Sam Smith

WEC/Le Mans

Aston Martin's Le Mans U-turn adds to WEC manufacturer boom

Aston Martin will attempt to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans when it enters its Aston Martin Valkyrie into the World Endurance Championship in 2025

Formula E

Formula E lines up F1 venue for key 2024 calendar slot

Formula E is lining up a race at Formula 1's Chinese Grand Prix venue Shanghai to get China back on its calendar for 2024

Formula 1

What you need to know about the driver Toyota's given McLaren

McLaren adding Toyota's WEC and Super Formula star Ryo Hirakawa to its F1 reserve pool has raised eyebrows. Sam Smith (and Nick Cassidy) explain why Hirakawa deserves respect, and Scott Mitchell-Malm looks at what's in it for McLaren

Formula E

Tracing the origins of Formula E's biggest manufacturer rivalry

Porsche and Jaguar - and their customers - staged a fascinating fight for supremacy in 2023, which was only made possible by the way Jaguar reacted to what it observed from its rival in the early stages. Sam Smith charts the evolution of that battle, starting from a private test day

Formula E

Why di Grassi's Mahindra stint went wrong before it began

Lucas di Grassi is leaving the Mahindra Formula E team a season early to rejoin Abt Cupra. In a candid interview with The Race, both di Grassi and Mahindra boss Frederic Bertrand explain what went wrong

Formula E

Maserati's Formula E squad go left field with Mortara's replacement

Jehan Daruvala will be the sole rookie on the 2024 Formula E grid after securing a switch with Maserati MSG

Formula E

'Of course it hurts' - De Vries' rebuild mission after F1 failure

Nyck de Vries is back in Formula E, just over a year from leaving the series for a shot in Formula 1 with AlphaTauri. Can he rebuild himself after his bruising F1 exit?

Formula E

De Vries secures Formula E return after F1 exit

Nyck de Vries will drive for Mahindra in Formula E next year, one year on from leaving the series for a failed stint in Formula 1

Formula E

Di Grassi's options as Mahindra exit looms

Lucas di Grassi's Mahindra plan hasn't worked and he now looks set to leave a team he expected to end up running one day. So what next?

Formula E

De Vries closing in on Formula E return in latest silly season twist

Following his dalliance with Formula 1, Nyck de Vries is inching nearer to making a return to Formula E next season as part of a likely dual programme

Formula E

Sceptic to stalwart: An impactful yet incomplete Formula E journey

Andre Lotterer has a lot to thank current DS Penske technical chief Leo Thomas for. It was Thomas who effectively opened up the Formula E chapter in Lotterer’s diverse and long motorsports career in the late summer of 2017 when, after enduring Ma Qing Hua, experimenting with Esteban Guttierez and re

Formula E

Andretti finally resolves seat next to Formula E champion Dennis

Norman Nato looked to be out of Formula E again after Nissan decided not to renew his services – but he has a seat for 2024 after all, and with the Andretti team that took Jake Dennis to this year’s title. Might Nato finally have landed on his feet?

Formula E

Why works Formula E teams kept losing to their customers

A customer upstaging its manufacturer has always been an enjoyable, if infrequent, part of motorsport. But not in Formula E, which laid the very foundations for such scalps to happen far more regularly. Sam Smith explains why it was such a big feature of the first Gen3 season

Formula E

Disaster averted – Now what’s next for Formula E’s Gen3 car?

There was a lot of concern heading into Formula E’s first Gen3 season – and while it ended up a largely solidified thrill ride, some questions remain

Formula E

F1’s silly season is delaying an important Formula E choice

The next team-mate of Formula E’s new champion is yet to be decided with Formula 1’s 2024 silly season playing a role in the delay or a deal that looked imminent a couple of months ago

Formula E

Rowland’s ruthlessness might have saved his Formula E career

The exact events of Oliver Rowland’s Mahindra split remain unknown, but some may view it as him giving up too readily. Whether that’s the case – and Rowland insists it’s not – Sam Smith says drivers only have a finite time, and severing ties was needed to save his Formula E career

Formula E

Another surprise 2024 Formula E reunion gets green light

Oliver Rowland is back in Formula E less than four months after his abrupt Mahindra exit, having rejoined the Nissan team he took his sole E-Prix victory with for the 2024 season

Formula E

FE fast-charging pitstops get 2024 green light after doubts

Fast-charging pitstops will now definitely be part of Formula E races in 2024, despite concerns they’ll spoil the racing. Sam Smith looks at the delicate debate

Formula E

The frenetic race for two of Formula E’s least-competitive seats

Mahindra and its customer Abt still have vacancies for the 2024 Formula E season. And, if all’s to believed, those possible line-ups have taken ‘fluid and complex’ twists of late – with one 2022 title challenger seriously in the mix for a change of scenery. Sam Smith has the latest

Formula E

More than marriage of convenience – but can Bird revive McLaren?

Sam Bird’s Formula E move to McLaren is official. There’s no reason to believe he won’t fit in seamlessly – but will this partnership be enough to revive either party’s fortunes?

Formula E

‘Very visible’ changes are coming for Formula E’s Gen3 car

Plans for the upgraded version of Formula E’s Gen3 car that will begin testing in 2024 ready for the following season are coming together. Sam Smith takes you through what to expect

Formula E

McLaren’s departing Formula E driver won’t miss it

Rene Rast felt like a man slightly out of his time in Formula E, so much so that those he raced against will not be sorry to see him leave the series and McLaren, and he will not miss racing in Formula E himself

Formula E

McLaren might need to make a big change to thrive in Formula E

McLaren’s debut Formula E season started very well and ended very badly. And there was a fairly clear reason for that – one which could hold it back in the long term too

Formula E

Why Formula E’s apparent super-team fell so flat in 2023

How does a line-up combining so much Formula E championship success as Jean-Eric Vergne, Stoffel Vandoorne and DS end up achieving so little? Sam Smith unravels the DS Penske 2023 mystery

Formula E

Every 2023 full-time Formula E driver ranked from worst to best

An in-depth look at the seasons of each Formula E full-timer in 2023 – from the high-profile disappointments to those who made a spectacular leap

Formula E

Unlikely reunion sets up fascinating Formula E character dynamic

Barely a year has passed since Robin Frijns left Envision, but when he steps back through its doors he might find a few things have changed at the title-winning Formula E team. How he and new team-mate Sebastien Buemi interact is already a tantalising question for 2024

Formula E

The making of Cassidy’s statement Jaguar Formula E move

Now news of Nick Cassidy joining New Zealand compatriot Mitch Evans at Jaguar is official, Sam Smith looks back over the months leading up to that deal – including what opened Cassidy’s eyes to a move – and how the Cassidy-Evans relationship is likely to play out

Formula E

Biggest move of 2024 Formula E driver market is now official

Jaguar has officially announced that Nick Cassidy will join fellow Kiwi Mitch Evans in its factory Formula E team in a deal believed to run at least the end of the 2025 season

Formula E

Longer track? Friday night race? London’s Formula E future

Formula E is thriving in its unique London home at the ExCeL Arena. And plans are in hand to make the event bigger and better heading towards Gen4

Formula E

Inside an agonising self-inflicted title bid implosion

Envision went from being set for a 1-2 that would’ve made its Formula E teams’ title all but certain and revitalised Nick Cassidy’s drivers’ title bid to an intra-team collision that jeopardised it all in the first London race. Sam Smith dissects what went wrong via team radio and frank insight from

Formula E

Porsche goes ahead with appeal of ‘incomprehensible’ penalty

Porsche will follow through with appealing the three-minute penalty that cost Antonio Felix da Costa second place in the first London E-Prix and ensured Porsche finished behind its customer Andretti team in the championship

Formula E

New Formula E champ a BMW masterstroke Andretti maximised instead

There was plenty of promise about Jake Dennis when BMW and Andretti first took a punt on him in Formula E. But the speed with which he adapted was both remarkable and a hint of greater things to come. Sam Smith charts his rise

Formula E

Why angry Michael Andretti confronted Porsche chiefs in London

Season-long tensions between Andretti and its Formula E partner Porsche nearly overspilled in the London finale, before Jake Dennis’s title ensured a happy ending. But only after an angry intervention from Michael Andertti

Formula E

F1 tester closes on Andretti FE seat as doors close to De Vries

Felipe Drugovich has emerged as the surprise favourite to join world champion Jake Dennis in the Avalanche Andretti team for the 2024 Formula E season, but Nyck de Vries’ FE return options are dwindling

Formula E

Winners and losers from Formula E’s frenzied 2023 finale

Formula E’s 2023 finale in London was a fitting one – both in terms of the chaos and in terms of the cream rising to the top

Formula E

Bird’s Jaguar Formula E downfall rests mostly on him

Sam Bird’s Jaguar Formula E exit is now official. Sam Smith charts a three-season stint that promised so much but never lived up to its potential and why Jaguar’s patience ultimately ran out

Formula E

Formula E teams seek FIA clarity on divisive London penalties

Several incidents in Saturday’s first London E-Prix left teams with significant ill-feeling ahead of Sunday’s final race of the 2023 Formula E season

Formula E

Porsche will appeal penalty that wrecked Formula E title shot

Porsche will appeal Antonio Felix da Costa’s three-minute London E-Prix penalty that’s all but ended its Formula E title bid

Formula E

‘Too kind’ – The team implosion that ended Cassidy’s title bid

Nick Cassidy’s 2023 Formula E title bid ended in messy fashion in London in a collision with Envision team-mate Sebastien Buemi while they were trying to pull off intricate team tactics. Here’s the full back story and both drivers’ views

Formula 1

Formula E chief explains his ‘F1 is boring’ stance

Formula E’s new CEO James Dodds made headlines for calling Formula 1 ‘boring’ – but does he stand by his criticism and why did he make it?