Envision Racing

Envision Racing
Team Information
Based	London, UK
Début	2014 Beijing ePrix
Founder	Lei Zhang
Key People	Sylvain Filippi
Driver(s)	Robin Frijns (No. 4); Nick Cassidy (No. 37); Sam Bird (No. 2); Jaime Alguersuari (No. 3)
Car	Audi e-tron FE07
Sponsor(s)	Unknown
Website	Virgin Racing
Team Stats
Last Season	5th (165 pt(s))
Entries	100
Wins	12
First Win	2014 Putrajaya ePrix
Points	1,298
Poles	12
Podiums	39
Fastest Laps	18
Titles	0 (3rd 2015/16; 2017/18; 2018/19)
Current Season
Entrant	Envision Racing Formula E Team
Robin Frijns		Nick Cassidy
22nd (6 Pt(s))		2nd (199 Pt(s))
Team Standings
1st (304 Pt(s))

 The Envision Racing Formula E Team are a Chinese owned British based racing team which competes in the 2021/22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, having been established as one of the founding teams in the series. Currently a customer team in FE, and previously been known DS Virgin Racing when in partnership with DS Automobiles from 2015 until 2017/18, Envision Racing have used Audi built powertrains since the 2018/19 season.

Originally named as Virgin Racing, Envision have twice finished third in the Teams' Championship, while lead driver Sam Bird came close to winning the Drivers Championship in 2017/18. However, after three seasons with DS backing, Virgin Racing were forced to purchase a set of powertrains from Audi for the 2018/19 campaign, with the French manufacturer moving to Techeetah.

Their first season with Audi power would coincide with Chinese investors buying a controlling stake in team, resulting in a name change to Envision Virgin Racing, with Virgin reduced to a title sponsor role. Regardless, it would be a more competitive season for Envision Virgin, with the Anglo-Chinese squad again finishing third in the Championship.

The 2019/20 season saw Bird and Robin Frijns retained, although just one win for their lead pilot saw the squad finish in fourth. Bird subsequently left Envision Virgin ahead of the 2020/21 season, leaving the squad to hire Nick Cassidy for the season.

Background

Founded specifically for the Formula E championship (having previously competed in Formula One in 2010 and 2011), Virgin have the backing of Sir Richard Branson, an entrepreneur, business men and owner of the Virgin brand. The team hope to bring their experience in other fields (such as aviation and Virgin Galactic) to the championship to improve the series as a whole.

Formula E History

Virgin Racing were one of the first teams to be entered for the championship, with Sam Bird and Jaime Alguersuari named as their drivers. After a podium in Beijing, Bird claimed the team's first victory at the 2014 Putrajaya ePrix, setting up a period where many thought he and Virgin could sustain a title challenge. It was not to be however, as fortune deserted Bird over the following rounds, while Alguersuari continued to take only minor points.

Virgin's season only picked up again at the double header in their home city of London at the end of the season, where Alguersuari, following a health scare in Moscow, was replaced by Fabio Leimer. Although Bird still had a mathematical chance of taking the title, he was eliminated from the fight almost immediately as he failed to take pole. Despite that set back, Bird put in a strong drive in the Second London ePrix that ended the season to take a second victory, having pushed Stéphane Sarrazin hard enough that the Frenchman used all of his energy. Virgin ended the season in fifth, having been unlucky at many times during the season.

Bird will return with the team for season two with Jean-Éric Vergne joining the team, following Alguersuari's retirement from motorsport.

French connection: 2015/16

The original Virgin Racing logo.

During the London double header at the end of 2014/15, Virgin announced they would be using a powertrain built by DS Automobiles, the racing subsidiary of Citroën for the 2015/16 Championship. The backing from Citroën saw Bird and Vergne get a seriously competitive car for the season, with both drivers threatening the top times of the 2015 Donington Test. Yet, the season opener would not go to plan, with Bird only managing to secure second, while Vergne missed out on points all together.

Into the second round of the season and Bird once again showed his true colours, just falling shy of victory in the 2015 Putrajaya ePrix, the sight of his maiden win. Minor points and a retirement followed in Punta del Este, before Bird put together an excellent display at the 2016 Buenos Aires ePrix to take a first win of the season from pole. That performance started a run of form for Bird where he frequently claimed a spot in the Super Pole shootout, taking two poles, but fell short due to mistakes in the races.

Vergne, meanwhile, would have a fairly quiet season until the 2016 Paris ePrix, where the Frenchman finally found some form to finish on the podium at his home race. A pole was then converted into a fifth place finish in Berlin, before the Frenchman took a second podium of the season in the 2016 London ePrix I. The final weekend of the season saw Virgin just fend off a late challenge from Dragon Racing for third, with the Anglo-French effort beating the American squad by a single point to finish third overall.

DS Divines: 2016/17

Vergne left the team at the end of the season to join the new Techeetah effort, leaving a vacant seat at DS Virgin for the 2016/17 season. Citroën pushed to have one of their drivers come into the team, with Virgin agreeing to hand José María López a seat in the team, the Argentine already a renowned racing driver with multiple WTCC titles. Bird remained as their team leader, with the pair using the new car to great effect in the 2016 Donington Test, with both getting into the top half of table in terms of overall pace.

Four Star Start: 2017/18

For 2017/18 Virgin would pick Alex Lynn to partner Sam Bird, with López leaving the team in hopes of securing a drive elsewhere, while DS continued to supply the team as "works" entry. After a relatively quiet pre-season test in Valencia, Bird would win the opening race of the season in Hong Kong, beating pole sitter Vergne. Bird went on to finish fifth in the second race of the weekend to secure himself at the head of the Championship, while Lynn claimed a handful of points with eighth.

Bird's lead in the Championship would be reduced in Marrakech as he finished third, before Antonio Giovinazzi and Joel Eriksson took part in the 2018 Rookie Test for the team. Unfortunately for Virgin the "Rookie Test" would benefit their rivals more than themselves, for Bird could only finish fifth in Santiago, while Lynn retired. An even more disappointing weekend in Mexico City followed, before Bird finally returned to the podium in Punta del Este, with Lynn achieving his best finish of the season in sixth.

Bird's good form carried on into the 2018 Rome E-Prix, with the Brit scything to victory after pressuring title rival Felix Rosenqvist into making a race ending mistake mid-way through the race. Another third place finish followed in Paris for Bird, with the Brit finishing with three wheels on his car after late contact with André Lotterer, although Lynn again failed to score. The team then paid the price for the way that DS' powertrain harnessed energy in Berlin, with the longer, flowing layout meaning Bird could only claim a handful of points.

Virgin were far stronger in the 2018 Zürich E-Prix as Bird finished second, although another poor display by Lynn meant that their Teams' Championship hopes were all but over. Bird himself, meanwhile, would head to the season finale in New York City with a shot at the title, if he could beat Vergne in either race. Yet, the updated Brooklyn Street Circuit did not suit the DS powertrain, causing both Bird and Virgin to drop to third on the final day of the season, overhauled by Lucas di Grassi and Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler.

Audi Ambitions: 2018/19

DS withdrew their backing from Virgin Racing at the end of the 2017/18 season, meaning the Virgin squad had to find a new powertrain supplier for 2018/19. Speculation suggested that Virgin would therefore purchase their powertrains from 2017/18 Teams' Champions Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, with a potential deal to run an Audi factory driver potentially in the works. That deal was subsequently confirmed prior to the 2018 Valencia Test, with factory Audi driver Robin Frijns also signed to partner Bird for the fifth FE campaign.

The opening round of the season in Ad Diriyah would see the two Virgins fight with the two factory Audis for minor points, although ultimately neither Bird nor Frijns would score. Yet, the duo bounced back at the following Marrakech E-Prix, with Bird sweeping to pole position, while Frijns also beat the two factory Audis. Unfortunately for Virgin Bird would be unable to hold onto the lead, although both himself and Frijns would finish on the podium after a last lap battle with Jérôme d'Ambrosio for the win.

Indeed, Virgin would have to wait until the following round in Santiago to grab their first win of the season, with Bird claiming victory after race long battles with Sébastien Buemi and Pascal Wehrlein. Yet, having moved to the top of the Championship neither Bird nor Virgin could gather momentum, with the Brit only managing to score a ninth place finish in Mexico City, while Frijns failed to score. A stronger performance in Hong Kong followed, with Bird crossing the line first, only to be relegated to sixth courtesy of a penalty for causing a race deciding collision with André Lotterer. The Brit's demotion would, however, leave Frijns on the podium.

Bird's season would unravel from that point on, the Brit going on a four race pointless streak beginning with a lap one accident at the 2019 Sanya E-Prix. Frijns, meanwhile, would emerge as a title pretender, claiming fourth in Rome before claiming a maiden FE victory in changeable conditions in Paris, surviving a wave of race interruptions and hail. Yet, Frijns too would see his title ambitions evaporate over the following races, entering his own four race pointless streak including two retirements in Bern and the New York City E-Prix I, both the result of collision damage.

Bird, meanwhile, would get back into the points in Berlin, although even an excellent performance, which saw the Brit pull several daring overtakes to claim fourth, were not enough to keep him in the title hunt ahead of the finale in New York. Furthermore, Virgin themselves were out of the Teams' Championship, in-spite of Frijns' second win of the season in the season ending 2019 New York City E-Prix II, the Dutchman producing a dominant performance after wrestling the lead from Alexander Sims early on. That, combined with a fourth place finish for Bird, who was stuck behind Sims and Buemi throughout, left Virgin in third in the Championship with 191 points to their name, just twelve behind the factory Audi team.

Envision Endeavour: 2019/20

There would be no change for the Envision Virgin Racing team ahead of the 2019/20 season, with the team retaining both Bird and Frijns, as well as their customer powertrain deal with Audi.

World Wondering: 2020/21

There would be a significant change at Envision Virgin for the 2020/21 season, with Sam Bird leaving the squad after six seasons to join Jaguar Racing ahead of the first Formula E World Championship. His seat was taken by Nick Cassidy on the eve of the 2020 Valencia Test, while Robin Frijns remained with the team as they received updated Audi powertrains.

Eighth Expedition: 2021/22

For season eight Envision completed a full take over of the Virgin Racing entry, with the team renamed as the Envision Racing Formula E Team, with Virgin also stepping away as a sponsor. On a team level, meanwhile, there would be no changes as Frijns and Cassidy were retained for a second season, while Audi would supply the squad despite leaving FE at the end of the 2020/21 campaign.

Formula E Record

The tables below show Envision Racing's full record in the FIA Formula E Championship.

Formula E Entries

The table below given and overview of Envision Racing's entries in Formula E:

Envision Racing's overall Formula E Record
Season	Official name	No.	Drivers	DC Pos.	DC Pts.	Car	TC Pos.	TC Pts.
2014/15	Virgin Racing	2	Sam Bird	5th	103	Spark-Renault SRT_01E	5th	133
		3	Jaime Alguersuari	13th	30
		3	Fabio Leimer	32nd	0
2015/16	DS Virgin Racing	2	Sam Bird	4th	88	DS Virgin DSV-01	3rd	144
		25	Jean-Éric Vergne	9th	56
2016/17	DS Virgin Racing	2	Sam Bird	4th	122	DS Virgin DSV-02	4th	190
		37	José María López	9th	65
		37	Alex Lynn	23rd	3
2017/18	DS Virgin Racing	2	Sam Bird	3rd	143	DS Virgin DSV-03	3rd	160
		36	Alex Lynn	16th	17
2018/19	Envision Virgin Racing	2	Sam Bird	9th	85	Audi e-tron FE05	3rd	191
		4	Robin Frijns	4th	106
2019/20	Envision Virgin Racing	2	Sam Bird	10th	63	Audi e-tron FE06	4th	121
		4	Robin Frijns	12th	58
2020/21	Envision Virgin Racing	4	Robin Frijns	5th	89	Audi e-tron FE07	5th	165
		37	Nick Cassidy	15th	76
2021/22	Envision Racing	4	Robin Frijns	8th	126	Audi e-tron FE07	5th	194
		37	Nick Cassidy	11th	68

Career Results

Listed below are the full career results of Envision Racing:

FIA Formula E Championship Record
Year	Driver	Rounds																Pos.	Pts.
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
2014/15																		5th	133
	Alguersuari	11th	9th	5th	4th	11th	8th	Ret	12th	13th
	Leimer										14th	Ret
	Bird	3rd	1st	Ret	7th	8th	Ret	4th	8th	Ret	6th	1st
2015/16																		3rd	221
	Bird	7th	2nd	Ret	1st	6th	6th	6th	11th	CAN	7th	Ret
	Vergne	12th	Ret	7th	11th	16th	13th	2nd	5th	CAN	Ret	4th
2016/17																		4th	190
	Bird	13th	2nd	Ret	3rd	Ret	16th	7th	7th	1st	1st	5th	4th
	López	Ret	10th	10th	6th	Ret	2nd	4th	5th			Ret	3rd
	Lynn									Ret	Ret
2017/18																		3rd	160
	Bird	1st	5th	3rd	5th	17th	3rd	1st	3rd	7th	2nd	9th	10th
	Lynn	8th	9th	9th	Ret	10th	6th	Ret	14th	16th	16th	Ret	14th
2018/19																		3rd	191
	Bird	11th	3rd	1st	9th	6th	Ret	11th	11th	16th	9th	4th	8th	4th
	Frijns	12th	2nd	5th	11th	3rd	14th	4th	1st	17th	13th	Ret	Ret	1st
2019/20																		4th	121
	Bird	1stG	Ret	10th	Ret	10th	3rd	6th	13th	11th	20th	5th
	Frijns	5th	Ret	15th	DSQ	12th	Ret	4th	2nd	DNS	2nd	NC
2020/21																		5th	165
	Frijns	17th	2ndG	4th	18th	6th	19th	2ndG	16th	11th	5th	8th	13th	4th	15th	12th
	Cassidy	19th	14th	15th	Ret	4th	13th	8th	Ret	2nd	4th	2nd	11th	7th	14th	17th
2021/22																		5th	194
	Frijns	16th	2nd	7th	2nd	3rd	4th	12th	5th	17th	18th	3rd	6th	16th	7th	8th	4th
	Cassidy	7th	16th	13th	9th	Ret	7th	Ret	21st	16th	13th	1st	15th	3rd	Ret	10th	8th

Results Key
Symbol	Meaning		Symbol	Meaning
1st	Winner		Ret	Retired
2nd	Second		DSQ	Disqualified
3rd	Third		DNS	Did Not Start
7th	Points Finish		16th	Non-Points Finish
NC	Not Classified		CAN	Race Cancelled
INJ	Driver Injured		Italics	Fastest Lap
Bold	Pole Position		G	Group Fastest Lap

References

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