on 2 December 2020, BMW have left Formula E at the end of the 2020–21 season. However, they remained in the sport as a powertrain supplier for the 2021–22 season as Andretti Autosport, having been in a partnership with them. On 18 August 2021, Mercedes-Benz announced that this would be their last season in Formula E. On 1 November 2021, Envision Virgin Racing announced that the team would be rebranded as Envision Racing for the 2021–22 season as the Envision Group had taken complete ownership of the race team. On 2 November 2021, Jaguar Racing announced that the team would be rebranded as Jaguar TCS Racing for the 2021–22 season as a result of a title sponsorship deal with Tata Consultancy Services.
Driver changes On 23 June 2021, Oliver Rowland announced his switch from Nissan e.dams to Mahindra Racing. On 2 September 2021, Maximilian Günther announced his switch from Andretti Autosport to Nissan e.dams. On 15 September 2021, former Audi Sport driver Lucas di Grassi announced his signing for Venturi Racing, replacing Norman Nato and joining Edoardo Mortara. On 10 October 2021, René Rast announced he would be unable to return for the 2022 Formula E season as he returned to the DTM series instead, citing the commitment requirement for DTM. On 13 November 2021, Alex Lynn announced that he had signed to race in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and was not going to be returning to Formula E. On 16 November 2021, it was announced that former Formula One driver Antonio Giovinazzi would switch to Formula E with Dragon / Penske Autosport, replacing Joel Eriksson. On 17 November 2021, Tom Blomqvist announced that he would not be returning to Formula E for he would be racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship instead. On 24 November 2021, 2019 Indy Lights champion and former IndyCar driver Oliver Askew joined Andretti Autosport. He is the first American to compete full-time in the series. On 25 November 2021, two-time Macau Grand Prix winner Dan Ticktum announced he would partner Oliver Turvey in the NIO 333 FE Team, making the switch from Formula 2.
Mid-season changes Following the London ePrix, Jaguar driver Sam Bird sustained a wrist fracture, with the team declaring him unable to participate in the Seoul ePrix. Jaguar's reserve driver Norman Nato was announced to be replacing Bird in the season-ending event. Sacha Fenestraz, having been a reserve driver for Jaguar in 2021, replaced Antonio Giovinazzi for the second Seoul ePrix after the latter suffered a hand injury during the first event.
Calendar The following ePrix were contracted to form a part of the 2021–22 Formula E World Championship:
The Seoul ePrix was first scheduled for the 2019–20 season, but was cancelled twice because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mexico City ePrix made a return for 2022, once again at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, after the race relocated to Autódromo Miguel E. Abed in Puebla in 2021. A new event, the Vancouver ePrix, was scheduled to be held on the site of the former Champ Car and IndyCar race, the Molson Indy Vancouver, utilising a different layout to those used previously.
On 15 October 2021, the calendar was updated, with the planned Cape Town ePrix cancelled for unknown reasons in favor of the Jakarta ePrix.
On 15 December 2021, the calendar was updated again, in which the Rome ePrix and the Berlin ePrix were once again made into double-header events, as was the previous season.
On 23 April 2022, the Vancouver ePrix was cancelled by the race organizers. On 11 May 2022, the Marrakesh ePrix was announced in its place for the same 2 July date slot. RoundePrixCountryCircuitDate1 Diriyah ePrix Saudi Arabia Riyadh Street Circuit 28 January 20222 29 January 20223 Mexico City ePrix Mexico Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez 12 February 20224 Rome ePrix Italy Circuito Cittadino dell'EUR 9 April 20225 10 April 20226 Monaco ePrix Monaco Circuit de Monaco 30 April 20227 Berlin ePrix I Germany Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit 14 May 20228 Berlin ePrix II 15 May 20229 Jakarta ePrix Indonesia Jakarta International e-Prix Circuit 4 June 202210Marrakesh ePrix MoroccoCircuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan 2 July 202211New York City ePrix United StatesBrooklyn Street Circuit16 July 20221217 July 202213London ePrix United KingdomExCeL London 30 July 202214 31 July 202215 Seoul ePrix South Korea Seoul Street Circuit 13 August 202216 14 August 2022 Source:
ePrix locations
Regulation changes
Qualifying format A new qualifying format was introduced, where the drivers were split into two groups based on their position in the championship, those in odd-numbered places went into group A, whilst those in even-numbered places went into group B. The exception was in the first race of the season, where each team could nominate one driver into each group. Each group got a 10-minute session to set a fastest lap at 220 kW, of which the top 4 of each group advanced to the duels stage, where drivers face off head-to-head at 250 kW over a quarter-final, semi-final and final. The winner of the final then lined up in position 1, the loser of the final in position 2, the losers of the semi-final in positions 3 and 4, and the losers of the quarter-final in positions 5 through 8, in order of time set in their respective sessions. The rest of the drivers from the group stage then formed alternately from position 9, with the polesitter's group in the odd places, and the other group in the even places.
Season report
Opening rounds For the fourth time, the championship kicked off at the Riyadh Street Circuit in Diriyah. Stoffel Vandoorne took pole position and led from the start, as António Félix da Costa retired in a four-way fight through the first corner of the race. Vandoorne controlled the first half of the race, surviving a safety car and the subsequent restart as Oliver Rowland was pushed into the wall in turn 16 ten minutes into the race. When he attempted to activate his second attack mode, he missed the sensors and was overtaken by his teammate Nyck de Vries, who started third and overtook Jake Dennis at the start. The latter was then also overtaken by André Lotterer, but managed to get by him again to keep a podium position. De Vries remained largely unchallenged in the second half of the race and led Vandoorne home in a Mercedes 1–2. Rookie Oliver Askew ended his debut race in eighth place and scored four points.
The second part of the Diriyah double-header again saw a Mercedes take pole, this time it was de Vries. He held the lead during the early stages of the race, but was later passed by Lucas di Grassi around the outside in turn 18, with the latter's team-mate Edoardo Mortara also coming through one lap later. Mortara was then able to also overtake di Grassi, as de Vries lost his momentum and slid down the order, eventually ending up in tenth. Robin Frijns passed di Grassi for second with ten minutes remaining, but a battle for the lead was disrupted as a safety car was called to recover Alexander Sims, who lost control of his Mahindra through turn 5. A relatively slow recovery meant the race ended under yellow flag conditions. Mortara left Diriyah leading the standings, four points ahead of de Vries.
Two weeks later, Formula E returned to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. Pascal Wehrlein put his Porsche on pole and covered Mortara at the start of the race. He was then overtaken by Mortara after he took his first attack mode, and later also by Jean-Éric Vergne, who passed both Porsches in two laps. After the second round of attack modes, the Porsche pair in third and fourth had the most energy remaining and capitalized on that: both overtook Vergne on lap 25 and two laps later Wehrlein regained the race lead, with his teammate Lotterer in second place. Mortara dropped back behind both Techeetahs, as Porsche used team orders to seal their 1-2 finish. Wehrlein's win promoted him to third in the standings, behind de Vries and Mortara.
A one-month break followed before the next round at the Circuito Cittadino dell'EUR in Rome. Mercedes seemed to be back on form, with Vandoorne taking pole and de Vries third on the grid. Vandoorne held the lead from Frijns, as both Rowland and Maximilian Günther hit the barriers on the first lap, bringing out a safety car. Frijns and Vandoorne continued to battle for the lead, overtaking each other multiple times as both used their attack mode activations, while de Vries was forced to retire with a technical issue. Mitch Evans, who started ninth, had made his way up past six cars and overtook both leaders to claim first place. Frijns dropped back to fourth, but overtook both Vergne and Vandoorne in the last two minutes of the race to regain second place.
The double-header in Rome continued with Vergne claiming his 14th pole position. He pulled away from the start, while Dennis started dropping back behind him, allowing Lotterer and Evans through. Championship leader Mortara had to retire after clipping the wall and ruining his suspension. The safety car was then deployed as Antonio Giovinazzi's car stopped on track, with Evans capitalizing on his Jaguar's speed on the restart and overtaking Vergne for the lead. He was then overtaken by Frijns and Lotterer, who both led for short stints, before a second safety car was brought out for the retired Sims. Evans took his attack mode late in the race and managed to regain the lead, holding onto it until the end to seal a double win in Rome, ahead of Vergne and Frijns. Vergne took the championship lead after Rome, albeit only by two points, while de Vries' pointless weekend saw him slipping back.
Mid-season rounds