General
A weekend of motorsport chaos has arrived: Who's driving where?
- Ludo van Denderen
One of the most talked-about weekends on the international racing calendar has arrived. Normally, the schedules of Formula E, the World Endurance Championship (WEC), and IMSA are aligned as much as possible. Many drivers are active in several of these championships and after months of haggling, it has not been possible to agree on shifting at least one event. It is not just the drivers with championship aspirations who suffer, but also the racing fans.
Who is driving where this weekend? Nyck de Vries can be found at Spa-Francorchamps, where the six-hour race in the WEC will be held. Therefore the former Formula E champion will not be participating in the race in Berlin this weekend. Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns, who also both race for Envision in Formula E, will be participating in the WEC race.
Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Éric Vergne will be in Berlin, which is annoying for Peugeot's WEC team. There will instead be two drivers in their cars this weekend instead of three. At Cadillac, Sebastien Bourdais or Renger van der Zande have commitments in IMSA, so they will not be participating in the WEC race.
No solution found: Chaos ensues
There was a lot of talk in the run-up to this weekend in May, but despite all the calls from drivers in particular to shift dates, nothing has been done to solve the race clashes. In particular, the WEC race and the two E-Prix in Berlin have a mixed up grid as a result. Supporters who bought a ticket for a race may feel somewhat cheated, as they obviously hope to be seeing the best field of participants.
Instead of Frijns and Buemi, Joel Eriksson and F2 talent Paul Aron are at Envision. They are the reigning constructors' champion in Formula E and one of the best teams on the grid. To compare with Formula 1: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz would have to skip a Grand Prix because they have commitments elsewhere, and Ferrari have Robert Schwartzman and Oliver Bearman filling in. Nice, but still not what you expect.
Formula E teams not aligned
Another detail, but one that also shows that unity in motorsport is sometimes hard to find: the WEC race is on Saturday, so in principle, there is enough time for the drivers who also compete in Formula E to travel to Berlin and take part in the second E-Prix on Sunday. To make that possible, though, all 11 FE teams had to agree to allow this. Unfortunately, at least one team said no. De Vries, Buemi and their colleagues who will be at Spa on Saturday will have to watch the race instead.