Shanghai EPrix: The title fight narrows

As the new Formula E season approaches The Race Formula E podcast hosts Sam Smith and Andrew van de Burgt speak to new Maserati MSG duo Stoffel Vandoorne and Jake Hughes as they ready for the first season of the Gen3Evo era. Hughes tells The Race about how the sheer violence of the enhanced acceleration of the All-Wheel-Drive element of the new package a game changer for the all-electric series, while Vandoorne evaluates how he will fightback from a tough two campaigns at former team DS Penske. As well as the pre Valencia insight, there is also an in-depth analysis of the latest news topics, primarily the abandonment of the contentious ‘Golden Laps’ initiative, another yawning two-month gap in the calendar and both Nissan and Jaguar getting busted for overspending in the first ever audit of the world championships financial regulations. Want extra podcast content? Join The Race Members' Club on Patreon! Head to Patreon.com/therace - we even have an F1-only tier! Follow The Race on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second part of The Race Formula E Podcast’s celebration of a decade of the all-electric world championship looks at the Gen2 and Gen3 eras. Joining hosts Sam Smith and Andrew van de Burgt is double champion Jean-Eric Vergne, 12 time EPrix winner Sam Bird and Andretti boss Roger Griffiths. They offer up some fascinating personal memories of their time in Formula E with a combination of victorious memories and honest reflection. Smith and Van de Burgt recall some of the more entertaining misadventures along the way in their time working in the series, while an appraisal of where Formula E is heading next is also ruminated upon. Want extra podcast content? Join The Race Members' Club on Patreon! Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow The Race on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first of a special two-part series looking back at a decade of Formula E focuses on the early years of the all-electric series and features current broadcaster Nicki Shields, former commentator Jack Nicholls, and 2019-20 champion Antonio Felix da Costa. Sam Smith and Andre van de Burgt host over an hour of memories about how Formula E got together in the first place, how it almost died after three races and then boomed in the first five years of its existence. Memories of the first season are majored on, as are some of the hair-raising moments from a championship that broke the mould to become one of the more successful sporting start-ups of the century so far. Among the more amusing moments are recollections of Nick Heidfeld and Nico Prost’s infamous accident at the first race in Beijing and how da Costa almost left the nascent series before it had even started. Want extra podcast content? Join The Race Members' Club on Patreon! Head to Patreon.com/therace to activate your 7-day free trial Follow The Race on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's season review time on this bumper episode of The Race Formula E Podcast as we look back at a wild 2024 campaign featuring eight different winners. For host Andrew van de Burgt, The Race Formula E Correspondent Sam Smith and Formula E's lead commentator Tom Brooks, that means revisiting their forecasts from the start of campaign to reflect on just how accurately they predicted this most unpredictable of series. That's followed by a team-by-team analysis, with a particular focus on Andretti's middling season after its drivers' title success with Jake Dennis in 2023, Oliver Rowland's Nissan heroics and the stark contrast with under-pressure team-mate Sacha Fenestraz's form, and whether Jaguar's teams' title was tinged at all by both its drivers' championship hopefuls being beaten to the crown by Porsche's Pascal Wehrlein. And our review is rounded off with the panel's combined top 10 driver ranking, the contenders for surprise of the season, standout moment and more, plus the latest off-season developments in the Formula E paddock. Want extra podcast content? Join The Race Members' Club on Patreon! Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow The Race on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Newly crowned Formula E World Champion Pascal Wehrlein joins Andrew van de Burgt and Sam Smith to describe how he claimed the big prize and what it means to bring Porsche its first all-electric title in London. Also joining the show is TAG-Heuer Porsche Formula E Teams director Florian Modlinger. He goes in to detail on how the title was won and what it means after a five year quest for glory. The fall-out from the Jaguar strategy missteps are also analysed, along with the detail of how the Big Cat found itself in a complicated situation of celebrating the teams title but having to manage two disappointed and angry drivers in Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy. Other stand-out performers like Oliver Rowland and Maximilian Guenther are also discussed in the finale which saw all manner of action, including a fraught weekend for out-going champion Jake Dennis. The latest comings and goings in the driver market are also discussed, with Guenther and McLaren’s Jake Hughes at the centre of the intrigue. Want extra podcast content? Join The Race Members' Club on Patreon! Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow The Race on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2024 ABB FIA Formula E world championship title fight was blown wide open at the expansive Portland International Raceway as Antonio Felix da Costa scored a remarkable double for Porsche. After scoring zero points in the first three races and having even his position in the Porsche team questioned, da Costa is now an outside bet to become a double Formula E champion in the most unlikely of scenarios. But realistically it’s a scrap between Jaguar teammates Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy, as well as da Costa’s teammate Pascal Wehrlein. Just 12 points separate them heading in to the final rounds at London ExCeL Arena in two week’s time. Cassidy could and should have put the crown to bed in Portland but both Sam Smith and Andrew van de Burgt analyse how he managed to spin away his chances on the penultimate lap of Saturday’s race. The controversial penalty that lost Mitch Evans the win is deep-dived in to, as is the performances of Sunday polesitter Jean-Eric Vergne, Abt miracle maker Nico Mueller and a rejuvenated Robin Frijns from Envision. Want extra podcast content? Join The Race Members' Club on Patreon! Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow The Race on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Formula E driver market is ablaze, so we thought we’d get Sam Smith and Andrew van de Burgt to pour some sustainable fuel upon it for this special episode. The futures of two former champions, Antonio Felix da Costa and Stoffel Vandoorne, are at the forefront of 'silly season' rumours with the former set to essentially dictate the market after a tumultuous second year with the German manufacturer. Vandoorne’s recent talks with Envision are analysed, as is the possibility of Jake Hughes breaking free of NEOM McLaren and heading elsewhere. Also, the possible end of Sebastien Buemi decade long Formula E career is discussed as the Swiss looks increasingly likely to be replaced by Vandoorne. In addition to the merry-go-round, the new for 2024-25 calendar is also looked in to with Smith and van de Burgt pontificating over planned new races at Homestead and Chiang Mai, while a future for Formula E at Silverstone is also debated. Join The Race Members Club for additional podcast content! Click here to sign up Follow The Race on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Smith and Andrew van de Burgt are joined by motorsport writer and The Race contributor, Alice Holloway, as the business end of the 2024 Formula E season arrives, with talk of the title fight now being a straight scrap between Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy and Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein. But neither of them took the wins as the all-electric world championship returned to mainland China for the first time since 2015. It was their respective teammates Mitch Evans and Antonio Felix da Costa that triumphed after well-judged victories in more high-energy target races. The future of da Costa and his at times fraught relationship with Porsche is discussed, as is the likelihood of Jake Dennis now not being able to defend his title and Nissan’s Oliver Rowland also losing ground to his rivals. The trials and tribulations of Envision Racing are analysed, as is the future of Stoffel Vandoorne and the likelihood of Silverstone becoming the future home of a UK Formula E round. To join The Race Members' Club, click here to sign up, or you can sign up for all of The Race's bonus audio content (but not the other perks of membership) directly in the Apple Podcasts app. Follow The Race on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Race Formula E podcast takes an in-depth look in to a tempestuous weekend at Berlin Tempelhof where Nick Cassidy and Antonio Felix da Costa triumphed amid a hail of carbon shards and intra-team and manufacturer recriminations. The Race team explain why the racing was so fraught and what the slow-build and then quick burst peloton style of racing means for Formula E’s future. The bigger picture of what Cassidy’s bumper points haul means for the title race is also analysed, as is how his teammate Mitch Evans might be able to haul himself back in to contention after a tricky weekend in Germany. Oliver Rowland’s continued impressive form is discussed alongside how it might be affecting his teammate Sacha Fenestraz. A round up of the news includes a likely all-female test at Valencia in November and the latest possibilities for new venues in the much debated 2025 calendar. Hosts Sam Smith and Andrew van de Burgt also pointlessly reminisce about the 1983 Long Beach Grand Prix, Jean-Pierre Jarier’s erratic form and why Smith randomly stole a packet of Haribo from a private jet. To join The Race Members' Club, and enjoy bonus podcasts, as well as other benefits, click here to sign up. Alternatively, you can sign up for all of The Race's bonus audio content (but not the other perks of membership) directly in the Apple Podcasts app. Follow The Race on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jaguar’s peerless 1-2 at Monaco is picked apart by Sam Smith and Andrew van de Burgt as the Big Cat captured only its second 1-2 in the all-electric world championship. Mitch Evans victory was only one key aspect of a busy weekend which also saw plenty of off track news including Jaguar’s commitment to the Gen4 rules era, the unveiling of the Gen3Evo model that will race from next season onwards and the hiring of former Indycar entrant Beth Paretta. Smith and Van de Burgt also analyse how DS Penske came back in to form, how Oliver Rowland and Antonio Felix da Costa executed epic recovery drives and a remarkable debut from teenage sensation Taylor Barnard who replaced an injured Sam Bird at short notice. Additionally, Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds joins the podcast to talk about the key topics now and for the future as he approaches his first year anniversary of being in charge of the world’s only electric world championship. To join The Race Members' Club, and enjoy bonus podcasts, as well as other benefits, click here to sign up. Alternatively, you can sign up for all of The Race's bonus audio content (but not the other perks of membership) directly in the Apple Podcasts app. Follow The Race on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices