2024 Formula E starting Grid: The Outsiders

The inaugural round of the 2023-2024 season inching even closer, with the Gen3 cars set to return on track in Mexico City for FP1 in a couple of days.

Let’s see how the Formula E teams have up their sleeves for the neeew year, featuring a total rebrand, an unexpected departure and a returning World Champion.

After a tough return to motorsport racing, with a singular points in the first three races between the two drivers, the Italian team ended the year on an high note with the first win associated to the Italian luxury brand since Juan Manuel Fangio’s in 1957, in Jakarta.

Maximilian Gunther also achieved three other podiums, including a very special one at Maserati’s home E-Prix in Rome. The German driver has been confirmed for yet another full season with the team, formerly known as Venturi Racing.

Photo credits: LAT Images

He will partner up with former Mahindra Development Driver and Formula 2 race winner Jehan Daruvala, who will undertake his first season in Formula E.

A shocking departure happened right before the preseason testing in Valencia last October, as Team Principal James Rossiter left the team he had joined only a year earlier to replace Jerome D’Ambrosio.

2023 was an overall positive season for Nissan after an underwhelming Season 8. Norman Nato scored his first and only podium for the team in Rome, whereas Sacha Fenestraz conquered pole position in Cape Town,  but was unable to convert it into another podium as he hit the wall on the last lap of the race.

Photo credits: Formula E Simon Galloway

The French-Argentinian driver has been confirmed for a second full season at the Japanese team, and will undergo his sophomore Formula E campaign with returning Oliver Rowland as teammate, who had already raced for Nissan in the 2018-2020 seasons.

Rowland had started the last season as a Mahindra driver, but had parted ways midseason with the Indian team. In a tough season for Mahindra, only one spot above Cupra in last place in the teams’standings, he conquered 9 of its 41 total points.

Overall, the papayas had a positive first season in the electrical championship, showing a great deal of speed but not always being able to convert it into the maximum amount of points available.

Rookie driver Jake Hughes was extremely consistent, scoring points in more than half of the races, whereas Rene Rast took the first podium for the team in Saudi Arabia.  Hughes is set to return for McLaren in 2024, and will partner with Formula E veteran Sam Bird, coming from the prestigious Jaguar Racing Team.

Photo credits: LAT IMages Formula E

The British driver, who had made his debut in the first ever Formula E season, scored three podiums last year, but was also involved in a number of crashes, including several with former teammate Mitch Evans, which hindered his overall performance.

But a fresh start might be the missing piece that will bring back Bird to the top step of the podium!

The team formerly known as NIO has gone for a total rebranding, featuring a new name, livery and main sponsor. However, the driver line up will be the same as Dan Ticktum and Sergio Sette Camara have been confirmed for the 2024 season as well.

Ticktum in his second season for the team raked up the majority of the point, showcasing a great deal of speed which led him to the final Duels stages multiple times, while Sette Camara, formerly at Dragon Penske, scored the team’s best result of the season in Hyderabad, P5.

The Indian team will sport a brand new driver lineup for 2024, after a chaotic seasonwith three drivers and a number of technical DNFs.

It had come as a surprise the announcement of the signing of Formula E World Champion Nyck De Vries, back after a short-lasted Formula 1 debut with AlphaTauri. He will team up with another driver with a great experience in the series, Edoardo Mortara, a former rival of De Vries during his title fight.

The first season with the Gen3 cars was incredibly challenging for the team.  

Frijnes’s injury at the beginning of the season, which saw him having to sit out almost half of the season, thus depriving him of much needed track time to get used to the new specs. The Mahindra-powered team scored only two points in the first nine races of the year.

Gradually, however, the drivers were able to adapt to the tough situation, scoring a pole position. Nico Muller left 2023 with a very positive streak of three points finishes in the last four rounds, which is definitely a positive sign for what’s to come later this year.

Photo credits: Formula E Simon Galloway

Muller will be joined by Formula E Champion and former driver of the team Lucas Di Grassi, on the podium last time out in Mexico City and definitely striving for more.