The Formula E World Championship debuts in Indonesia this weekend with the first-ever Jakarta E-Prix.
Round 9 of the 16-race calendar will see the 11 teams and 22 drivers compete at the Jakarta International E-Prix Circuit in Ancol Beach which will welcome thousands of Indonesia’s passionate motorsport fans to the vibrant capital city for this inaugural race. Ahead of the race, Formula E were welcomed at the National Monument in Jakarta.
Uncharted territory
It’s uncharted territory for the Formula E field this Saturday with high humidity, searing heat and the Jakarta International E-Prix Circuit’s unique banked sections, undulations, bumps and a mix of technical and high speed sections set to provide a real test.
The 2.37km, 18-turn circuit kicks off with a tight opening sector after a long run down the start/finish straight before a series of fast, long straights and natural high speed corners. There will be plenty of room for manoeuvres into the right hander at Turn 1 before drivers head into a flowing series of turns that swoop by Ancol Beach City.
The final sector is a tricky complex following a fast right hander at the cambered Turn 12 and another long straight into what will no doubt be a busy Turn 13 hairpin come the race. Another banked corner at T16 comes before a tricky left-hander at Turn 18 which rounds out the lap with a strong slingshot down the long home straight.
Ahead of the race, Formula E’s 22 drivers were welcomed at the National Monument by Governor Anies Baswedan before reigning World Champion Nyck de Vries showed off the Formula E Gen 2 car. The event marked the opening of the 2022 Jakarta E-Prix.
Championship battle heats up
The fight for the World Championship title is on a knife-edge as just 16 points – comfortably less than is on offer for a single victory – split the top three drivers as the second half of the biggest-ever 16-race campaign gets underway in Jakarta.
With eight rounds and five different race winners in the books, standings leader Stoffel Vandoorne of Mercedes-EQ, heads ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Edoardo Mortara and DS TECHEETAH’s double champion Jean-Éric Vergne.
Mercedes-EQ has stolen a march in the Teams’ running after a dominant second win of the season for reigning champion Nyck de Vries in Berlin.
Add to that a pair of podiums courtesy of teammate Vandoorne and it was some haul for the German giants on home soil on the weekend the team’s future became clear, with McLaren taking the reins of the title-winning squad from Season 9.
Jean-Éric Vergne continued his scoring streak, now at eight races and the only driver with a 100% record in 2021/22. The Frenchman is desperate for that first race win of the season but Formula E’s only double and consecutive champion is just 16 points shy of leader Vandoorne with eight rounds to come.
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans’ strong form continued with more solid points in Berlin, following up on a Rome win-double and silverware in Monaco. Robin Frijns (Envision Racing) qualified down in 20th for race one at Tempelhof which proved to be costly – the Dutchman having top six pace at worst all weekend. Still, he’s just two points back from Evans in fifth, though the pair have fallen 12 behind third in the standings.
Reigning World Champion de Vries pulled a dominant drive out of the bag on home soil for Mercedes-EQ in Round 8 to bite back from a run of two points from four races in the best way possible.