Hazel Southwell Profile picture
grumpy barmaid, InsideEVs podcaster, F1 columnist at Metro, car journalist, science-y stuff 🏎 bylines: ESPN, Road&Track, RaceFans, etc; 🏳️‍🌈 she/them gay 🌸

Apr 7, 2021, 27 tweets

Remind me to do a thread of why you should like all the FE drivers tomorrow (you should like them all, they are dead good)

Right then. In current championship order, which means short ones to the front.

Nyck de Vries: a man so polite he got himself a penalty in Berlin for putting his broken car away. 2019 F2 champion, factory Mercedes driver, race winner in Diriyah with a clean sweep & title leader

Sam Bird: one of only two drivers to compete in every FE race ever, only one to win a race in all seven seasons, last man standing against the title nearly every year, genuinely good bloke. Feels like one of the champions even though he isn't (yet) and now he has a Jaguar

Robin Frijns: bet you didn't know Robin was third in the standings did you. Well he is. Very much a driver's driver, massive respect from his peers despite a tendency for rotten luck. Being his fan will be a rollercoaster but Robin himself will remain relaxed throughout.

Edoardo Mortara, who tbh even I'm amazed is fourth given his car was in bits for the second race in Diriyah. Ridiculously fast, nearly got Bottas' seat, won Macau literally 10 times, very underrated and, it must be noted, one of the top 5 most objectively beautiful people alive

Antonio Félix da Costa: Red Bull junior deep cut, spent four seasons in some of the worst Formula E cars ever built, finally got to show what he can actually do in Gen2 and years of frustration turned into a very dominant championship win last season. A cool dude.

Mitch Evans; I really need to get my head around the idea Mitch is no longer Baby™️. Youngest ever GP3 champ, with Jaguar since they entered FE & took their first point, pole, podium & win. Incredibly tough competition even in a less good car, bouncing back from last season

Oliver Rowland; much more than just that bloke from Yorkshire. Passed over a bit in his junior career through lack of funding but always impressive, runs a karting team to help young drivers up the ranks now, wicked fast and delightfully blunt. Has celebrity cats.

René Rast: DTM champion, waited years for an FE seat only to get it and have Audi decide to leave. But as he put it, it's not the first time that's happened. Massive following from his touring car prowess, until Diriyah had only ever raced FE in Berlin, at 4 different tracks

Sergio Sette Camara; how is there a Dragon in the top 10? Lando's former F2 team mate, massively tough ask coming in to FE in a team that's struggled but showed his pace in Berlin and brought the points home in Diriyah. Incredibly sweet, human sunshine.

Pascal Wehrlein; arguably the coolest man in the paddock, also one of the nicest. Should've got better chances in F1 but well, that's what we're here for and he's got a chance to carve Porsche's reputation now.

(this thread is way more work than I had thought through, going to do some different work that I get paid for for a bit before the other 14)

Nevermind I am now in a giant queue for a PCR test so let's carry on.

Nico Mueller: another Audi DTM fella, probably deserves a medal for not just walking away from his horrible car last year, finally scored points in Diriyah. A lanky, sweet lad.

Oliver Turvey, who by length of service should get fanboost every time off McLaren's fans. An actual engineer himself, much too modest for his abilities, very smart, very funny, incredibly loyal. NIO 333 are on a comeback and he surely deserves it, has one heroic Mexico podium

Alexander Sims: what can be said about him in just a tweet? Genuine eco warrior, runs Zero Carbon Trust, doesn't take himself seriously at all until he's on track and suddenly you better had. Got Berlin'd out of the title last year but he could have had it, serious threat.

Lucas di Grassi; obv it is an arrestable offense for a journalist to have favourites but thank god for LDG, saviour of headlines for like 8 years. Prob the single scariest driver to have in your mirrors, relentlessly competitive & consistent, smart and the good sort of weird,

Stoffel Vandoorne: he'll get fanboost anyway but it'd be hard not to like Stoffel. Long-suffering in F1 but again, that's what we're here for. Has a sort of relatable vibe of having completely given up but also being completely unrelatably really, really good. Danger to champagne

André Lotterer: one half of Jéandré, with a seriously extensive CV of achievements. Probably the only person in serious contention with Pascal for coolest FE driver (and they're team mates) and he could have won both the last Rome EPrix so expect him out to correct that this year

Jean-Eric Vergne: don't call him that, it's JEV. The other half of Jéandré, two time FE champ who loves his cat and hates losing. Genuinely moving hero story of someone who put his life, heart and career back together from a dark time, misbehaving nightmare man who everyone loves

Jake Dennis: man, I really feel for Jake the poor guy finally got a break and then BMW quit. Has this season to make an impression to stay on somewhere and he's got the skills but FE is tough. You gotta root for the guy - he's also very funny and nice. Another of Lando's exes.

Seb Buemi: yes this is an old picture but he is NOT A SCARY MAN he's really nice! And takes being more famous for the shouty Montreal business than having the most wins in FE all-time very well, really. Quietly one of the funniest people in FE, elaborately sweary on radio.

Norman Nato: (natto, not NATO) - got his seat by keeping his head down and working hard at Venturi, the Merc powertrain looks good enough you could get in early and be a race three Nato fan because he's got mega potential. Quiet but smart and knows he's got a big opportunity here

Nick Cassidy: he's won Super Formula but is completely unaware people are fans of him & was genuinely surprised when I told him - had a rough start in Diriyah, knows he's taken a risk with FE & is up for the fight. It's tough for this year's rookies, another to root for.

Tom Blomqvist: the swedish/kiwi/brit everyone can probably claim some affiliation to. Had a horrible time in the (gross, very bad) S4 Andretti but is back for more; quiet, clever, mega fast when he gets the chance and a pragmatic driver his team needs as they recover. Underdog.

Max Günther: another one I have to stop thinking of as Baby™️ cus he's more than capable of taking it to the big boys. Either finishes on the podium or doesn't, in an odd stat. Super quick, learned incredibly fast in FE, having come straight from F2. Future champ, maybe this year

Alex Lynn: if you don't like Alex Lynn get off my tweets. I'm thrilled to finally see him before the halfway point of a season: he's one of the nicest men alive, has incredible pace and works mega hard. Tolerates the stupidest questions with huge patience, 110% respect.

Anyway, pick one, give em a #fanboost, enjoy two rounds of them crashing into each other and upsetting you OR snatching incredible glory and making you cry with pride this weekend. If you've never watched FE before it's a car race for nerds, done by jocks, round regular streets.

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