Rob LomasSeason 3 hadn’t been the best for Venturi, as they struggled en route to ninth in the Teams’ Championship – and Stephane Sarrazin joining Techeetah midway through the season didn’t help either.
However, a tie-up with HWA was on the cards which would see the top Mercedes DTM team using Venturi’s powertrains upon entering Formula E in Season 5.
There was the small matter of Season 4 to get through first though!
Maro Engel stayed with the team for this season and even dropped his DTM commitments so he could run the full season and alongside him was Formula E newcomer Edoardo Mortara.
This saw Tom Dillmann go back to being the team’s test and development driver – but he would once again get his chance to race as the season unfolded.
Venturi’s 2017-18 ABB FIA Formula E Statistics:
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1 (2nd in Hong Kong Race 2)
Fastest Laps: 0
Championship Points: 72
Constructors’ Championship: 7th
Season 4 started off well for Venturi, very well in fact as Edo Mortara took to Formula E seemingly with ease as he came close to scoring an impressive win in the second race in Hong Kong but spun while leading with just a handful of laps remaining. He kept it out of the wall and finished in what was initially third place but that soon became second after the paperwork error that led to Daniel Abt’s disqualification.
In fact, after Hong Kong, Venturi was fourth in the Teams’ Championship.
Other highlights for the team included strong performances from Maro Engel in Paris and Tom Dillmann in the first race in New York with both drives resulting in fourth-placed finishes. There were some low points as well with both Engel and Dillmann suffering from a loss of power and gearbox issues respectively.
Maro Engel
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Best Result: 4th (Paris ePrix)
Drivers’ Championship: 12th (31 points)
Maro Engel didn’t quite have the start to the season that his teammate did. Having said that, he was more consistent and, despite not scoring a podium all season long, almost doubled his points haul from his last campaign.
This season, he also had the advantage of not running a parallel programme in DTM which meant that he was able to run in every round, unlike his teammates.
A fourth place finish in Paris was the season highlight for the German driver, whereas Santiago de Chile was the low point of the season as he was involved in the shenanigans on the opening lap resulting in broken suspension after contact with Oliver Turvey.
Edoardo Mortara
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1 (2nd in Hong Kong Race 2)
Drivers’ Championship: 13th (29 points)
Edo Mortara started the season well with a podium in the second race in Hong Kong and could well have won it as he was leading at the time when he spun with just a few laps to go.
Whether the disappointment from nearly, but not quite, winning that weekend affected his performances during the season, we don’t know but he didn’t seem to be the same driver afterwards.
He skipped the round in Berlin as he was racing for Mercedes in DTM and was replaced by Tom Dillmann for that weekend.
The Swiss driver returned for his home round in Zurich, but then missed the season finale double header in New York due to DTM commitments and was once again replaced by Dillmann.
Tom Dillmann
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Best Finish: 4th (New York Race 1)
Drivers’ Championship: 18th (12 points)
Dillmann had been Venturi’s “super sub” in Season 3, joining the squad from his home race in Paris and seeing out the season with the Monegasque squad.
He fulfilled the same role in Season 4, subbing for an absent Mortara in Paris, and again in the season finale double header in New York.
Dillmann finished a strong fourth in the Saturday race in New York as he once again put forward his case be racing in the series full-time next season.
Bethonie Waring
