Formula E: All you need to know about teams and drivers competing in Season 4 of all-electric racing series

As the clock counts down to the first race of the fourth FIA Formula E season in Hong Kong this weekend, there’s increased excitement about the all-electric racing series. There’s a good chance that the high-octane battle between Sebastian Buemi and Lucas di Grassi will resume from the minute the start lights illuminate, but will the series debutant and the 2016 World Endurance Champion driver, Neel Jani, be able to adapt soon and join the battle at the front? Buemi and di Grassi are the two most successful Formula E drivers with 12 and six races wins each. They will be racing in a grid full of talented drivers from other competitive racing series such as the Indy Car, Formula 3, GP2, Formula Nippon and even our favourite, Formula One. [caption id=“attachment_4237299” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative photo. Reuters[/caption] Like any form of motorsport, pre-season testing form counts for little as the season commences. However, in the pre-season test held in October, Oliver Turvey from the NIO Formula E team topped the timesheets on two days out of the three-day test. Buemi, the former Formula E champion (Season 2), topped the sheets on the one of the days, whereas the Venturi Formula E Team suffered from reliability issues during the test. But before we dive deep into the world of Formula E, it is time to get used to the names, brief history and drivers that will drive for the 10 teams come the weekend. Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler — Supported by Audi Sport, this team won the first-ever Formula E race (2014 Beijing ePrix) and has fielded the same driver line-up since their inception. Interestingly, the team has finished either second or third in the Team Championship, while Lucas di Grassi has been the only driver to have won races (six) for the team, along with clinching the Drivers’ Championship last season. Drivers: Lucas di Grassi, Daniel Abt DS Virgin Racing — It would be an easy guess for fans to know that this team is British and is associated with Richard Branson and his Virgin Group. British driver, Sam Bird (former test driver for Mercedes F1 Team) has been a constant with the team since the start of the series and has clinched all of the team’s five wins in the series. The team has forged partnerships with DS Automobiles (French) and Citroen to assist them in their Formula E campaign. Despite never having won the team championship, they are one of the only three teams to have won at least one race every season. Drivers: Sam Bird, Alex Lynn Panasonic Jaguar Racing — The former Formula One constructors and renowned car manufacturer made their Formula E debut only last season. However, the finished 10th and last in their debut season (without a single podium to boast of) — indicating the level of competition in Formula E. There were rumours that Felipe Massa would be joining Jaguar Racing this season. While they will field a new driver line-up for the opening race in Hong Kong, will Massa make a mid-season entry to help raise Jaguar Racing’s profile and performance in the championship? Whether or not Massa makes his debut with Jaguar, fellow countryman and Formula E’s inaugural season champion Nelson Piquet Jr jumped ship from NIO Formula E Team to Jaguar Racing. We would be surprised if they still finished last in the championship this season. Drivers: Nelson Piquet Jr, Mitch Evans Venturi Formula E Team — Venturi Automobiles is a Monaco-based electric car manufacturer. With an owner like Leonardo di Caprio and the only team racing under a Monegasque racing license, the Venturi Formula E team is easily the most high-profile team in the Formula E paddock. However, their performances in the first three seasons have been questionable (finishing at best sixth in 2015-16), including their choice to hire 1997 Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve as their lead driver in Season 2. Maro Engel failed to complete 6/11 races he participated in last season. Drivers: Edoardo Mortara, Maro Engel Dragon Racing — While the name might suggest that the origins of this team maybe Chinese, they are not. The all-American owned team will be fielding the 2016 World Endurance Champion Neel Jani as one of their drivers this season. Given his talent and consistency, we’re excited about Jani’s debut in Formula E. As for Dragon Racing, after finishing second in the Team Championship in Season 1, their performances have been lacklustre thereafter. In Season 3, they had as many DNFs as race finishes and hopefully Jani’s partnership with Jerome d’Ambrosio (who has been with the team since Season 1) combination will deliver much better in Season 4. Drivers: Jerome d’Ambrosio, Neel Jani Renault-e.dams — While Renault may have struggled in Formula One in the last three years, they’ve dominated Formula E a la Mercedes style since Season 1. The Renault-e.dams partnership has won the Team Championship all the seasons and have clinched 14 ePrix along the way. Four-time Formula One World Champion Alain Prost is actively involved with this team, but his son, Nico Prost is yet to deliver performances to the calibre of his illustrious team-mate and former Formula E Drivers’ Champion (Season 2), Sebastian Buemi. Interestingly, Buemi could have clinched the title in Season 3 too had he not missed the New York ePrix for his other racing commitments. Current Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly was Buemi’s replacement for this lone race. Renault-e.dams will be the team to beat in Season 4 too. Drivers: Nico Prost, Sebastian Buemi NIO Formula E Team — Nelson Piquet Jr sensationally won the inaugural Formula E Drivers’ Championship (by just a point) with NIO Formula E Team, previously known as China Racing Formula E Team. In the last three seasons, this team has fielded multiple drivers including Ho-Ping Tung from China. Also, the team has already had three name changes (finally settling for NIO Formula E Team) in the last three seasons. In terms of performance, they have been a midfield team for the greater part, finishing the season fourth (season 1), ninth (season 2) and sixth (season 3). Drivers: Oliver Turvey, Luca Filippi Techeetah — A new addition to the Formula E grid in 2016-17, Techeetah is a Chinese team that entered the sport following the acquisition of Team Aguri. They finished fifth in the standings last season with Jean-Eric Vergne snatching a victory at the Montreal ePrix, the last race of the season. Vergne will continue to race for the team in 2017-18, making it the first time in his Formula E career that he is spending more than one season with a team — perhaps brought about by the fact that Vergne is believed to have a stake in the Techeetah team himself. Drivers: Jean-Eric Vergne, Andre Lotterer Mahindra Racing — The Indian-owned team seems to be going the ‘Force India F1 Team’ way in Formula E. After finishing eighth and fifth in the first two seasons, Mahindra Racing finished as the third-best constructor in Season 3 with one win and nine podium finishes. Given the success of their Heidfeld-Rosenqvist combination last season, the team will field the same driver combination this season. In fact, Rosenqvist ended the season as the highest-placed rookie, perfectly complementing Heidfeld’s years of racing experience. For Indian fans, here’s hoping that wins and podiums are a regular occurrence for Mahindra Racing in Season 4. Also, there’s talks of Formula E hosting a street race in India in the near future. This will surely boost the popularity of the series and Mahindra Racing among the Indian audiences. Drivers: Nick Heidfeld, Felix Rosenqvist MS&AD Andretti Formula E — The second American-owned team in Formula E has a rich racing history in American Motorsport. For those Formula 1 fans who cheered Fernando Alonso’s debut in the Indianapolis 500 earlier this year, it was Andretti Autosport (the team that runs MS&AD Andretti) that Alonso raced for! While they’ve tasted much success in the IndyCar Series (four-time winners) and the Indy 500 (five-time winners), MS&AD are yet to finish higher than sixth in the Formula E championship. In fact, their Season 3 performance was the worst till date with only 6-point finishes. Former Formula One driver Kamui Kobayashi will make his Formula E debut with MS&AD this season and he will be joined by Formula One hopeful Antonio Felix di Costa. Maybe Andretti Autosport will be able to convince Alonso to join them for an ePrix soon? Interestingly, this team will be given a new avataar as the BMW works team in the next season. Drivers: Kamui Kobayashi, Antonio Felix di Costa Let’s hope that when you tune in to Race 1 on Saturday, this introduction to the teams and drivers comes handy! Here’s hoping for an electrified and closely contested season with more teams and drivers fighting for podiums and race wins. Keep checking Firstpost for post-race reviews and analysis all throughout the season.