Formula E 2024 – São Paulo E-Prix Preview

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is Brazil-bound for the next instalment of its 2023/24 campaign this weekend (16 March), as Sāo Paulo prepares to dance to the beat of 22 of the world’s fastest single-seater stars going wheel-to-wheel for glory in the Latin American metropolis.

The home of many a motorsport great, Brazil joined the Formula E calendar for the first time last year, with the São Paulo Street Circuit immediately establishing itself as a fan-favourite. Snaking through the city’s famous Anhembi Sambadrome, the 2.93km, 11-turn layout is made up of three long straights – prime for spectacular slipstreaming scraps – interspersed by challenging chicanes, sweeping corners and tight turns.

In Season 9, that combination generated a breathless 35-lap contest in which the top three finishers engaged in a captivating cat-and-mouse chase with the trio ultimately flashing past the chequered flag with barely half-a-second between them. The upcoming encounter looks set to be similarly unpredictable.

In keeping with Formula E’s ultra-competitive nature, the opening three races of Season 10 have produced three different winners – but it is Nick Cassidy’s outstanding consistency that sees the Jaguar TCS Racing driver sitting 19 points clear of his closest rival at the top of the title table.

Boasting a 100 per cent podium record thus far, Cassidy sped to his first victory of the campaign last time out in Diriyah – and the Auckland native was runner-up in São Paulo just under 12 months ago. He was beaten that day by current team-mate and compatriot Mitch Evans, marking the maiden double podium finish for New Zealanders in the all-electric series – and the latter could certainly use a similar result this weekend as he endeavours to kick-start his own title bid.

Mexico City winner Pascal Wehrlein occupies second position in the quest for the crown after triumphing in the season curtain-raiser for TAG Heuer Porsche. The German was the biggest mover in the field in Brazil last year, converting a lowly 18th on the grid into a seventh-place finish.

Double champion Jean-Éric Vergne is five points further back in the standings in third and wound up fifth in the inaugural São Paulo E-Prix, a whisker ahead of DS Penske stablemate and fellow former title-winner Stoffel Vandoorne, who began the race from pole position.

Alongside Cassidy and Wehrlein, defending champion Jake Dennis is the other winner so far this season – the Briton prevailing under the spotlights in Saudi Arabia. The Andretti Formula E star will be eager to avoid the fate that befell him in Brazil last March, when contact from behind culminated in an early bath and a blank scoresheet.

Countryman Sam Bird completed the podium-finishers in South America in 2023, alongside securing the fastest lap as the Jaguar powertrains dominated. The series veteran has since switched to NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, and only narrowly missed out on a rostrum return in the opening race of January’s Diriyah double-header.

One driver who will be desperate for a change of fortunes, meanwhile, is 2019/20 champion António Félix da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche), who has yet to trouble the scorers in Season 10 – representing his worst-ever start to a Formula E campaign. The Portuguese ace has lost none of his flair behind the wheel, as evidenced by placing fourth in São Paulo last year – and he will be targeting at least the same if not better this coming weekend.

Round four of the season will get underway at 14:03 local time (18:03 CET) on Saturday, 16 March.

2024 SÃO PAULO E-PRIX ENTRIES

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