Why Vandoorne is poised to deliver Mercedes a perfect FE sign-off
As Mercedes embarks on its last Formula E season this weekend, Stoffel Vandoorne is targeting a title that has so far proved elusive in his time with the team he joined for its soft launch as HWA in 2018. After teammate Nyck de Vries won last year, the Belgian is confident of writing the perfect final chapter to his electric story with the manufacturer
Nyck de Vries cut through the most random of Formula E seasons last year to chalk two wins and a further brace of podiums, and he led the points for seven of the 15 races. He was a most deserving champion. But at a time when his Mercedes employer completed its ascent to the top of the teams' standings, a coronation for stablemate Stoffel Vandoorne might have been the more fitting.
The Belgian beat de Vries to making a full-time electric switch when he joined debutant HWA Racelab ahead of the 2018-19 campaign. From a squad that rose from the ashes of an axed DTM programme and was a Mercedes attack in all but name, there was total unfamiliarity with this new discipline. Vandoorne navigated the adjustment period, and persistent driveshaft failures in the borrowed ZF powertrain, to land the Affalterbach team a first series pole (Hong Kong) and visit to the podium (Rome).
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