De Vries and Mercedes clinch Formula E’s 2021 world crowns with Michelin

As one of Formula E’s founding partners, Michelin is proud to have been associated with Nyck de Vries and Mercedes-EQ FE Team, winners of the all-electric competition’s first world crowns. Along with the titles it has harvested in Formula 1, rallying and endurance racing, Michelin can claim to have secured titles in every one of the FIA’s motorsport world championships. The winners of the weekend’s two Berlin races were Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler) and Norman Nato (RoKit Venturi Racing).

First organized in 2014, Formula E was promoted to FIA world championship status this season, which means de Vries and Mercedes-EQ FE Team are the sport’s first world champions, aided by the MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV, the versatile (dry and wet conditions), efficient and connected 18-inch tire designed specifically for the series. Its derivative – the MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV road tire – is today a feature of the highest-performing hybrid and electric road cars.

The season that concluded today in Germany threw an exceptional variety of conditions at Michelin’s Formula E tire, from the sand-coated streets of Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, and rain in Rome, Italy, to a long version of Monaco’s celebrated street circuit, banked turns in Puebla, Mexico, and Berlin Tempelhof’s highly abrasive concrete. The MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV took all of these challenges and many others in its stride, however, to confirm its performance and longevity and contribute to a particularly thrilling 15-race ‘Season 7’ that produced no fewer than 11 different victors.

Saturday’s Berlin E-Prix – Audi’s last – saw Brazil’s di Grassi claim his 12th Formula E victory, ahead of Edoardo Mortara (RoKit Venturi Racing) and Mitch Evans (Jaguar Racing), after DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne (6th) and Antonio Felix da Costa (7th) had monopolized the grid’s front row.

There were still no fewer than 13 drivers in contention for the Drivers’ crown prior to the start of Sunday’s race which took place on the same abrasive track, but in the opposite direction.

Title favorites Evans and Mortara collided at lights-out, though, and the re-start saw another potential champion – rookie Jack Dennis – crash out. Dutchman de Vries, who had topped the table before the trip to Berlin, stayed out of trouble however to compensate for his retirement on Saturday and clinch the series with seventh place in Race 2 which saw Frenchman Nato claim his maiden Formula E win.

The 2022 FIA Formula E World Championship (Season 8) will kick off in Saudi Arabia on January 28.

Race 1 – Final positions:

1. Lucas du Grassi (Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler), 38 laps

2. Edoardo Mortara (RoKit Venturi Racing), +0.141s

3. Mitch Evans (Jaguar Racing), +5.499s

4. Norman Nato (RoKit Venturi Racing), +5.589s

5. Jake Dennis (BMW Andretti Motorsport), +5.830s

Etc.

Race 2 – Final positions:

1. Norman Nato (Rokit Venturi Racing)

2. Oliver Rowland (Nissan e.dams), +2.270s

3. Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ FE Team), +2.837s

4. André Lotterer (TAG Heuer Porsche FE Team), +7.105s

5. Alexander Sims (Mahindra Racing), +8.453s

Etc.