In both seasons one and two, Long Beach has formed the sixth round of 11 in total, which makes it a good halfway point from which to analyse teams’ performance. As the series heads to Europe, what stands out to us is that, despite the new technology on show, there’s no change at the top compared to last year – but quite significant differences elsewhere.

With the technical regulations opening up for season two, there were three choices on offer to manufacturers: go for something completely new (with corresponding financial outlay and risk to reliability); modify the largely-sorted first season technology (less financial outlay but accepting that outright performance could be compromised); or stick with the first season powertrain (cheapest option but the one least likely to result in podium finishes).

At the beginning of the second season, Mahindra Racing boss Dilbagh Gill told Current E magazine that the team was targeting consistent top five finishes. That seemed ambitious, considering that the team finished P8 in the first season. After six rounds, the team had scored 46 points in the first season, good enough only for P8 ahead of Venturi with 12 points and Trulli’s meagre nine points. Added to that, both Mahindra and Venturi chose to field revised versions of the first season powertrain, a move which many commentators saw as playing it too safe when compared with the big budget outlays and more innovative solutions seen at Renault, ABT and DS Virgin Racing.

However, in season two, these “backmarker” teams have surged up the rankings. Discounting Trulli, which has dropped out, Mahindra now sits P5 in the teams’ standings, with 61 points. That’s despite a tough third race, in Punta del Este, where the team called in a rookie to replace injured Nick Heidfeld and a race that the team struggled at last season too.

The change in fortunes can be attributed partially to a change in operating structure, partially in revised technology and partially in Heidfeld’s relentless attention to detail. What’s more, the team’s powertrain (four speed gearbox built by Hewland and modified McLaren motor – very similar to Venturi’s powertrain) has proved to be bulletproof, performing strongly even in Malaysia and Buenos Aires.

Venturi has put in an even more remarkable shift this season. While the Monaco-based team still lags Mahindra, as was the case last season, the squad has bagged 49 points after six rounds to claim P6 in the team’s standings. Many of the silly errors and bad luck that characterised the team’s first season have been ironed out, Stephane Sarrazin has continued the consistent pace he showed in the first season and the team’s new technical director, the former Ferrari F1 test boss Luigi Mazzola, appears to have had an immediate effect for the better.

The top of the leaderboard looks very similar to this point last year, despite the experimental powertrains and big bucks. Renault again leads, with 138 points playing last year’s 124 at this stage. That’s not a significant step forwards given the team’s advanced, lightweight powertrain and is largely the result of inconsistencies in Sebastien Buemi’s performances and Nico Prost’s discomfort with the car this season. Technical issues in Malaysia didn’t help.

ABT is only six points behind, with 132 points compared to 97 at this point last year. The car is fast, Lucas di Grassi has been as peerless as ever, with several flawless performances, and Daniel Abt is improving every race.

Dragon Racing currently lies in third, which is a change compared to this point of last season (when the team was P6) but which is also no surprise given how strongly the American outfit finished the first season. The team has probably the two closest-matched and most consistent drivers in the field, and that’s proving very useful in dragging in the points. It’s worth noting that Dragon is using powertrains supplied by Venturi, which is another big tick in the box for performance versus budget for the similar Venturi and Mahindra machinery. The red chrome machines would be level pegging with ABT (even allowing for ABT’s victory exclusion) were it not for set-up mistakes in Malaysia which resulted in a disastrous zero-points outing.

Perhaps the biggest victim of the position shift is NextEV TCR, which was just getting into Piquet’s championship-winning stride at this point last year. Piquet took victory in Long Beach in season one but this season’s wayward car makes that seem a long time ago. The team had totted up 74 points by this point in season one; just 14 have been notched up thus far in season two.

Elsewhere, DS Virgin Racing in fourth with a second season race win is perhaps positioned better than expected, given the weight penalties incurred with their twin-motor car. Andretti and Aguri have suffered particularly cruel blows of fate – Aguri in particular, with Antonio Felix da Costa the standout driver of the season thus far with his scintillating performances in a car which keeps letting him down.

The story is by no means over. With five races left to run in close proximity with the chance of building momentum through to the season finale in London, the teams’ title still looks to be between Renault and ABT, but with Dragon close behind and DSVR and Mahindra Racing getting better with each race, it could be just as breathless a race to the finish line as the drivers’ title was in season one. Bring on Paris.