Of stars and stats: the Season 6 numbers

From the highest number of lights-to-flag wins to having its own Bundesliga of German teams competing against each other, Season 6 provided us with some interesting stats reaffirming how unique and competitive Formula E racing is. 

Season 6 featured more wins from pole position than any other season of Formula E combined. There were two in Season 1, four in Seasons 2, 3 and 5 and five in Season 4, compared to seven in Season 6. Of the seven in Season 6, five came at the various Berlin E-Prixs. Antonio Felix da Costa claimed three wins from pole in three consecutive races, claiming the feat in Marrakesh and both Tempelhof Reverse races.

Twice in 2019/20 the streak for pole positions equalled three. BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Alexander Sims made it three in a row at the second Diriyah E-Prix, a streak that included a pole right at the end of Season 5 in 2018/19, while da Costa claimed three consecutive poles from Marrakesh to Berlin (the second Tempelhof Reverse race). DS Techeetah also broke the record for consecutive poles by a team with five – taking pole in Marrakesh, Tempelhof Reverse and Tempelhof Traditional.

Following Formula E’s “mid-season silly season” which had Pascal Wehrlein leaving Mahindra Racing, Brendon Hartley leaving Dragon Racing, Daniel Abt being suspended and subsequently not racing for Audi Sport Abt again plus Ma Qing Hua unable to travel to Berlin due to travel restrictions, 28 drivers competed in Season 6 – this doesn’t include James Rossiter, who stood in for DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne during Free Practice 1 for the Marrakesh E-Prix, but did not race.

The first Tempelhof Traditional race kickstarted a run of four races of drivers jumping from ninth to second in the drivers’ championship. Maximilian Guenther kickstarted this with victory, as he moved into second place. The next day, Vergne claimed second place and a bonus point to haul himself into second in the standings before Oliver Rowland and then Stoffel Vandoorne did so during the two races on the new circuit; the Belgian claiming second in the standings at the final race.

Guenther, ironically, finished the season in ninth place after starting the run. The young German only scored on three occasions throughout the season, but he never finished off the podium when he did score. Wins in Santiago and Berlin plus a podium in Marrakesh, plus a bonus point for topping groups qualifying, were enough to see Guenther finish in the top 10 in the standings. He did not score in the other eight.

In the “Formula E Bundesliga” – a made-up competition between the four German manufacturers on the grid, Audi came out on top in terms of points scored; but when adjusting for the number of cars running – Audi and Mercedes both had four cars running their powertrains while BMW and Porsche just two – it was BMW on top with 59 points per car. Audi were the only German manufacturer to not claim a pole position in 2019/20, while Porsche were the only ones to not claim victory (Audi’s victory coming through the Envision Virgin Racing team).