Feature by Katy Fairman
Formula E is one of the most competitive motorsports in the world, with almost 75 percent of the grid ending up on the podium last year and all 11 teams earning themselves a top three finish. This level of competition has resulted in 10 different champions across our first 11 seasons, with only one person being able to do the double and win two titles back-to-back: Jean-Eric Vergne.
Season 1 – Nelson Piquet Jr
Only one person could be crowned the inaugural champion of Formula E, and that honour went to Nelson Piquet Jr. Representing Chinese team Nextev, Piquet secured the title during the final race around London’s Battersea Park. It was a close fight between Piquet and Sebastien Buemi, with Piquet emerging on top by a single point.
During his championship-winning season, Piquet won on two occasions at Long Beach and in Moscow, in addition to podiums in Punta del Este, Buenos Aires and Monaco. He made history in becoming the very first champion in Formula E, and would continue racing with us until Season 5.
Season 2 – Sebastien Buemi
Buemi didn’t have to wait long for his turn as champion, winning the second season in truly dramatic fashion! The Swiss racer started the last race of the season in pole position, with his biggest title rival Lucas di Grassi in third. The two were tied on points, but once the lights went out Buemi and di Grassi collided.
Both cars were damaged, with the front of di Grassi’s car ruined and Buemi missing a rear wing. They both limped back to the pits, jumping into their second cars to try and snatch the fastest lap points on offer. Despite winning three races in Beijing, Punta del Este and Berlin, as well as another three podiums, it was the fastest lap in that last race that saw Buemi crowned champion in emotional scenes.
Buemi still races in Formula E, and enters Season 12 on a new multi-year contract with Envision Racing. He won last year’s Monaco E-Prix for a third time, and is tied with Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans for the most wins in Formula E history – 14 at the time of publication.
Season 3 – Lucas di Grassi
After just missing out the year prior, Lucas di Grassi was able to call himself a champion at the end of Season 3. The Brazilian has worked closely with the championship, helping test the first concepts of a car, and was the first winner of a Formula E race back in 2014.
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Across his championship campaign, di Grassi fought closely with Buemi once again. The two went into the Montreal double-header with one hand each on the trophy, but it was di Grassi who emerged victorious. He won the Saturday race from pole, before finishing ahead of Buemi the following day in the Canadian city to clinch the champion’s crown.
Much like Buemi, Lucas di Grassi is also still competing in Formula E and is now racing with Lola Yamaha ABT. In Season 11 he finished second in Miami, helping the team get their first podium in the championship, and has 13 victories and 41 podiums to his name as he gets prepared for the 2025/26 season.
Season 4 – Jean-Eric Vergne
Our next champion was Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne. His success meant there were four different winners in the first four years of the championship. It wasn’t an easy win though, with Vergne forced to start from the back of the grid in the first of two races around the New York City finale. He was able to climb up the grid, making his way to fifth at the chequered flag which was enough to win him the title with one race spare.
Vergne joins Citroën Racing in Season 12, as the iconic French manufacturer makes their first voyage into single-seater racing and look to continue their incredible motorsport success in a new discipline.
Season 5 – Jean-Eric Vergne
The success for JEV didn’t end in Season 4, as he became the only back-to-back champion to date in Formula E’s history. Much like the year before, Vergne sealed the deal over the double-header in New York, in front of the adoring US fans and in view of the Statue of Liberty.
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As well as Vergne, di Grassi and Jaguar’s Mitch Evans were in the hunt for the crown, but a mistake from di Grassi when trying to pass Evans took them both out on the final lap and also out of contention.
Season 6 – Antonio Felix da Costa
The 2019/20 season looked very different to those that had come before, as the championship was forced to take an unexpected turn as a result of the global pandemic. Starting in Diriyah, the championship then raced in Chile, Mexico and Morocco before grounding to a halt as the world came to a standstill.
When racing resumed in August, the calendar had been drastically amended and Formula E ended up hosting six races in nine days around the Tempelhof Airport in Berlin. Antonio Felix da Costa was leading the championship before the series was forced to cancel the schedule, with one victory and two second-place finishes. He then took the first two back-to-back wins in Berlin, extending his championship points gap to his rivals and managed to wrap up his maiden Formula E drivers’ title with two rounds to go.
After racing for Porsche the past three seasons, the Portuguese driver joins the Jaguar TCS Racing team for a new chapter in Season 12.
Season 7 – Nyck de Vries
Now recognised as a World Championship by our governing body, the FIA, Formula E crowned Mercedes’ Nyck de Vries as champ for the 2020/21 season. In true Formula E style, four drivers went into the last race with a chance at the top prize of being drivers’ champion.
No sooner had the five lights gone out in Berlin, Evans failed to move off his grid slot and was wiped out by Edoardo Mortara – two title hopefuls out of action under dramatic circumstances. Next to be impacted by bad fortune was Jake Dennis, who suffered a mechanical issue and forced him to retire which just left de Vries in the running.
The Dutchman survived several challenges on his way to the chequered flag, but his tally of two wins and a further two podiums over the season helped him become the first Formula E World Champion.
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De Vries returned to Formula E with Mahindra Racing from Season 10, after a brief spell in Formula 1 racing for AlphaTauri and a one-off race for Williams in Monza.
Season 8 – Stoffel Vandoorne
After helping de Vries win his title, Mercedes also powered Stoffel Vandoorne to his drivers’ World Championship the following season. The Belgian was the final champ we had in the GEN2 era and managed to wrap it up at the final race in Seoul.
His consistency certainly helped win him the honours, only managing to finish out of the points on one occasion across 16 races. Vandoorne also broke records on his way to the title, including the most podiums in a season at the time, as well as taking a special win in Monaco.
Stoffel Vandoorne will be working closely at Jaguar TCS Racing as their Reserve Driver throughout Season 12.
Season 9 – Jake Dennis
Formula E’s first champion of the GEN3 era was Andretti’s Jake Dennis. The team, Dennis and their Porsche powertrains were on another level across the 2022/23 campaign, as the Brit earned himself 11 pieces of silverware across the season – a Formula E record that still stands.
After a season of success, Dennis ended the year with two podiums at his home race in London to emerge World Champion. Despite a small blip in his campaign, where he finished pointless across four races from Hyderabad to the first round in Berlin, Dennis almost always found himself on the podium and became the eighth different champion in nine seasons.
Season 10 – Pascal Wehrlein
Porsche continued their impressive form, with German driver Pascal Wehrlein the next World Champion in Formula E’s history books. His season started with the victory in Mexico City, before taking more wins in Misano and in London as he went head-to-head against both the Jaguar drivers of Evans and Nick Cassidy over a nail-biting finale.
He converted third into the victory during the Saturday race, taking the championship lead, before a dramatic second race on the Sunday. Three drivers with a shot at the title, none of whom had won before, but drama for the Jaguars and a second-place finish for Wehrlien was enough to see him crowned World Champion.
Season 11 – Oliver Rowland
Our most recent champion is Oliver Rowland, who returns for another season with Nissan albeit this time running the #1 badge of honour on his car. The Yorkshireman put on a dominant display across the season, with seven podiums in the first nine races. Rowland made it look easy, in a season where every team finished on the podium at least once and 16 of the 22 drivers achieved a top three result.
It was this level of consistency that saw Rowland wrap up the title early, getting the job done at the penultimate race weekend in Berlin. It was a campaign of racing that made the title feel almost inevitable, despite a dip in performance and three non-scoring finishes on the bounce midway through the season.
Rowland became the 10th different champion in our first 11 seasons, but can he become the second individual to make it consecutive drivers’ titles? You’ll have to tune into the first round in Sao Paulo to see how our grid gets on.
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