The Safety Car led the pack away amid soggy conditions, after some 25mm of rain fell over the course of the morning in the lead up to lights out.
After four laps, the field formed for a standing start and Rowland headed Mortara through the Turn 1 and 2 chicane, while Barnard aimed to get his car’s nose up the inside of the Mahindra through the opening left-hander.
A few drivers – the highest-placed of which being Sebastien Buemi – jumped for the first of their mandatory 50kW four-wheel drive Attack Mode boosts.
Even with 4WD, the Envision still looked a handful – the Swiss narrowly keeping his car out of the wall before dispatching Barnard for third at Turn 1 on Lap 7.
Of the leaders, Mortara and Barnard went next in Attack – the Mahindra driver taking full advantage to pinch P2 back from Buemi but finding himself three seconds shy of leader Rowland when his initial 50kW boost ended.
On Lap 10, Rowland found himself up on energy and three second clear out-front ahead of Mortara, Buemi, Barnard and de Vries rounding out the top 5.
Lap 13, saw Guenther’s car go red and grind to a halt, demanding a Red Flag so it could be cleared safely.
The pack were led round by the Safety Car to a standing start on Lap 15, with Rowland firing off the line once again to lead the pack through Turn 1 – flying to a two-second advantage once again.
Of the lead few, Barnard was first to move for PIT BOOST on Lap 18, with Vandoorne having gone first, pre-Red Flag – a god send for the Belgian, with the time lost during that stop immediately wiped out with the enforced restart.
As the stops began to shake out, Barnard managed to jump Mortara while Vandoorne did indeed hit what would be the front ahead of Rowland, Barnard, Mortara and Buemi.
At Turn 2 on Lap 28, Vandoorne ran wide before lighting the rear tyres up into a spin. With a 25 second lead over Rowland, though, it ultimately wouldn’t matter.
From there, it was a waltz to the flag for the Maserati MSG Racing driver, with the scrap in-behind the Belgian.
The full top 10 are- P1: Vandoorne, P2: Rowland, P3: Barnard, P4: Buemi, P5: Ticktum, P6: Mortara, P7: da Costa, P8: Vergne, P9: Frijns and P10: Cassidy.
Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns headed the way in an eventful FP1 session on Formula E’s first visit to Tokyo.
The top 15 runners were split by less than a second and six teams represented in the top six at the chequered flag, with the field getting their first taste of the Odaiba streets.
The sun shone down for the first Free Practice 1 session in Tokyo, a big contrast to the weather seen in the capital that morning. The heavy rain was still left around parts of the track which made it even more challenging for the drivers.
One area affected by the standing water was Turn 1 with drivers such as TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa and ABT CUPRA’s Lucas di Grassi going wide just minutes into the session.
Red flags were shown eight minutes in when the DS Penske of Stoffel Vandoorne came to a halt at the entry into Turn 4. The Season 8 World Champion had a technical problem with his Gen3 machine.
Reigning Champion, Jake Dennis made a small but costly mistake as he nudged his Andretti into the barriers at Turn 16, with the front nose taking most of the impact.
There was also an unusual incident between Sam Bird and Sacha Fenestraz towards the end of practice. Fenestraz was whacked by Bird as they both entered the first turn and suffered significant damage to the front of his car.
FP2-
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans set the fastest time of Free Practice 2, a 1m19.339s as the grid got grips with the new circuit.
The track will still wet after the huge downpour yesterday morning with Turn 1 still being rather slippery with standing water, which isn’t ideal.
Both Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns set the pace early on, with Frijns going quickest overall in Free Practice 1. However timings were soon improved by the likes of Andretti’s Jake Dennis, TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein and ERT’s Dan Ticktum the top three before a red flag brought a stop to running.
The red flag was issued due to Lucas di Grassi as he clipped the front of his car near turn 12 which caused a range of debris to litter the track.
Things got going again quickly and drivers were keen to get out again, Mahindra Racing’s Edoardo Mortara has been looking rapid. His teammate Nyck de Vries lost part of his front wing on a lap towards the end of the session, having to pull into the pit lane to have some repairs.
Qualifying-
Nissan and Oliver Rowland made history in Japan, as the home team achieved the Julius Baer Pole Position for the second time this season.
Rowland was just 0.021s ahead of the Maserati MSG Racing of Maximilian Gunther in the finals, as big names like Championship leader Nick Cassidy will start in 19th due to having his lap time deleted for a technical infraction.
In Group A, Oliver Rowland went quickest with a 1m19.658s. Edoardo Mortara was just behind him by 0.020s. Nick Cassidy got through in third, but his lap time was deleted. Jake Dennis got the final sport, and was promoted to third due to Cassidy, which meant his teammate Evans moved into fourth. However, Jake Hughes and Mitch Evans were also placed under investigation for impeding.
The drama didn’t stop there, as Group B also had some. ERT’s Sergio Sette Camara made contact with the wall early on, which sent debris scattering onto the track, but he still managed to find his way to the duels. He was beaten to the top spot by Maximilian Gunther who set a 1m19.391s. Joining him in the duels was Nico Mueller and championship favourite TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein. There was also a close moment between the NEOM McLaren of Sam Bird and Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries who both went down an escape road near Turn 16.
The Qualifying top 10 is- Pole: Rowland, P2: Gunther, P3: Mortara, P4: Sette Camara, P5: Dennis, P6: Evans, P7: Wehrlein, P8: Muller, P9: Da Costa and P10: Frijns.
Round 5-
Rowland held fast off the line to keep the lead with Mahindra’s Mortara clambering over the back of the Nissan as he gained ground on Gunther into second. Through the opening laps, less than 10 second split the 22 car field with the lead three separated by less than a second.
On lap 3, Ticktum, Fenestraz and Buemi were the first drivers to jump for the initial of two mandatory Attack Mode. Meanwhile, Wehrlein was looking raciest in the top 10 – making it by Sette Camara for fifth at Turn 1 on the same lap, and hassling Dennis for fourth.
Wehrlein was the first of the front runners to jump for Attack Mode on lap 8, with Da Costa holding off the chasing pack to make the German’s life easier. On lap 10, Rowland led Mortara and Gunther with again no more than a second between them. Rowland jumped for attack and held the lead while Mortara followed from second – dropping down to third with Gunther profiting in the process.
Da Costa had dispatched Dennis at Turn 15 on Lap 17, and made it by his teammate Wehrlein who was shuffled to sixth and some front wing damage. A lap later, Jaguar’s 100th celebrations came to a quick end with Mitch Evans out in contact with Frijns in an overambitious overtaking manoeuvre gone wrong.
The race fired into life from there, with Nato and Frijns sixth and seventh on Lap 18, jumping for Attack Mode. Dennis was just ahead of the pair, with the Brit able to help his teammate and vice versa with track position through their attack mode activations.
Rowland gave up track position to Gunther on lap 24, with the Brit happy to save energy in the slipstream, aware that the Maserati driver was yet to take his second Attack Mode which should allow the Nissan back ahead.
However, Rowland could only hang on some 1.7 second back which meant Gunther was able to take his Attack and hold the lead. Mortara was in third, and was holding off the close attention of da Costa, Dennis, Nato and Wehrlein.
Nato took his final 50kW boost on lap 31 and in the accordian effect, Frijns unfortunately got caught up in contact and span out in 10th spot.
Da Costa spied a chance to jump onto the podium around the outside of Turn 15 however Dennis was not having any of it. Rowland did his utmost to pressure Gunther for the lead with a look around the outside of Turn 1 and the inside of Turn 3 but Gunther’s Maserati looked really wide.
The full top 10 are- P1: Gunther, P2: Rowland, P3: Dennis, P4: Da Costa, P5: Wehrlein, P6: Nato, P7: Muller, P8: Cassidy, P9: Frijns and P10: Sette Camara.
Now we have less than two weeks until the next race weekend! As we head to Misano, Italy for Round 6 and 7!
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship today announced a return to China and India for the milestone 10th season, which makes it the only motorsport to stage events during 2024 in the world’s three most populous countries: China, India and USA.
Shanghai and Hyderabad were confirmed as host cities in Season 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship following approval at the FIA World Motorsport Council meeting on 19th October.
Formula E will race for the first time in Shanghai at the Shanghai International Circuit with a double-header of races on Saturday 25th May and Sunday 26th May 2024. The first ever Formula E race was held in Beijing on 13th September 2015 with a second instalment following a year later. Sanya then hosted the most recent Chinese E-Prix in 2019, with Formula E also racing in Hong Kong on four occasions over three seasons between Seasons 2 and 5.
Hyderabad will host Formula E again on Saturday 10th February 2024, with the support from the Telangana Government and Minister K. T. Rama Rao and following the 31,000 capacity sold out-debut race in February this year.
There are two more updates to the Season 10 calendar. The event planned for Jakarta on Saturday 8th June will not go ahead following the announcement of a campaigning period in the Indonesian presidential elections during most of June. This would impact the logistics of delivering a race on the streets of the capital city at the same time.
The second update is a likely venue change in Italy for Rounds 7 and 8. This follows a review by experts at Formula E and the FIA into the Season 9 races in Rome, where the new faster cars reached the limits of the narrow, sharp turning circuit in Rome. Formula E is exploring alternative venues, including permanent circuit to maintain an event in the key Italian market. An update on the venue is expected before the end of the year.
Without doubt our Season 10 calendar is the most compelling yet for drivers, teams, fans and viewers around the world. We are taking Formula E to Shanghai for the first time and are honoured to return to India thanks to the support of the Telangana Government and Minister K. T. Rama Rao. The combination of street circuits, which is in Formula E’s DNA, and established race tracks will allow drivers to push the capabilities of the GEN3 car harder and further after a first season that beat all expectations with triple-digit overtakes in most races and the world championship titles decided on the final weekend.
Alberto Longo, Co-Founder & Chief Championship Officer, Formula E.
Formula E will lead global motorsport next season as the only world championship to race in the three biggest markets of China, India and the USA. Together with our debut on the streets of Tokyo and races in other major global markets like Brazil, Germany, Saudi Arabia and the UK, we have built a calendar that has the potential to engage billions of people in the exciting, entertaining, electric future of motorsport.
Jordan's Track Talk 