Written by Carolina Anchieta, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
It's common to see that when a driver is without a seat in F1, there are speculations about their future. Contrary to the popular belief, Formula E is not the end of a driver’s career, sometimes it can be their way to the top.
The Formula 1 silly season has just begun, and since it's time for the summer break, while others thought this would be an easy-going vacation time, things started to get messy when Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren Racing) lost his seat for 2023 and with that, rumours about his future started appearing on the media. The mostly suggested outcome was for the Australian driver to change F1 for FE, saying that maybe the category would fit him more, but what people don’t know is that the electric championship can not only be a beacon of hope for a driver but also a chance for standing out from the crowd.
Two of those successful drivers are Nyck De Vries (Mercedes EQ) and Lucas Di Grassi (ROKiT Venturi), both who have had opportunities coming their way because of their performance in FE. The Mercedes driver had such a good Formula 2 season back in 2019, that it got him a seat as a reserve driver for the team with the same name in F1, where he participates in 2022 driving the W13 during a Free Practice. As for the Brazilian, Di Grassi is close to being the first driver to score one thousand points in the championship ranking, then giving his team a chance to pass up Mercedes in the team's battle, Lucas also had a time in
Formula 1 (back in 2010), but even though he had a good season, it was in FE that he showed his true potential as a driver.
It's time to change the mentality of Formula E being only for rejected drivers, or the ones who couldn’t get into the main sports category. This is because FE isn’t just a great deal, but it's also a step into the future, for both drivers and the motorsport’s way of racing.