ANDRETTI UNITED SURVIVES GREENLAND GREMLINS TO WIN

Last weekend in Belgium, the talk was that ‘Formula 1 cars are not designed to race in the wet’. Head northwest by 2200 miles and venture into the Arctic Circle, the paddock mutterings were gradually creeping towards ‘Extreme E cars are not built to survive racing off-road’.

While Timmy Hansen and Catie Munnings emerged as entirely deserving first-time winners for Andretti United in Greenland, when the championship fraternity significantly upped the town of Kangerlussuaq’s 500-strong population for a few days, their success arrived after a litany of glitches dashed the chances of Rosberg X Racing maintaining its perfect record.

All told, Autosport counted a season-high total of 22 occasions when the nine spec Odyssey 21 E-SUVs endured some kind of mechanical or technical failing that couldn’t be attributed to a crash. The power steering system was its usual suspect self; wheel rims, steering arms and suspension components cried mercy all too easily given the rough stuff design brief and, despite the cool temperatures, the battery was not a happy ‘Duracell bunny’.

Championship co-founder Alejandro Agag reckoned it was a “miracle” more cars didn’t break down during a maiden event in Saudi Arabia in April. That came after a pre-season test event to further troubleshoot the machine was