"The curse of Formula E": How the title defence went for all the champions in history
Theresa König
FIA Formula E
After eleven seasons, the FIA Formula E World Championship has already produced ten different champions. This shows how strong the driver field and the manufacturers are, but also raises the question of why it is so difficult to defend the title. So far, only Jean-Eric Vergne has managed to win the championship title two years in a row in seasons 4 and 5.
It almost seems as if the title defence is under a curse. But a closer look reveals that there are reasons why only Vergne has been successful twice so far. With eleven seasons under its belt, Formula E is still a very young series and is constantly changing. New teams, new circuits and frequent rule changes make it difficult to predict. Building on successes from the previous year is therefore a real challenge.
This is mainly due to the structure of the series. Unlike in other racing series, the balance of power often shifts from season to season. New generations of cars, adjustments to the regulations and further development of the software prevent successful teams from maintaining their lead for long. What's more, Formula E often races on new circuits, meaning that drivers and teams have comparatively little experience from previous years to fall back on.
In the first few seasons, there were only ten to 13 races - even a single failure had a huge impact. Later, from season 7 onwards, the buffer became somewhat larger with 15 to 16 races per season, but the tight field of drivers makes the battle for the title exciting every season. Almost every driver in the field can win. Success in Formula E is therefore usually just a snapshot in time - and that explains why title defences are so rare.
In our photo gallery, we show the Formula E champions of all seasons and how they fared in the following season. Have fun clicking through.
The first Formula E champion was Nelson Piquet jr. He won the series' debut season with two victories and a total of five podiums. Piquet was one of only twelve drivers who contested every race. Consistency was therefore the key to success.
In season 2, Piquet no longer played a role in the title fight and dropped back to 15th place. A title defence was made much more difficult for him as different powertrains were used for the first time - and NEXTEV was one of the weaker powertrains.
Back in season 1, Sebastian Buemi showed that he was one of the best and finished the season in second place overall, just one point behind the winner. In the 2015-16 season, he took the title, this time with a one-point lead.
He also remained strong in his attempt to defend the championship, finishing runner-up again - this time 24 points behind. However, Buemi had to skip the New York City E-Prix as he was competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the same time. A decisive disadvantage in the tight title fight.
Lucas di Grassi came out on top in his third season. He had already shown his potential with a third and a second place in the overall standings. In season 3, he consistently drove at the front and was ultimately crowned champion.
One year later, he remained competitive again, but was unable to defend the title after a weak start to the season and finished runner-up 54 points behind.
In the 2017-18 season, Jean-Eric Vergne won the championship for the first time with Techeetah and Renault powertrains.
A year later, he made history: to this day, he is the only driver in Formula E to have defended his title. Particularly noteworthy: the second generation of cars was introduced in season 5. Despite the changeover, Vergne held his own and won his second title with DS powertrains.
In season 6, however, he was unable to defend his title. At the end of the season, he finished 72 points behind in third place in the overall standings.
The 2019-20 season was characterised by the Covid-19 pandemic. After an interruption of more than five months, the championship concluded in August with six races in Berlin. Antonio Felix da Costa, who switched to DS Techeetah before the season, dominated the season like none of his predecessors.
The following season, however, he only finished eighth in the championship - albeit only 13 points behind the new champion.
Nyck de Vries made history in 2021, becoming the first official Formula E world champion after the series was granted FIA world championship status. With just 99 points, he remains the champion with the lowest points total to date – an indication of how chaotic and unpredictable the season was.
In the following season, he was no longer able to keep up and only scored half the points that the new world champion did. With a deficit of 107 points, he finished in 9th place.
One year after de Vries, his Mercedes EQ team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne triumphed. The Belgian celebrated the title at the last race for Mercedes in the electric series.
However, he was also unable to keep the momentum going. In season 9, after switching to the Gen3 cars and with his new team DS Penske, he slipped to 11th place - 173 points behind. The change in technology and environment was clearly noticeable.
The Gen3 car changed the face of Formula E once again. Jake Dennis got to grips with the new driving style and the changed strategies the fastest and secured the world championship title in 2023.
However, he was also unable to build on his success in the following season and fell back to sixth place - 76 points behind the new world champion.
In the 2023-24 anniversary season, Pascal Wehrlein won the championship. Following the success of Jake Dennis in the Porsche customer team Andretti the year before, this time a driver from the works team took the title.
Wehrlein was unable to defend the championship in season 11, but still finished third at the end of the season - the best position of a defending champion since season 6.
The reigning champion is Oliver Rowland, who clinched the title in the third-to-last race of the season.
For Rowland, season 12 begins with a clear goal: he wants to become the second driver ever to defend his title. The opening race in Sao Paulo will show whether he succeeds. However, the pre-season tests in Valencia may already provide the first indications of who has the best chance of winning the title in the 2025-26 season.
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