Vandoorne shows enough Seoul to take the title

In a Formula E round preceded by a Pikachu parade, it was fitting that Saturday’s race was preceded by a clap of thunder that sonorously carved its way through Seoul’s Sports Complex. While Mitch Evans was surely hoping that the pack of Pokemon mascots would be a harbinger of a shock result in South Korea, nothing could steal Stoffel Vandoorne’s thunder. Ultimately, the Belgian flew back to his home in Monaco as a worthy world champion, his consistency and near ever-presence in the points through the year underpinning a successful campaign.

The 36-point buffer he held over Evans heading into the final round of the 2022 season proved to be a sufficient float. It put the onus on the Kiwi to win at least one of the two races in Seoul and hope for a collapse of catastrophic proportions for Vandoorne and Mercedes. To require that from one of Formula E’s most consistent driver and team combinations underlines the uphill challenge Evans had on his plate.

Pole on Saturday would have made things easier, and Evans’ case was helped by a mid-qualifying downpour that masked the relative lack of pace that Jaguar had shown in the dry. Drizzle permeated the running during Group A, and very nearly caught Vandoorne out; it emerged that the strongest strategy