Formula E

Team-by-team mid-term analysis of the 2024-25 Formula E World Championship: Porsche vs. Nissan

Tobias Wirtz

Tobias Wirtz

The first half of the 2024-25 Formula E season is behind us - high time for our team-by-team mid-season analysis. Oliver Rowland leads the drivers' standings of the electric championship after eleven of 16 races, while Porsche has retaken the top spot in the team standings with a double podium in Shanghai. You can read how the eleven Formula E racing teams are positioned overall here.

Since the season opener in Sao Paulo, Formula E has completed a total of 349 race laps, even though only eight drivers have actually completed all the laps this season. Rowland won the most sessions (12) and also drove the most qualifying duels (13). However, the best average position in qualifying went to Wehrlein (5.0). In the race, Rowland was again clearly the best driver with an average of 4.7.

Apart from the figures, data, facts and statistics, there were some other interesting stories on and off the Formula E track. We shed light on these in our traditional half-time analysis.

Formula E pecking order shortly after the 2024-25 season half-time

1st place | TAG Heuer Porsche | 191 points

Race wins:
1

Pole positions:
2

Leading laps:
55

Podiums:
8

In the eleventh Formula E season, Porsche will be challenging for the teams' world championship crown for the first time. The reason for this is that, in addition to Pascal Wehrlein, team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa has been competitive in qualifying and races since the start of the season. In Shanghai, both Porsche drivers finished on the podium together for the third time this season - in the previous season, they had not managed this once.

Despite some bad luck with accidents - Wehrlein in Sao Paulo and Jeddah, Felix da Costa in Jeddah, Monaco and Tokyo - the two have otherwise been extremely consistent and occupy positions 2 and 3 in the drivers' standings after the eleventh race of the season.

2nd place | Nissan | 191 points

Race wins:
4

Pole positions:
4

Leading laps:
124

Podiums:
7

Porsche's closest rival is the Nissan works team. The gap is just a single point after eleven of 16 races.

The main difference to the direct competitor: At Nissan, only one of the two drivers regularly scores points. While Oliver Rowland leads the drivers' standings with a commanding 171 points, his team-mate Norman Nato is 19th in the drivers' standings with just 20 championship points. The Frenchman is far behind Rowland in all statistics: duel participations (3 vs. 8), average qualifying position (12.4 vs. 5.4), average race result (13.6 vs. 4.7), leading laps (8 vs. 116).

Of course, Nato has also had some bad luck, for example when he crossed the finish line first in Miami but was subsequently given a time penalty for not using up all of his attack mode. Nevertheless, he has not yet managed to exploit the potential of the supposedly most powerful package available in Formula E in the 2024-25 season, either in qualifying or in the race. If Rowland can maintain his performance and Nato gets its act together, the team could have a major say in the battle for the world title.

3rd place | DS Penske | 145 points

Race wins:
2

Pole positions:
2

Leading laps:
35

Podiums:
3

DS Penske is in third place in the team standings after eleven of 16 races.

Similar to Porsche, both drivers are close together in the overall standings: only three points separate Jean-Eric Vergne in fifth place from his team-mate Max Günther in sixth place. Vergne in particular is incredibly consistent: he has already finished in the points nine times this season, leaving Günther behind, although the latter, unlike Vergne, has already celebrated two race wins this season.

The team achieved something historic at the Shanghai E-Prix, celebrating a one-two finish in Formula E for the first time. If Jay Penske and Phil Charles' team manage to build on this, Porsche and Nissan are still within reach at the top.

4th place | Neom McLaren | 113 points

Race wins:
0

Pole positions:
2

Leading laps:
24

Podiums:
5

McLaren is another surprise in the 2024-25 season: thanks to the new Nissan powertrain, the team has made a huge leap forward. With 113 points after eleven races, McLaren has already collected twelve more points than in the entire previous season.

Taylor Barnard in particular is impressing in his first Formula E season as a regular driver: the young Briton has already stood on the podium five times this season, pulverising various records and is now the youngest pole-sitter and also the youngest driver ever to stand on a Formula E podium. His team-mate Sam Bird, on the other hand, is a little behind: The veteran driver was only able to contribute 27 points to the team result. While Barnard is fourth in the world championship, Bird is only 17th overall.

If the 38-year-old Bird makes better use of the car's potential in the coming races in the autumn of his Formula E career, McLaren can still expect a lot: The gap to DS Penske is just 32 points.

5th place | Mahindra Racing | 103 points

Race wins:
0

Pole positions:
0

Leading laps:
20

Podiums:
1

A little over a year ago, Mahindra finished eleventh and last in our mid-season analysis - without a single championship point. That has changed massively in the 2024-25 season.

Constantly at the front of the field, but largely unnoticed: this is how Mahindra's season so far can be described. In the first eleven races, there was only one podium for Fred Bertrand's team, when Nyck de Vries finished second on Monaco Sunday. But de Vries and team-mate Edoardo Mortara have finished in the top 10 a total of eleven times so far.

This means they have already scored more than twice as many championship points as in each of the past three seasons. For the first time since the Gen1 era, a place in the top five of the overall standings is within reach for the Indian team.

If both drivers continue to score points as consistently as they have so far, there is still a lot to play for in the 2024-25 season for Mahindra, who are only ten points behind McLaren, who currently occupy fourth place.

6th place | Maserati MSG Racing | 89 points

Race wins:
1

Pole positions:
0

Leading laps:
11

Podiums:
2

After eleven races of the season, Maserati MSG Racing is in the absolute midfield of Formula E. The gaps to the front and rear are very narrow.

Little by little, the bird builds its nest: that's how Stoffel Vandoorne's season could be summarised so far. The 2022 Formula E World Champion has already finished in the points eight times this season. Apart from his surprising victory in Tokyo, however, Vandoorne has otherwise tended to finish in the front midfield: he has finished tenth three times, ninth once, seventh twice and sixth once. This puts him in 11th place in the overall standings.

His team-mate Jake Hughes has also finished third on the podium in Jeddah this season. Overall, however, he has lacked consistency so far: the Briton has only finished in the points four times.

If Hughes also finishes in the points more consistently in the remaining races, this could be the best season for the team since the Italian sports car manufacturer joined the team. The result from the previous season, when a total of 81 points were scored, has already been surpassed by eight points.

7th place | Andretti | 88 points

Race wins:
0

Pole positions:
0

Leading laps:
12

Podiums:
1

Andretti is just a single point behind Maserati MSG Racing after eleven of 16 races this season.

In contrast to the Porsche works team, the US customer team has problems consistently demonstrating the performance of the package. While former world champion Jake Dennis has at least made it into the duels five times in qualifying and is therefore almost on a par with Felix da Costa and Wehrlein, who have done so six times each, newcomer Nico Müller is still waiting for his first qualifying duel.

In the race, things are going better for the Swiss driver, who has already made up 57 positions on his grid position this season, putting him in first place in this statistic by some distance. Nevertheless, 15th place in the overall standings is certainly a disappointment - six positions behind his team-mate, who celebrated Andretti's only podium so far this season in Monaco.

If Dennis becomes more consistent and Müller performs better in qualifying in the remaining races so that he doesn't always have to start from the back of the field, Andretti still has a lot to gain. Even McLaren in fourth place in the world championship is currently only one race win ahead of the US team.

8th place | Jaguar Racing | 83 points

Race wins:
2

Pole positions:
1

Leading laps:
46

Podiums:
3

Jaguar Racing can be described as the big loser after eleven of 16 races in the 2024-25 season: The reigning world champions in the team standings are enduring a grotty season despite two victories in Sao Paulo and Shanghai.

After Jaguar had a superior package in the two previous seasons, the team with its Gen3 Evo powertrain has so far only been mediocre. The season of Mitch Evans in particular, who has always fought for the title until the end of the season in recent years, speaks volumes: After his surprising victory at the season opener in Sao Paulo, which he clinched from last place on the grid, the New Zealander has not scored a single championship point to date. As a result, he is only 18th in the overall standings and now has no mathematical chance of winning the world championship title after the Shanghai E-Prix.

The situation is not much better for team-mate and compatriot Nick Cassidy: Although his form is on the up and he was even able to celebrate his first Formula E victory in more than a year in China, he is only seventh in the world championship. Far too little for the ambitious Cassidy, who will therefore leave the team after the current season according to media reports.

What else is possible for Jaguar? Maserati MSG Racing is currently just six championship points ahead - that should be the absolute minimum target for the success-spoilt squad in a messed-up 2024-25 Formula E season.

9th place | Envision Racing | 62 points

Race wins:
1

Pole positions:
0

Leading laps:
13

Podiums:
1

What applies to the Jaguar works team could also be applied 1:1 to its customer team Envision Racing. After eleven rounds of the season, the 2023 team world champion is only in ninth place.

Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns are particularly struggling in qualifying: with average positions of 14.7 and 16.6, they are only 19th and 22nd respectively. No other driver in Formula E qualifies as poorly as former champion Sebastien Buemi.

But even in the race, things are hardly going any better for the green-painted cars: Although Buemi won sensationally in Monaco, the team only finished in the top 6 once apart from there. In Tokyo, Buemi also provided an upward outlier with fourth place - again in a wet race, meaning he has 47 points so far.

Frijns, on the other hand, is unable to capitalise on difficult conditions. In Sao Paulo, he was unable to take part in the race at all due to a technical defect, after which he finished in the points five times in the ten Formula E races this season. However, he finished eighth three times and ninth and tenth once each, meaning he was only able to collect 15 points in the championship. This is only good enough for 20th place in the drivers' standings.

A lot definitely needs to happen at Envision for the team to move forward. However, in view of the fact that both regular drivers may also be unable to compete in the two races of the Berlin E-Prix this year due to their commitments in the World Endurance Championship and the team is therefore reliant on significantly less experienced replacement drivers, there is very little hope that this can be achieved.

10th place | Cupra Kiro | 55 points

Race wins:
0

Pole positions:
0

Leading laps:
11

Podiums:
1

The Cupra Kiro team, which raced under the name ERT last season, has improved significantly this season. Thanks to customer powertrains from Porsche - even if they are at the same technical level as the previous season - it is already the team's most successful season since 2016-17, when they scored 59 points.

Dan Ticktum in particular is clearly responsible for this rise: The Brit scored all 55 of the team's WRC points, which is already more than in his first three Formula E seasons combined. In Tokyo, Ticktum achieved the first podium for the team since Oliver Turvey at the 2018 Mexico City E-Prix, more than six years ago.

His team-mate David Beckmann, on the other hand, is clearly falling behind in his first full Formula E season: although the German also manages to show the car's potential from time to time in qualifying, his lack of experience is noticeable in the race.

If the team capitalises on the momentum - Ticktum finished in the top 5 three times in Tokyo and Shanghai - Envision and perhaps even Jaguar are still within reach for Cupra Kiro. Nobody would have thought that possible a year ago.

11th place | Lola Yamaha ABT | 30 points

Race wins:
0

Pole positions:
0

Leading laps:
0

Podiums:
1

After eleven of 16 races this season, Lola Yamaha ABT is in last place in the teams' standings.

The British-Japanese-German co-production was able to celebrate a sensational second place with Lucas di Grassi at the Miami E-Prix. Overall, however, it is clear to see that there is a technical gap to the other manufacturers in the electric series. Only twice this season has one of the team's cars made it into the qualifying duels.

Like David Beckmann, rookie Zane Maloney at Lola Yamaha ABT has yet to score any points this season. The lack of experience of the man from the island of Barbados is clearly noticeable here. Nevertheless, things picked up a little recently with 11th place in Shanghai, so Maloney's first championship point should only be a matter of time.

Di Grassi managed to score once in each of the two double-headers in Tokyo and Shanghai. All in all, however, the team's performance is not such that it seems very realistic to catch up with Cupra Kiro or Envision. The gap is simply too big for that, unless another big surprise happens.

However, nothing has been definitively decided yet: Formula E will still award up to 235 points in the team standings over the course of the year. In purely mathematical terms, the championship battle is still wide open. We will be following the rest of the season for you as usual with livestreams of the free practice sessions and our Formula E live ticker - including, of course, the double-header in London on 26 and 27 July.

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