The opening round of the 2023-24 Formula E campaign only gets underway next week in Mexico City and already the season has produced its first ‘winner’ – sort of.
For many at the Valencia pre-season test last October, the simulation race on the final morning counted for very little in the grand scheme of things, save for the chance to get back on track after a garage fire truncated much of the week’s running. That is unless you were Robin Frijns, who put his name to the top of the leaderboard having overtaken Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa in the closing laps at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Spain.
While it meant nothing more than a bit of personal pride, it marked the first time that Frijns had finished top of a Formula E race since 2019, and there’s every reason to believe that he could add to his win tally in the all-electric championship when it matters, having moved back to the Envision team where he enjoyed his most successful spell.
“I was with the team for four years, the team has not changed much, there are some new guys coming in, some other guys left, which is normal,” Frijns told Autosport, the 32-year-old having returned to Envision after just one season with Abt Cupra.
“Obviously it feels good to be back, coming back to a team which I know is always nice to have, but I think the goal is quite clear that we all want to win. The team is pushing hard to be competitive and win races and that’s what we try to do.”
The period between 2018-22 yielded two wins and a further 10 podiums for the Frijns/Envision partnership, as well as a tilt at the drivers’ title in 2018-19 and 2020-21 with Frijns eventually finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
Somewhat ironically, given their lengthy partnership, Envision’s strongest season came last term, as the switch to the Gen3 machine and a Jaguar powertrain allowed Nick Cassidy and Sebastien Buemi to claim the teams’ title, while the former also came close to winning the drivers’ crown.
In comparison, Frijns endured his most difficult campaign in his seven seasons of Formula E, scoring just six points (his previous lowest being 24 in his second season with Andretti in 2016-17), not helped by missing four races after breaking his wrist in the season-opening Mexico City E-Prix.
But even after recovering from his injury, the Mahindra powertrain aboard Abt’s machine was not up to the task of challenging towards the front as the team were also a late addition to the grid – returning after losing Audi factory support at the end of 2021.
The high point of the year came in a wet qualifying session in Berlin, where Abt secured an unlikely front row lockout, with Frijns heading team-mate Nico Muller before slipping out of the points in the race as the rest of the season remained a struggle.
"Knowing that the car is able to win races, obviously the goal for me personally is to fight for the championship. I’m not here to finish second, third or fourth" Robin Frijns
“This was going into Gen3 and obviously Abt came back and I knew the team from my three years of DTM and I really enjoyed my time,” said Frijns on his decision to join Abt. “It was actually still one of my favourite times in DTM, I know it’s a different class etc, and I was really expecting that Abt was performing straight out of the box. I was working with the same exact people which were going to work in Formula E.
“I wouldn’t say I wanted to leave Envision or I didn’t want to leave Envision, something else came up and if I knew everything beforehand, I wouldn’t have done it, but then life is easy.”
With Cassidy joining fellow Kiwi Mitch Evans at Jaguar, a seat alongside Buemi became available for the upcoming campaign at Envision, with Frijns admitting it was “quite a quick discussion” to get the deal done.
Another deciding factor was being picked as a BMW works driver ahead of the marque’s return to the World Endurance Championship, which would have put him in conflict with manufacturer Cupra had he remained with Abt.
“I wouldn’t say it didn’t really work out with Abt, I liked being part of the team, I know the guys, unfortunately they didn’t have a great car as we all saw with the Mahindra powertrain but nevertheless, I know when you give the guys a good car that they can win races,” said Frijns.
“But there was more behind it than that, obviously before I signed with Abt or somewhere at the same time, I was talking to BMW, and I cannot represent two brands so that was a bit of an issue with Cupra coming onboard very late, just before the beginning of the season.
“Envision, it’s a brand but it has nothing to do with car brands and obviously that puts myself in a better position.”
Jaguar’s dominance over the second half of last season looks likely to continue into the start of the upcoming campaign, Evans and Cassidy having set the fastest times across the three pre-season test sessions that took place. While for customer team Envision and following his win in the morning, Frijns finished the final day third quickest as team-mate Buemi completed the most laps of anyone with 127 – all ominous signs for Jaguar’s rivals.
More: Five things we learned from Formula E pre-season testing
But the frenetic nature of Formula E means that outright speed is no guarantee of success, and Frijns admits to not be overthinking what could potentially be a golden opportunity, stating “the only pressure I’ve put is on myself – I don’t really care if people say you need to win the championship now”.
Frijns is fully aware, though, that by rejoining Envision he almost certainly has the chance to challenge for wins in the upcoming campaign and quite possibly the title. His 88 starts in the championship puts him joint seventh on the all-time starters list and one of the most experienced drivers on the grid, as well as the knowledge and skills acquired from his time in the DTM and WEC. All of which puts him in a good place to deliver on a promising career which at one stage could have seen him in Formula 1 but for a lack of budget, such was his talent through the junior single-seater ranks.
He added: “Knowing that the car is able to win races, obviously the goal for me personally is to fight for the championship. I’m not here to finish second, third or fourth. We are here to win, that’s for me quite clear.”
