New York City E-Prix 2021-22: Cassidy's Rollercoaster; Da Costa's Control
(copyright FIA Formula E)
The New York City E-Prix of 2022 won’t be remembered for being when Nick Cassidy broke through as a genuine frontrunner, or for Antonio Felix da Costa’s mastery. Rather it was another of Formula E’s curate’s-egg weekends, where force majeure, in the form of the weather, was followed the next day by odd decision-making and communication.
Race One
Nick Cassidy thought he had lost this race, but it turned out that he had made a lucky escape. This was true on so many levels, for several of the field, after what was a very difficult race, in circumstances that turned trying very quickly.
Run in the dry for 35 minutes, the first race of the New York City E-Prix was beset by torrential rain which, within one lap, had led to half of the track run on docks in Brooklyn to be waterlogged. Cassidy, along with the following cars of Lucas di Grassi and Stoffel Vandoorne, were caught up in a multi-car pile-up which seemed to be caused by aquaplaning from a puddle.
It was an ignominious end to what had been a tactically interesting race, led almost throughout by Cassidy’s Envision from di Grassi and Vandoorne, with drivers generally having more than one eye on the championship standings and not wishing their races to be ended by unnecessary contact.
Cassidy led from the start of the race, and the driver’s lead survived the first round of Attack Mode activations, though with Lucas di Grassi, enjoying a much-improved day in the Venturi, large in his mirrors. Di Grassi’s teammate Edoardo Mortara was closing on Pascal Wehrlein in the Porsche after failing to make the qualifying duels and so missing out on the top eight grid positions.
With 23 minutes and one lap to go, Cassidy took Attack Mode for the second time and so was passed by di Grassi, who then blocked aggressively to hold onto the lead. This was rendered moot, though, when the Brazilian took Attack Mode himself, dropping to third.
In what looked like the telling moment of the race, Stoffel Vandoorne, whose driving until then had been considered and controlled but unspectacular, took second with his by-now expected Fanboost allocation. It was at this point that a light shower began, at first covering only half of the Red Hook circuit, but then turning into a deluge. This led to the pile-up caused by three of the leaders aquaplaning off on a puddle, and the separate pile-up caused by Wehrlein stopping in the middle of the circuit with a damaged car.
Race Director Scot Elkins took the decision that the race was not safe to restart, and so declared the results to be final from the lap before the accident. This decision was protested by Jaguar, whose drivers Mitch Evans and Sam Bird were both of the opinion a restart was possible - Evans, who is still in championship contention, rather more vociferously. Jaguar’s protest was unusual in that it went against the public collectivism that we have seen from Formula E teams when it comes to decision-making; it was a team breaking from the notion of a united front to voice its dissatisfaction.
Nonethless, the result stood, with Cassidy classified in front of di Grassi, Robin Frijns in the Envision, Vandoorne, Sebastien Buemi, Wehrlein, Bird, Nyck de Vries, Mortara, and Jake Dennis.
Race Two
On Sunday, most of the controversy happened in qualifying; Cassidy, who took pole position, was informed that he was the recipient of a 30-place grid penalty. The New Zealander was told this first by TV reporter Nicki Shields, with Cassidy clearly deflated by the news. The question arose as to why a 30-place grid penalty due to the need for a fifth radiator of the season after the crash on Saturday was not communicated earlier.
Officially, grid penalties can only be applied after qualifying, and this was given as the reason, but Envision would surely have known this was a possibility, and it could be argued they should have told Cassidy.
Whatever the team’s knowledge of the penalty, Formula One seems to be able to let its viewers (and drivers) know prior to qualifying that there are grid-place deductions likely for (for example) power-unit changes, so this is exactly the kind of application of a rule which has opened Formula E up to criticism in the past. The category has this kind of weekend at least once a season, and it’s always this kind of incident that is referenced by infuriated sometime and fairweather viewers who may be otherwise taken in by the action.
In the end it was Antonio Felix da Costa who led away from the start, with a huge gap into turn one, from Alexander Sims, who had found every ounce of speed from his Mahindra in qualifying. The luminous red car has traditionally been slower in race trim than in qualifying, but today Sims was able, with some stern defending, to remain steadfastly past of the lead group, in what will count as a massive improvement for the departing veteran of four seasons.
Behind, Mitch Evans, desperate for a race to reinvigorate a faltering title challenge, cut a frustrated figure when stuck behind Dennis’s Andretti. Dennis was one of a number of drivers to move aggressively under braking at the end of the start-finish straight, in an attempt to prevent being overtaken down the inside. Moving once, even if across a full width of road, we know from drivers from Senna to Schumacher to Verstappen, is no longer a punishable offence in itself, however, it was this blocking move that was to put two other drivers in trouble.
Evans, with 18 minutes and one lap to go, launched a daring manoeuvre on de Vries’ Mercedes for third place, going into turn one on a circuit with relatively few passing opportunities. De Vries, as he is known to do, pulled across the straight to give a maximum of a car-width to Evans between his car and the pit wall. Evans’ Jaguar ran over a freakishly large bump on the temporary circuit, and it was purely the New Zealander’s recovery skills that stopped the slide from turning into an accident.
With eight minutes and one lap left, de Vries was to be hobbled by the huge bump in an attempted pass on Sims, losing his podium place to Evans as a result. De Vries and Evans were, as you might expect, unhappy with each other both during and after the race, when words were had.
While all this was happening, Mortara, still the championship leader after a rough race one, was consigned for the better part of the race to the lower midfield, not having set a time in qualifying. He saw Vandoorne take an eleven-point lead in the championship out of race two, and could not be happy with this weekend, even if a late bottleneck at the hairpin meant he could grab tenth at the flag.
There was controversy on the final two laps, as di Grassi and Oliver Rowland’s stricken cars, parked at trackside, were warned with local yellows rather than finishing the race under a full-course yellow. While the FIA team, without a doubt, have far more expertise and knowledge than any reporter, and will have applied their experience correctly, it seemed at the time to be at least an arguable call.
Da Costa, unlike many, could be extremely satisfied with this lights-to-flag victory, which highlights how, when given a clear track, there is no-one better at closing out a race in Formula E. Vandoorne, in the bigger picture, will be quietly confident that, this time, the title could be his.
Race two ended with da Costa winning from Vandoorne, Evans, Sims, Bird, Frijns, de Vries, Dennis, Andre Lotterer in the Porsche, and Mortara, who took two potentially vital bonus points for fastest lap in both races.