In a battle that went down to the final corners, Max Gunther won for the first time since Jakarta last year ahead of polesitter Oliver Rowland

After the Brazil E-Prix, it was on our minds when we would get a similar finish, and Tokyo nearly produced a carbon copy of those events. Oliver Rowland was so close to beating Max Gunther in a race long battle in Tokyo as he attempted to overtake him around the outside during the final corners but, unlike Sam Bird, it would not pay off.

Jake Dennis finished on the podium for the first time since his win in Diriyah as he fended off Antonio Felix Da Costa, who finished ahead of teammate Wehrlein for the first time in 2024. The German would finish in 5^th just behind his teammate.

Mahindra’s sweet day was cut short as Mortara was disqualified from 6th for overuse of energy, replaced by Andretti’s Norman Nato. Nick Cassidy would come back from an awful qualifying to finish 8th from 19th as Frijns and Sette Camara rounded of the points. ABT’s Nico Muller was excellent, converting a strong 7th in qualifying to finish there in the race.

It was a day for the smaller teams on the grid to take advantage of the big teams’ malfunctions. ABT Cupra got off the mark in 2024, ERT added a point to their points tally and Mahindra could have done what ABT did. Formula E was yet again proving to be the most unpredictable single seater championship existing at the moment.

McLaren had a horrific time. Sam Bird would qualify last and not finish classified in 19th whilst teammate Jake Hughes would finish 13th after lap 1 contact put him at the back and always on the back foot. The young Brit will be desperate to have a clean weekend as he has been pointless for the last couple races.

Gunther keeps producing miracles

Max Gunther has come alive since he joined Maserati last season. He rolled the dice after winning 3 times for BMW Andretti and joined Nissan and was unsuccessful, but he has carried his Italian team to glory since.

Whilst teammate Jehan Daruvala, the only rookie on the grid, struggles to come to grips with the new Formula E machinery slower than they would like, the German has propelled Maserati ahead of Envision in the constructors and sits 5th in the driver’s championship just behind current world champion Jake Dennis.

Gunther is proving to be a top top talent on the current Formula E grid, and we are here to watch impressed of what incredible efforts he puts in every week. They are not surprises anymore. He has done it more often enough to earn our upmost respect.

Oliver Rowland propelling Nissan single handed

After being pointless in the first couple of races, Nissan’s Oliver Rowland has comeback with a couple of 3rd placed finishes and a 2nd place in Tokyo, amidst getting a couple of pole positions. Whilst Sacha Fenestraz endures an under-par 2024 he is the one producing the goods.

Nissan are 4th in the constructors ahead of DS Penske and behind Andretti by only 8 points. His form is something that big teams will be looking on scared, as he is the one who is potentially going to steal millions of dollars in prize money at the end of the year. It is early days in the championship, but confidence is everything in Formula E.

At the moment Rowland has all the confidence in the world, and who knows when an illusive win is coming for him, considering he maybe could have won had he not let Gunther passed to focus on his battery saving…

Andretti and Porsche fighting back quietly whilst Envision struggle

Andretti and Porsche are having really odd seasons. For Andretti, both drivers scored points for the first time since Diriyah thanks to the removal of Nato’s 5 second time penalty. For Porsche, Da Costa is finally scoring points and has 20 points in the past couple of races. The German manufacture has only one podium to their credit, but sit 2nd in the constructors because Wehrlein is consistent and Da Costa is finally doing his job.

As for the reigning constructors champions Envision, they sit a lowly 8th in the constructors only ahead of the 3 bottom teams in the championship. Even though they have a couple of podiums to their credit, their incredibly lack of any sort of consistency is troubling them in 2024. Poor qualifying is costing them dearly.

Jaguar falling back

Their failings in Brazil was a poor omen for the things that came in Tokyo. Cassidy had his final lap in qualifying deleted, demoting him to 19th place on the grid. Whilst the Kiwi could fight back and has demonstrated that in the past year, his Kiwi teammate was the one who would do the job for the team considering it was a lot harder to overtake in Tokyo than around the high speed Sao Paulo.

Evans was crash and end up with front wing damage, whilst somehow Cassidy would fight to finish in 8th. Mortara being disqualified was a saving grace of sorts but he has lost his championship lead to Wehrlein despite the German only having one podium. Consistency is once again key in Formula E and a couple of poor rounds is haunting Cassidy dearly.

What could have been for Mahindra

Nyck De Vries has had his struggles to start 2024, but has been steadily improving. A point is coming soon for the Dutchman, but beating his teammate Eduoardo Mortara might come a little later than that.

The Swiss driver qualified incredibly in 3rd and looked certain for good points that would have bolstered the team off the bottom of the table and ahead of ABT and ERT. However, he was disqualified post race which might cost them dearly in 2024.

Across the Formula E field, there are endless battles in the drivers and constructors, but the one that everyone has an eye on is at the top. Jaguar have lost their way in 2024 and with a double header in Misano coming up, this championship could be put on its head…