Review: The 10 biggest topics of the 2024 Formula E year (Part 1/2)

As the 2024 motorsport year draws to a close, we take a look back at what was. From heroic resurrections to dazzling debuts and dramatic title decisions, the tenth Formula E season provided us with some great stories that will live long in the memory. e-Formula.news also celebrated its tenth anniversary this year. But now to the really important topics!

1. Manufacturer-customer carousel

At the season opener in Mexico, it became clear that ABT would not be extending their customer team contract with Mahindra beyond the first two Gen3 years. Talks with the most likely powertrain supplier - Porsche - failed. But in March, Lola appeared on the scene with technical partner Yamaha and officially signed up as a manufacturer. The British brand joined forces with the German ABT team a little later.

The future of ERT was also unclear for a long time. However, the Chinese team eventually found a new owner, renamed itself (for what felt like the 100th time) and surprisingly signed a customer team contract with Porsche. This makes the Swabians the first manufacturer in Formula E history to supply three teams with powertrains. After announcing a title partnership with Cupra, Kiro Race Co. renamed itself for the 101st time.

2. Once through hell and back to heaven

Formula E has never experienced such a resurrection: Antonio Felix da Costa scored no points in the first three races of the season and fell into a deep hole. Porsche tested Nico Müller as an alternative and put the season 6 champion under further pressure. Just when it looked like Felix da Costa's victory in Misano had put him back on track, he fell even further: he was disqualified for a non-compliant throttle spring through no fault of his own.

In the tenth race, however, the Formula E phoenix rose: Felix da Costa won in Berlin on Sunday. Even though he came away empty-handed from the next round in Shanghai, the Porsche driver was now the man to beat: he won on Sunday in Shanghai and the two subsequent races in Portland! With four official wins in the season 2024 (and one disallowed), he even travelled to the finale in London with a theoretical chance of winning the title. In the end, he finished sixth overall due to another subsequent time penalty - and defended his Porsche cockpit in impressive style!

3. Light & shadow at new races

Rarely has there been as much fanfare surrounding a Formula E race as there was around the first Tokyo E-Prix - and rightly so! After all, the electric series had been tinkering with the event in the centre of the Japanese capital for many years. "I'm a little jealous," said F1 driver Yuki Tsunoda at the time about the central location of the circuit. Tokyo was also a sporting highlight: Oliver Rowland took the home pole position for Nissan, but was narrowly beaten in the race by Max Günther in the Maserati.

The new venue in Shanghai was remembered above all for a curious first free practice session: after just under five minutes, a total of five drivers stopped on the track almost simultaneously! This was followed by a long interruption with red flags before practice could be resumed. The reason was a bizarre software problem that paralysed the cars - an embarrassing situation for Formula E and everyone involved.

Slipstream battles, in which drivers wave each other past to save energy, were also a big topic in 2024. The sad highlight was probably the Misano E-Prix. The classic race track on the Adriatic coast, which - disappointingly for most drivers - stood in for the street circuit in Rome, will be remembered above all for the absurd energy-saving procedure and the aforementioned disqualification of Felix da Costa. And it hopefully won't come back.

4. Formula E introduces Manufacturers' Trophy

In March, in the middle of the season, Formula E introduced a new unofficial classification that the major manufacturers had wanted. In the "Manufacturers' Trophy", Porsche, Jaguar and co. could now collect points together with their customer teams. At the end of the season, the trophy went to Jaguar, who had collected the most points together with Envision. The additional challenge was well received, with the result that the FIA wrote an official Manufacturers' World Championship into the Formula E regulations for the eleventh season.

5. New hopes at McLaren

McLaren scored their first - and only - really big highlight of 2024 early on in the season: Sam Bird went round the outside of race leader Mitch Evans on the final lap of the Sao Paulo E-Prix to take McLaren's first ever Formula E victory in spectacular and surprising fashion. The move was named "Overtake of the Year" at the e-Formula.news Season Awards 2024.

When Bird injured his hand at the Monaco E-Prix, a new talent took his place: Taylor Barnard not only impressed in the Principality without any real preparation, but also at the two subsequent races in Berlin. The young Briton was named "Rookie of the Year" and was given a regular cockpit for season 11, which he opened with another highlight for McLaren - once again in Sao Paulo: at the age of 20 years and 190 days, he finished third on his debut as a full-time driver, making him the youngest podium finisher in Formula E history.

This was the first part of our big review of the year. We'll continue with part 2 on Saturday. Have we forgotten any important topics? Let us know in the comments!