A tale of two former Formula E team-mates not only brought many notional parallels but also literal ones in London last weekend, in that they managed to hit each other in both races.
Sam Bird and Robin Frijns spent two seasons together at Envision between 2018 and 2020. They were pretty evenly matched, with each claiming wins and strong championship placings. Frijns finished ahead in 2018-19, Bird the season after. They got along just fine then, and seven years on have still been racing hard in Formula E.
All-time Formula E starts
1 Lucas di Grassi 147
2 Jean-Eric Vergne 146
3 Antonio Felix da Costa 144
4 Sebastien Buemi 143
5 Sam Bird 141
6 Mitch Evans 126
7 Robin Frijns 117
But that now looks set to be it.
Both are on the cusp of being forced to flick through the last chapter and peruse the index for contacts as they look to try to remain on the grid.
Bird's case
Bird has been around several blocks in motorsport and is realistic enough to know that his options for a race seat next season are very low and restricted, especially with the McLaren team he raced for bowing out.
The 2024-25 season has been a tough one. The standout result of last season, his fabulous last-gasp win in Sao Paulo, shone through what was also a challenging campaign.
That's not to say it was not without promise, because on several occasions Bird was as quick as ever, and always committed. But too many penalties and scrapes and not getting the rub of the green hurt him.
"It's been mixed," he acknowledged when The Race sat down with him ahead of last weekend's London double-header - potentially his last weekend as a Formula E driver.
"There were many close ones where I've just been at the back of a gaggle of cars that have been super close to a podium. In Shanghai I finished one second away from a podium, but I came seventh. So, it's been one of those."
An issue outside of Bird's control has been the form of team-mate Taylor Barnard, who ended the season - his first full Formula E campaign - fourth in the standings with two poles and three podiums.
Bird, a keen and very competent golfer, described his top-line career status in Formula E as being "on the back nine, there's no question about that". That is to say, it's in its latter stages.
"He's [Barnard] teeing up on the second tee," added Bird. "He's just starting and what an incredible job he's done.
"I think what he's been able to do has been staggering. He's a great guy. Very quiet, very unassuming, off the track. He's very young. We're into different things but he's a nice, very humble young man and I hope it continues that way.
"The only thing that he's not had to overcome yet [in Formula E] is adversity.
“Every driver up and down this paddock has had to overcome something within their career. Some bad form, something else. I'm sure that he's got the skillset and mindset to overcome it when it happens."
Bird's struggles in his final two seasons at Jaguar slowly became known and there was genuine sympathy for those very tough times before he regrouped at McLaren.
Last Sunday at the back of the pits every one of his rivals on the grid got together for a group photo. There was a touch of awkwardness about it because Bird doesn't want to stop doing what he loves in Formula E, but the gesture was a sincere one: a memento of respect for one of the good guys.
But sentimentality is still mixed with ambition. This is clear.
"I'd love to kick on and get something else, but it's just a case of where and what's available," he said.
"I think that there are seats there that are still available. It's whether or not I can convince somebody that I'm the right man for the job as I've had many, many good years in this sport.
"I've had far more winning years than non-winning years. But it's going to be challenging to find a seat. It just is.
"The last thing I want to do is tell people this is my last race and just take myself completely out of the shop window. I don't want to do that, but I do realise that the shop window is very, very small.
"I haven't massively contributed this year, but hopefully my experience and know-how in what to do and how to go about things can help progress a team."
Frijns's Case
Was Frijns's season a poor one? Yes. But it certainly wasn't '19th place and 23 points' poor.
Context is everything in the two-time E-Prix winner's season because without that Frijns has absolutely no chance of finding a drive for 2025-26.
You can pontificate about whether luck is a real aspect in sport until the cows come home. But Frijns's relationship with the phenomenon in 2025 quite often proved outrageous.
Here's three examples: In four races he was compromised by losing his attack mode 350kW power advantage; a random suspension breakage occurred in first practice in Jakarta losing him an entire crucial session; in Berlin, a ball of discarded rubber hit his external fire extinguisher cord and activated it.
Unfortunately for Frijns, his return to Envision has involved a lot of misfortune and there are those within the team that appear to believe that a change is coming.
Team-mate Sebastien Buemi looks set to continue for another season after registering 61 more points. While that is a chasm between the pair, it doesn't tell anywhere near the full story.
Frijns as well looks tired of it all. His endurance sportscar career looks and feels fresher with BMW, where his performances this year have been particularly stellar. The end of the Formula E road feels close and, privately, he knows that.
Publicly there also feels like there's too much distance between Frijns and his bosses.
"I can't say it's a yes or no. I don't know," was his answer when The Race asked him in London if he would be staying on.
"I've got the backing from the engineers, that's for sure. They see the results of the driving I'm doing.
"I even said after the first race in Berlin, when I qualified second and didn't score points, Saunders [Formula E TV interviewer Saunders Carmichael-Brown] interviewed me after the race and said, 'You'll have better luck the next day'. I said, 'We'll be the same again tomorrow'. And it was [Frijns qualified fourth then retired].
"It doesn't put me down. But it's just very frustrating and it affects some people, I think."
Frijns is a straightforward character and he is realistic enough to know that if another deal isn't forthcoming at Envision then it is likely that he will major on a sportscar programme in 2026 with BMW WRT, and potentially others around that.
Stoffel Vandoorne, Jake Hughes and Joel Eriksson will head the list of candidates to replace Frijns should Envision decide to move on.
Should that pan out then Formula E will lose a ferocious talent in Frijns, and a great character too: one who ought to have scored many, many more than two victories.
