2021-22 Formula E season ends with successful Seoul E-Prix

Crowds of budding Korean motorsports fans flocked to Jamsil Sports Complex in Jamsil, southern Seoul on Sunday for the finale of the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix and the final race of Season 8 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

Formula E cars race off the starting line to begin the second race of the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix in Jamsil, southern Seoul on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Crowds of budding Korean motorsports fans flocked to Jamsil Sports Complex in Jamsil, southern Seoul on Sunday for the finale of the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix and the final race of Season 8 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

Rokit Ventura’s Edoardo Mortara topped the podium on Sunday with a time of 1:22.767, followed by Stoffel Vandoorne of Mercedes-EQ with 1:23.009 and Jake Dennis of Avalanche in third with 1:22.842.

The final standing allowed Vandoorne to claim the ultimate prize, winning the Formula E world champion title as the overall season winner with a total of 213 points, beating Jaguar driver Mitch Evans in second place on 180 points.

Stoffel Vandoorne, center, celebrates on the podium after winning the 2022 Formula E world champion title, alongside Mitch Evans, left, and Edoardo Mortara at the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix in Jamsil, southern Seoul on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Mercedes-EQ also claimed the team championship title, a fitting swan song as the team bows out of Formula E as the 2021-22 season ends.

After the dramatic crashes on the wet, slippery track on Saturday, Sunday’s sunny race was relatively uneventful.

At the qualification race in the morning, DS Techeetah driver António Félix Da Costa topped the table, crossing the finish line with a time of 1:21.078 to take pole position for the final race, while Mortara took second. Vandoorne started fourth, with Evans dropping to 13th.

Once again the biggest clash came in the first lap, with Nissan’s Maximilian Gunther clashing with Rokit Ventura’s Lucas di Grassi, who hit Nio 333 Racing’s Dan Ticktum, causing the field behind to bunch up together.

Mortara’s chance came early in the third lap, when he overtook Da Costa on the inside on the 22nd turn.

Mercedes EQ were essentially guaranteed the team title a few minutes later, when di Grassi was forced into the pits with a punctured tire, dropping down to 14th and leaving the team trophy open for Mercedes EQ to win.

Antonio Felix da Costa of DS Techeetah leads the start of the race at the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix in Jamsil, southern Seoul on Sunday. [FIA]

Minutes later, Gunther pulled on to the side of the track after breaking his suspension, forcing a safety car while the track was cleared.

When the race resumed, Mortara led followed by Dennis and Da Costa with Vandoorne in fourth.

A clash between Dennis and Da Costa later in the race knocked Da Costa down the pack and saw Dennis handed a 5 second penalty, allowing Mortara to take first, Vandoorne second place and Dennis third when they crossed the line.

Mortara’s win came on the 100th race in the history of Formula E, a particularly fitting achievement considering that he also topped the podium at the end of the 50th race.

Edoardo Mortara , center, Stoffel Vandoorne , left, and Jake Dennis celebrate on the podium at the end of the second race of the Hana Bank Seoul E-Prix in Jamsil, southern Seoul on Sunday. [YONHAP]

But the ultimate winner was Vandoorne.

“World champion, wow, it’s just the best feeling ever,” Vandoorne said after the race. “Just look at the season we’ve had, the consistency, the car has been amazing and the team has done an amazing job. I think every single one of us deserves this and what we have done is something special.”

Sunday’s race was the second of two on the Seoul E-Prix track, following Saturday’s penultimate race of the 2021-22 season.

Evans emerged triumphant in that first race, after an eight-car pileup in the first lap caused a 30 minute delay.

The eager fans in the Seoul Olympic Stadium had barely found their seats when Jaguar driver Norman Nato crashed into the wall on the 20th corner. Nissan's Sebastien Buemi followed, with Mercedes' Nyck de Vries crashing straight into the back of Buemi and ending up underneath his car.

Track marshalls work near the cars of Avalanche Andretti Formula E's driver Oliver Askew of the U.S., 28, Nio 333 Formula E Team's driver Oliver Turvey of Britain, 3, and Nissan e.dams' driver Sebastien Buemi of Switzerland, 23, after they crashed during the Seoul E-Prix Formula E auto race round 15 in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

The five drivers who followed — Dan Ticktum, Oliver Askew, Oliver Turvey, Andre Lotterer and Nick Cassidy — all hit the barriers but escaped without injury.

Just two drivers, Cassidy and Nato, managed to reverse out of the barriers and get back to the pits with what appeared to be less damage than the other cars.

The race was paused for 30 minutes while the track was cleared, with de Vries spending most of that time sat in his car underneath the Nissan. After the long break the race resumed with 16 cars and 43 minutes plus one lap on the clock.

Evans was able to take the lead in the restart, having already overtaken Rowland and Di Grassi from third in the first two turns. He held that lead for the rest of the race, eventually topping the podium with a time of 1:29:55.478, Rowland 0.082 seconds behind in second and Di Grassi 1.393 seconds back in third.

That win for Evans turned it into a two-horse race for the championship title on Sunday, but realistically only a disastrous outing for Vandoorne and a win for Evans in the final race would have changed the outcome.

Vandoorne's win comes at the end of a dominant season for the Belgian driver, finishing with points — so within the top 10 — at 15 of the 16 races this season. He made the podium eight times, but won only once in Monaco.

Vandoorne's consistency en route to the title could mark a turning point in the emerging motorsport, which in the past has faced criticism for its highly changeable results.

Signing off at the end of the season, Vandoorne promised he would be back for more next year.

"I'll be back next year, "Vandoorne said in a press conference after the race. "We're going into a new era and that will take a full reset. I'm just going to enjoy this moment and then I'll be back stronger next year."

BY JIM BULLEY AND YUN SO-HYANG [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]