After fourteen races in nine cities, the 2021-22 Formula E World Championship arrived in Seoul, South Korea, for its season finale. The Jamsil Sports Complex would play host to the Seoul Street Circuit, which was to stage the 99th and 100th FE races, a significant milestone in FE's history.[2] The races were also the last of the Generation 2 era for FE, with the Spark SRT05e to be retired at the end of the race weekend having served as the series' base chassis since the 2018-19 season.[3]
Driver changes
Sam Bird missed the season finale, after he was found to have broken his hand at the 2022 London ePrix, an injury he would carry throughout that race.[4] Bird's streak of winning at least one race in every season was ended. Jaguar's reserve driver Norman Nato would sub for the British driver. It was Nato's first appearance since the 2021 Berlin ePrix.[5]
Sacha Fenestraz, having been a reserve driver for Jaguar in 2021, replaced Antonio Giovinazzi and made his Formula E debut for the second round after Giovinazzi suffered a hand injury during the first event.[6]
The circuit was very damp at the start of the race. Di Grassi and Evans passed pole sitter Rowland in the first corner. Evans then overtook di Grassi to claim the lead, before di Grassi dropped behind Rowland.[9]
Eight cars ended up in the barriers at turns 20 and 21 at the end of the opening lap which caused a red flag, due to the damp conditions and the changing surfaces. Norman Nato and Nick Cassidy both rejoined the race and had the race cars repaired.[9] The accident had been cleared after 45 minutes.
Edoardo Mortara weaved around in the braking zone in front of Jean-Éric Vergne, causing a collision between the two. The incident allowed Vergne and Vandoorne to pass Mortara before Mortara had a 5-second penalty added for the overly aggressive defending. Mortara would make more aggressive defensive manoeuvres trying to hold off Wehrlein, before his race came to an end with a right-rear puncture.
With five minutes to go, Alexander Sims put himself into the barriers in the Stadium and was out of the race. The safety car made its second appearance of the day to lead the field past the chequered flag. Evans claimed the victory to keep his title hopes alive. Rowland and di Grassi finished on the podium. Dennis claimed the bonus point for fastest lap in fourth. Vandoorne finished in fifth to maintain a 21-point lead over Evans in the Championship heading into the final race. Vergne, Wehrlein, Robin Frijns, António Félix da Costa and Cassidy secured the remaining points. Evans would become the only championship contender to Vandoorne after the race.
Stoffel Vandoorne had failed to secure the Championship in the first Seoul E-Prix. Mitch Evans had to win the final race with Vandoorne retiring to take the title. A sixth-place finish would be enough for Vandoorne to claim the title, regardless of where Evans would finish. Evans could also win the Championship with Vandoorne failing to score and him finishing in second with pole position.
Mercedes' still held a 31-point lead over ROKiT Venturi Racing, their closest challenger and the only other team that could take the title mathematically. Venturi would require a double podium to win the Team' Championship. DS Techeetah could theoretically tie with Mercedes on 301 points with a maximum score on the final day, but Mercedes would still take the title, as they would hold three victories to DS Techeetah's two victories in theory.
^Nato served a five second time penalty for falling more than ten car lengths behind the car ahead during a Safety Car period. The penalty made no difference as he finished the race last.
^Dennis was given a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Félix da Costa.
