Formula E: 5 Drivers under pressure for Season 10
- themotorsportguru
- Feb 4, 2024
- 9 min read
Updated: Feb 10, 2024
Credit to Wikimedia Commons: 2023 Berlin E-Prix
Season 10 of Formula E is right around the corner once again as the series embarks for its grand opening in Mexico City. The sport is entering a landmark year by celebrating 10 years since its inception and how rapid progress has been within the sport. It is the prime time of the year for predictions to be made on the future winners, champions and potential standouts of the forthcoming season, especially one holding this much significance.
But focus still needs to be placed on those drivers that need to perform. We have a wealth of drivers entering the season who are generating huge anticipation for great achievements. Jake Dennis, Nick Cassidy, Mitch Evans, Robin Frijns and Maximilian Guenther for instance all spring to mind immediately. But they can all afford to have a bad season because they have managed to build strong skills and keep their reputation intact through their Formula E tenure. We have certain drivers who have accumulated too many mistakes and suffered serious inconsistency to create doubt about their talent. Any one slip in this season could spell disaster for their career and will need to tread carefully to remain valued commodities in the driver market.
Sam Bird
It hasn’t been an easy two years for Sam Bird. His stint with Virgin Racing saw him overachieving huge results and warranted an overdue championship that never came. The move to Jaguar was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle for Bird but the dream was quickly shattered after three difficult years. Season 7 was the most promising for Bird by taking two great victories in Diriyah and New York but fell out of the title hunt after a myriad of inconsistent results and crashes. But for season 8 and 9 he completely fell apart and suffered arguably his two worst seasons in Formula E. Season 8 especially was extremely poor for Bird’s standards and despite Season 9 seeing marked signs of recovery, it was still littered with uncharacteristic mistakes, hitting and retiring his teammate Mitch Evans twice in the same season.
He is now with McLaren for season 10 and is looking to not only build up McLaren to a title force but to rebuild and regain his confidence as a driver. Everything seems to click with this all British alliance alongside Jake Hughes from a team synergy perspective, but the pressure still remains on Bird to perform. His reputation has taken a significant hit and currently doesn’t hold the greatest stock value in the Formula E drivers market. He is at serious risk of being left behind if he doesn’t recover his lost form and could be out of the sport for good. Bird’s slump is being defended as solely a Jaguar related issue but if Bird then fails at McLaren, what will the excuse then be? It is no secret he has been brought onboard the McLaren team as the leader and he needs to immediately step into and hold a grasp of that role to secure his place amongst some of the best racers currently on the grid.
Norman Nato
Norman Nato was very nearly out of Formula E by the end of Season 9. The first half of his season with Nissan yielded barely above average results and was being outperformed by rookie teammate Sacha Fenestraz. But then came the second half where something clicked within Nato. Being spearheaded by a controlled race in Jakarta by finishing 5th, he went on a streak of straight points finishes in the top 10 for the rest of the season reaching the highs of a spectacular 2nd place finish in Rome whilst nursing front wing damage. He had the measure of Fenestraz for the rest of the season but the timing seemed too late as rumours circulated that Nissan were already searching for new options. It was incredibly reminiscent of his time with the Venturi squad (now Maserati) where his rise in form also came later in the season. But Venturi ultimately decided to let Nato go and it seemed fate would repeat itself again in his second full season.
But Nato’s late performances managed to convince other teams of his services. The Andretti squad specifically was on the market for a second driver after Andre Lotterer massively underperformed relative to championship winning teammate Jake Dennis and duly signed Nato at season's end. He has only been in the series for two seasons but has always been an underdog in the wider context of the Formula E grid. When the cards are dealt in his favour, he can perform with the best there is. The season 7 finale at Berlin proved that where he managed a debut victory with Venturi as a rookie nonetheless. But Nato now needs to show that performance for a whole season. His terminations from Venturi and Nissan were both because of poor results early on and his improvements always came too late for a contract extension. Nato isn’t expected to beat Jake Dennis; that hierarchy at Andretti is more than established. But he needs to be there to protect Dennis and to aid Andretti in the constructors championship. Oliver Askew and Andre Lotterer failed on both of those accounts so Nato needs to prove he is the missing ingredient for Andretti to justify his future in Formula E.
Sergio Sette Camara
Not too long ago at the end of season 8 the paddock was quizzed on who the most underrated driver was in the series and across all teams, more than half of the drivers were in favour of Sergio Sette Camara. The results on paper though might make you look confused. In his time with Dragon over his three year stint, Sette Camara managed to muster only 18 points in total. It might seem unremarkable but Dragon were by a long margin the backmarkers of the Formula E grid. But Sette Camara still managed to put in performances that were punching well above their weight and kept his credibility as a driver intact. The main draw is with his blistering one lap pace seeing him place his Dragon in ridiculously high spots on the grid. Season 7 saw him place P2 in qualifying at the second round of the Diriyah double header and in season 8, he qualified with a duo of 4th place positions in New York and London. It’s clear the potential was there especially considering his previous form in the junior formula. Many people forget in just his second F2 season how close Sette Camara ran to Lando Norris all season long so the underlying pace is there to achieve success.
The issue with Sergio Sette Camara though is how he struggles to convert these strong grid positions into a solid grid result. He has shown glimpses of pace where in Diriyah during season 7, he placed 4th from 2nd on the grid after an extremely mature drive. But his entire time with Dragon only generated three points finishes. The argument can still be made with how poor the Dragon was but comparatively his teammate Nico Mueller in the first half of season 7 outdrove Sette Camara in the races. His next two teammates, Joel Eriksson and Antonio Giovinazzi were comprehensively beaten so the argument went back in favour of Sergio. The approach of season 9 saw team Penske buy a majority stake in the Dragon team and rebranded it to DS Penske whilst bringing onboard two Formula E world champions in Jean Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne. Sergio was promptly kicked from the squad and landed a seat at NIO 333 with Dan Ticktum. The NIO team managed a head start to the new Gen 3 regulations but Sette Camara struggled as teammate Dan Ticktum trounced him and flourished in comparison. Season 9 showcased very little progress happening for Sette Camara. He is starting to stagnate as a driver and isn’t diversifying his skillset. Ticktum was by far the more exciting and capable driver to watch in season 9 and heading into season 10, Sette Camara needs to step up his game to lose the underrated moniker by the paddock and needs a real breakout season to put his name on the Formula E map.
Nyck De Vries
It was only three seasons ago that Nyck De Vries had it all. Being snubbed from Formula 1 didn’t deter his success as a driver and in only his second season of Formula E, he became the season 7 world champion. But the F1 itch was still ever present in the mind of De Vries. After Alex Albon was forced out of the 2022 Italian GP, De Vries acting as Williams reserve driver stepped in to take his place and scored a points finish in his debut GP. The immediate euphoria of this result prompted a signing between De Vries and Alpha Tauri for 2023. But little did anyone realise that this would turn into a nightmare scenario for De Vries. His performances were woeful in comparison to teammate Yuki Tsunoda and was finding the barriers more often than the top 10. Being in the pressure cooking Red Bull environment, he was dropped before the summer break even came around to make way for Daniel Ricciardo. After building up his own legacy and reputation, De Vries lost it all in an instant.
But no time was wasted for De Vries. There was no point in hanging around and waiting for a new seat to open up in F1 and the focus was on his homecoming to Formula E. The timing of his Alpha Tauri exit scuppered his chances of a top tier seat but he still put together a deal with Mahindra racing for season 10. Being a champion of the sport could easily be seen as a free pass for success but time has moved on since De Vries’ victory three years ago. The nature of his F1 career caused debate about discrediting his championship out of luck. He is currently at the lowest point in his career and is in desperate need to rejuvenate himself to not just Formula E but to the world of motorsport. Mahindra is currently sitting at the bottom of the Formula E table simultaneously as a team and as a battery supplier. They are also in need of a refresh to push themselves back up the pecking order and having Nyck De Vries on paper should be perfect. But questions are still up in the air on what performance we will see this year from De Vries. The pressure is on his shoulders to prove to the world he still has the credentials to be a top flight driver.
Jehan Daruvala
The path to Formula 1 seemed almost guaranteed for Daruvala. He had two good seasons of F2 with Carlin Racing from 2020 to 2021 where he showed marked signs of improvement in his Carlin tenure. He then moved to Prema Racing for 2022 where the championship almost seemed guaranteed by being part of the best F2 team. Expectation was sky high but by Prema standards, Daruvala was in for a shock. Prema wasn’t on the pace of compatriots ART, Carlin or MP Motorsport and suffered poor strategic mistakes and pit stop errors. Both Daruvala and teammate Hauger struggled and both jumped ship for MP Motorsport in 2023. Hauger still has a chance for redemption but Daruvala in his third year is at a standstill career wise. He lost his backing as a Red Bull junior driver and became unaffiliated with an F1 driver academy. The momentum for F1 Daruvala built up was completely wiped out and he needed a new environment to prosper which is where the door for Formula E opened.
It’s hard to judge what Daruvala will be like in this forthcoming Formula E season but his extensive testing time with the Mahindra squad alongside his Formula 2 duties bode well for his debut. He was with the team from the tail end of 2022 as a reserve driver and was present at the majority of races and rookie tests throughout 2023. The subsequent departures of Oliver Rowland and Lucas Di Grassi opened up a seat but he managed a place at Maserati MSG instead. Arguably the pressure to perform is now increased significantly. The Maserati team is in a much more competitive spot unlike Mahindra and Daruvala is up against FE’s young star in Maximillian Guenther, one of the quickest and most aggressive drivers in season 9. The job of being a rookie in Formula E is becoming increasingly tougher for new drivers. Talent isn’t naturally homegrown from a Formula E junior ladder. Drivers are brought from all over every series around the world where experience and talent is valued from drivers across open wheel, endurance and touring car racing. But even this isn’t a free pass for success. Last year the rookies of Jake Hughes and Sacha Fenestraz immediately made a splash whilst in years prior, drivers such as Antonio Giovinazzi and Oliver Askew suffered from poor results despite their extensive racing pedigree. It’s a tough sport to adapt to. The unorthodox nature of constantly managing your battery levels whilst fighting in close quarter battles takes serious adjustment. In the case of Daruvala, his career is in need of a reboot and Formula E gives him the perfect platform to achieve that. He just needs to prove to Maserati that the faith in signing him was justified.
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