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Envision Racing are Formula E World Champions!

30 July 2023

Victory for Nick Cassidy in the final race of the season gives Envision Racing the Formula E Teams’ Championship on home soil after a sensational London E-Prix.

Both Envision Racing and Jaguar Racing started the final race of the 2022–23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in London level on points in the Teams’ Championship standings. And after a delay of an hour and a half due to heavy rain, Nick Cassidy kept his cool and executed a masterful drive, leading from start to finish, to beat Mitch Evans and secure first place in the Teams’ Championship standings for Envision Racing.

Cassidy’s team-mate Sébastien Buemi played his part, fending off Jaguar’s Sam Bird to come home sixth and solidify Envision Racing’s triumph.

Sunday’s drama started in qualifying as Cassidy narrowly beat Evans to claim pole position and bag three vital points ahead of the weekend’s second race. In the race itself, Cassidy was untouchable, shrugging off the rain delay to lead from the front and bring home Envision Racing’s maiden Teams’ Championship title.

It is fitting that the titanic, season-long fight between the two Jaguar-powered teams came to an exciting conclusion in the English capital, underlining what has been a sometimes dominant campaign for the powertrain. In all, four Jaguar-powered drivers finished in the top eight of the Drivers’ Championship order.

QUALIFYING

Both Envision Racing drivers competed in Group A of qualifying, and the battle with Jaguar immediately got underway. The best time of the session was set by Cassidy, with Buemi ending up third fastest, and the Jaguar of Sam Bird in fourth.

With intermittent rain falling on the outside portion of ExCel London, Buemi took on newly-crowned champion Jake Dennis in the first quarter-final. And it was Dennis who prevailed by 0.008 seconds in a thrilling duel. Buemi would end up seventh on the grid.

Envision Racing’s Cassidy faced Bird in an all-Jaguar-powered face-off, beating the British driver and progressing to the semi-finals, setting up a duel with erstwhile title rival Dennis.  

Cassidy edged out Dennis, keeping his cool to make the final. The big question was could the Kiwi claim pole position? The answer was yes. Fittingly, it was Cassidy up against Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, and it was Cassidy who won a thrilling fight by just 0.003 seconds to claim pole and hand Envision Racing the lead in the Team’s Championship ahead of the race.  

THE RACE

When the race eventually started after a lengthy delay due to heavy rain and several safety car laps, Cassidy emerged from the dry indoor section of ExCel London in the lead as the field headed onto the very wet outdoor portion of the circuit amid considerable spray and limited visibility.Cassidy slithered around the first lap, which equated to lap six following the initial safety car intervention, followed by Evans and Norman Nato. 

By lap 10, Cassidy had used all his skill and experience of wet weather racing to establish a lead of over two seconds, allowing him to take Attack Mode and remain in the lead, as team-mate Buemi held on to seventh behind the Jaguar Racing machine of Bird.

At the halfway point, Cassidy set the fastest lap of the race, as he extended his advantage over Evans. 10 laps later, Cassidy looked comfortable at the head of the field, maintaining a three second gap over his fellow Kiwi as the track dried. Further back, Bird started to hassle Buemi for sixth place, momentarily passing before Buemi snatched back the place on lap 28 and pulled away.

 

Back at the front, the gap between leader Cassidy and second place man Evans ebbed and flowed. And with four laps added to the original 34-lap duration things were tense as the race and the season approached its climax.

At the chequered flag, Cassidy crossed the line first to claim his fourth victory of the year, securing the Teams’ Championship for Envision Racing and leapfrogging Evans to take second place in the Drivers’ Championship standings. Behind the victorious ‘Driver of the Race’ Cassidy, Buemi came home sixth to add more points to Envision Racing’s winning tally and end up sixth in the Drivers’ Championship.

“Ultimately I am very, very happy. I did the business for the team and I am proud of what we have achieved,” said Cassidy. “Envision Racing are an incredible bunch of people and they worked so hard. These guys have been so close on so many occasions, which shows how strong they are in this championship, so to finally get it done is absolutely fantastic.”

Speaking after the landmark win, Sylvain Filippi, Managing Director & CTO at Envision Racing Formula E Team said: “We started competing in Formula E nine years ago, and we’ve been close a few times. We have won many races, scored the highest number of points in the history of Formula E, but this championship is what we wanted to achieve. It has been an amazing season. I am so happy with the team, they are the best!”

“I am very pleased to have helped Envision Racing win the Teams’ championship,” stated Buemi. “Today was a good result after the rain and tricky conditions, It has been a long hard season with plenty of ups and downs, and this is deserved by the whole team.”

Teams’ standings (after Rd 16):
1. Envision Racing, 304pts
2. Jaguar Racing, 292pts
3. Avalanche Andretti, 252pts
4. Porsche Formula E Team, 242pts
5. DS Penske, 163pts

Drivers’ standings (after Rd 16):
1. Jake Dennis, 229pts
2. Nick Cassidy, 199pts
3. Mitch Evans, 197pts
4. Pascal Wehrlein, 149pts
5. Jean-Éric Vergne, 107pts
6. Sébastien Buemi, 105pts