SEASON 8: last championship of gen2 era is won by vandoorne
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F RMULA
The eighth Formula E season was the last of Gen2 era. This season introduced the new qualifying format, and was the last for Mercedes and the tyre supplier Michelin. Reigning champion, De Vries started the season with a win, with Stoffel Vandoorne in second, after scoring the first pole-position in the new format.
ROKiT Venturi Racing was, along with Jaguar the main contender for Mercedes EQ Team throughout the season itself, and Edoardo Mortara and Lucas Di Grassi ended the second race of the season in first and third, respectively.
Porsche stroke back in Mexico, with Wehrlein winning ahead of Lotterer, which was the first win for Porsche since the German manufacturer started competing in Formula E. Jaguar's Mitch Evans conquered the streets of Rome with wins in both races, which mounted his title charge.
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Vandoorne's only victory this season came in Monaco, but even though he scored only one win, the Belgian racer finished all of the races in the season, with only once being outside of the points, scoring eight podiums and his lowest finishing position in the points is eighth place.
Mortara won again in Race 1 in Berlin, after scoring his first Formula E pole-position, while on the second day, De Vries edged him en route to the win, where Mercedes powered cars finished in the first four places. Races in Jakarta and Marrakech saw Evans and Mortara scoring a win each.
Formula E then went to New York, where Nick Cassidy won in Race 1, race in which he crashed out. Antonio Felix da Costa then scored the win in Race 2 of New York. London races were won by Jake Dennis and Lucas di Grassi, drivers that were out of the championship fight.
Vandoorne had a 36 point lead ahead of the final double header round in Seoul, with Evans in second and Mortara in third, 57 points behind. Evans managed to win the first race, but was seventh in the last race, and with Mercedes racer in second, Vandoorne was the one to lift the championship trophy. In their last Formula E season, the Stuttgart manufacturer defended their title from season seven.
Mercedes Formula E Team was taken over by McLaren, who will race next season in Formula E. Final race of the season also marked Formula E's 100th race, while Lucas di Grassi was the first driver to score more than 1000 points.