Vandoorne celebrates his first Formula E title win in Seoul (Formula E)
Edoardo Mortara may have crossed the finish line first in Seoul, but it was the driver who stood next to him on the podium who celebrated the most. With a runner-up finish in the second Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix, Vandoorne clinched the Formula E World Championship.
Vandoorne’s eighth podium finish was the most of any driver, despite him only scoring one win on the season. The only driver able to challenge him, Mitch Evans, languished back in seventh after a poor qualifying performance.
“World Champions; wow!” exclaimed a euphoric Vandoorne. “It’s just the best feeling ever!”
“Just look at the season we’ve had,” he added. “The consistency and the car has been amazing, and the team has done an incredible job. I think every single one of us deserves it. What we’ve accomplished is something special.”
“It was an awesome day, a lot of concentration” he added. “I am drained after this year, it has been a lot of effort, the effort I have put in and the team has put in – it is incredible.”
Edoardo Mortara celebrates after winning the second round of the Seoul doubleheader (Formula E)
Vandoorne crossed the line in third, but Jake Dennis was moved down the ranks to score behind him after colliding with polesitter Antonio Felix da Costa.
Mortara drove away from the field after passing da Costa himself on the third lap and navigating through a first-lap incident, never looking back as the title race happened behind him.
“Today was extremely positive,” he said. “I am so thankful to the team for giving me such a strong car, we had a fantastic season and to finish like this is really what I needed and what we needed.”
“We are normally better at racing than we are qualifiers,” he added, “so I knew if I could manage to take the lead, we are normally pretty good at managing the races. From the front also helped us manage the temperatures, which were extremely hot. So yes, great day.”
Formula E celebrated 100 races at Seoul since the series was founded, before entering a new era next year (Formula E)
Vandoorne’s win is the end of an era, both for him and for the sport. His Mercedes team clinched a second Constructors’ Championship in a row before they leave the series next season, to be taken over by McLaren. Also, Formula E’s 100th race coincided with the end of the Gen2 era before new Gen3 cars are introduced.
The new era of Formula E is scheduled to begin on January 14th and will be even bigger than this year, which was already a record with sixteen races in ten cities. A provisional calendar for 2023’s Season 9 features 18 races in 13 cities. Headlines include the return of the ABT team and a race in Sao Paulo, with more announcements to come.
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