What We Learned From Formula E Testing

image courtesy of Sergio Sette Formula e

Earlier this week saw the return of Formula E, as the teams took to the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia to test their cars ahead of the 2020/21 Season. BMWi Andretti’s Maximilian Guenther was the quickest of all over one lap, but what can we actually learn from Formula E testing? Let’s find out!

Changes to Testing

Last year, the Ricardo Tormo circuit implemented a tight chicane into the first corner, in order to try and replicate some of the characteristics of Formula E’s famous (or infamous) street circuits. This year, though, that was removed in an attempt to minimise the risk of the cars sustaining damage. That wasn’t the only change either. Due to the somewhat creative interpretations of where the track limit was last year, it was decided that this year they would monitor it using sensors. The increased awareness of track limits also helped with the batteries’ operating temperatures. Unfortunately, because of all the changes to the track, comparing times with last year would not give an accurate representation of how the technology has developed since then.

Rookies Impressed:

Every year the quality of the Formula E Grid seems to get better and better and this year is no different. The new faces this year, Venturi’s Norman Nato, Andretti’s Jake Dennis, and Virgin’s Nick Cassidy, sprinted out of the starting blocks, posting competitive times almost immediately. By the end of testing, their quickest laps were all within 4 tenths of the overall fastest, Max Guenther, with Cassidy and Nato both quicker than their more experienced teammates.

NIO Resurgence:

It’s fair to say NIO have struggled to be competitive in recent years, often being the slowest car on the grid. However, that seems to have changed this year, as an all-new powertrain helped Oliver Turvey finish testing 10th quickest. NIO also completed the most laps of anyone with a total 535 across all three days; valuable data to help get to grips with the new system. As spectators, we can but hope that the clear improvement in one-lap pace, also means an improvement to their long run pace.

As Tight As Ever:

One of the best things about Formula E is the closeness of the racing, and this year it’s set to be the closest field ever. At the end of testing, all the drivers were covered by a little over half a second. The young Max Guenther lead the pack, but Audi’s Lucas Di Grassi brought up the rear just a mere 0.578 seconds behind. Audi themselves seemed to be a tad behind the others, perhaps as a result of their decision to pull out of the all electric series after this season, so that they can focus on Le Mans. With a field covered by so little, however, this season is going to be as close as ever. Any championship hopefuls will need to be incredibly consistent.

So now that testing has concluded, we have learned many things about what to expect in this coming season. NIO look like they can be competitive again, and anybody can win any race. We look destined to witness one of the best seasons of Formula E to date: you won’t want to miss it when it kicks off in Santiago on January 16th.

Formula 1 is broken!

Formula 1 is broken!

It’s not the fault of Hamilton or Mercedes but instead the strict formula that teams have to work to. If there’s to be a constructors championship then we need looser regulations so designers and engineers can have more freedom, different engine types and different aero design. Then, lets go racing!

If not, we might as well have a single construction championship like Formula 2 where the racing is much closer and more exciting, even if admittedly some of that is because young drivers make more mistakes.

Formula 1 should be open. I bet that if it was, you’d have more than just hybrid engines! We’d have the possibility of an electric car racing a combustion engine in the not too distant future. I’m afraid that if huge changes aren’t made then F1 will be left behind. If we had those kind of regulations would Formula E even have got up and running? Look how exciting the races are. Guess what? They are all driving the same car!

I’m not advocating that F1 should be a single constructors championship, but if they are to all build their own designs completely then they need to take the shackles off. Budgets have been cut now going forward which can only be a good thing, but all of the teams working towards a single design framework will lead to almost identical cars again.

2020 Styrian Grand Prix, Sunday – LAT Images

Somehow, like in football, the richer teams like Ferrari and Mercedes will find a way to attract the best people even on a restricted budget. We need to make room for initiative, give a chance to the next Adrian Newey or Colin Chapman, whose ideas revolutionised the sport. With tight regulations these kinds of ideas are harder to find.

If they really want to save money then Friday free practice should go! Other than a cheap day out to watch Formula 1 cars I can see little need for it.

Here’s my road map for the sport.

You probably have your own ideas on how to fix F1. These are just me spit balling mine. We’d love to hear your ideas.

A. Loosen the restrictions to allow for innovation in both engine and chassis design.

B. Cut costs by cutting out Friday free practice sessions.

C. Teams should be allowed to race three cars but the third driver must be a young driver or a guest with enough super license points. The team would lose the points of the third driver.

D. Tyres should only be one small element of the teams strategy, so maybe another tyre manufacturer should come in.

If the Formula 1 changes that are scheduled now for 2022 – when in all likelihood Lewis Hamilton will be an eight-time world champion – do not make the significant difference that they promise, F1 will not attract enough new young fans to make it viable and, in my opinion, Formula E will become the de-facto pinnacle of motorsports. 

Da Costa and Techeetah Champions In Thrilling Season

image courtesy of Formula E

Another gripping season of Formula E has finally come to an end, almost a month later than originally planned, and it will be Antonio Felix Da Costa and DS Techeetah who are happiest with their performances. After a difficult start for our 2019/20 champions, they sealed both of the teams and drivers championships with two races left to run. Dominant by Formula E’s standards.

image courtesy of Formula E

Envision Virgin’s Sam Bird started the season strongest in Ad Diriyah, continuing his streak of being the only driver to take a victory in every season to date after starting from 5th position. The Brit made some great overtakes as he carved his way to the top step, heading out Andre Lotterer for Porsche and Stoffel Vandoorne for Mercedes. Both Porsche and Mercedes achieving a podium finish in their debut races.

However, it was BMW’s Alexander Sims who took a pole to flag victory in the second race in Saudi Arabia. Our eventual champion, Da Costa received a penalty for spinning Buemi, who was slowing to take Attack Mode. Da Costa eventually climbed his way back up to tenth, whilst taking the fastest lap in the process to bring home his and Techeetah’s first three points of the season.

image courtesy of Formula E

In Chile it was BMW who took the lead of the constructors championship after their very own German, Max Guenther won the race from second position, overtaking the Pole man Mitch Evans who struggled with energy management. Da Costa made some lovely overtakes to climb eight position and finish in 2nd place. Showing the field that consistency was key in Formula E, Vandoorne took the lead of the championship despite being without a victory. Vergne’s poor start to the season continued, still with just 4 points to his name.

Redemption for Evans in Mexico saw him win fairly comfortably, with Da Costa taking his second podium of the season. Sims had a notable drive, gaining 13 positions to finish 5th! With that victory Evans now lead the championship (4 different leaders in 4 races). We were left waiting for someone to seize control.

And seize control Da Costa did, winning from pole by a whopping 11 seconds in Marrakech. Evans’ race was not to be scoffed at, starting 24th and finishing P6, an amazing race for the Kiwi. 3 podiums in a row meant Da Costa now lead the championship from Jaguar’s Mitch Evans and Techeetah made up for their slow start to head the rest of the teams.

Then disaster struck. A very contagious virus known as Covid-19 began to take over the world, halting everyone in their tracks for a few months. Tragically, millions of people have lost their lives as a result of the pandemic.

But nothing could stop Formula E for very long, starting up again on the 5th August with a revised calendar of three double headers in Berlin on three different layouts, setting us up for an incredible 9 days of racing. But did Da Costa’s momentum get hampered? Of course not! The Portuguese man took two victories in the first two Berlin races making it three on the bounce. By this point he had two hands on the trophy as his title rivals all failed to put up a consistent fight.

image courtesy of Formula E

Going into the next two races Da Costa just needed to get good points to seal the championship and he did so with two still to go, simultaneously winning DS Techeetah the team’s championship as well. But second was still up for grabs and nobody seemed to want it, Guenther put in a claim with his second win of the season, before being overtaken by Vergne with a fine victory the following day.

A new layout came for the final two races of the season with a redesigned second sector. After a strange incident in qualifying, none of the active champions put in a lap time, allowing Rowland to take a much deserved maiden victory from Pole Position. By now it should have become clear that this meant he now sat in 2nd place in the championship.

The final race came with a hint of sadness as Sam Bird finished a fitting final race for Virgin in P5. The Brit had been with the team since Formula E’s inception, always managing to pull a win out of somewhere and holding the record for the only driver to win in every season. He looks for pastures anew at Jaguar next season.

image courtesy of Formula E

However, it was Stoffel Vandoorne who took a dominant win for his maiden victory in the final race of the season, with his teammate, Nyck De Vries, edging out Buemi to seal 2nd position for both himself, and for Vandoorne in the championship. Buemi himself ended the season P3.

Despite some Techeetah dominance, Season 6 has been one of Formula E’s best seasons so far, despite the delay from Covid. We saw wall to wall action up and down the field, said hello and goodbye to some talented drivers, crowned a new champion, and even saw our first carbon neutral team. It has been one heck of a year, and Season 7 is set to be just as exciting. You’d be a fool to miss it!

Super Max! : Guenther wins in Berlin to move him back into championship contention

We’re at the halfway point in the Formula E’s super season finale in Berlin, and although the championship fight seems to have fallen by the wayside with Antonio Da Costa still holding an impressive lead, race three certainly was filled with fireworks. However, as the cars took to the original circuit layout, qualifying was not dominated by Da Costa but his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne. He’s been somewhat of the supporter to Da Costa’s heroics this season but he certainly showed otherwise by taking pole position by half a second from BMW’s Max Guenther who put in an impressive lap to line up second on the grid.

Mahindra seemed to be a team reborn as the Indian-based manufacturer managed to get both cars into Superpole, however, Jerome D’Ambrosio struggled with his overall pace to start P3, whilst Alex Lynn managed a scrappy lap to snatch P5. Stoffel Vandoorne continued his impeccable qualifying form, but his Mercedes struggled with grip in the hot conditions, leaving the Belgian P4 whilst Robin Frijns rounded out the top six, helped by the momentum of almost scoring a podium position in the last race.

Credit: Formula E

Vergne lead from the start, whilst Guenther became embroiled in a battle with the two Mahindras for the podium positions and he was passed by D’Ambrosio into turn one. However, Guenther soon reclaimed second place back from the Mahindra and began to cut into Vergne’s two second buffer.

Vandoorne was another big loser in the opening stages, dropping behind Lynn and Frijns but after the first round of attack mode was deployed, the Mercedes man managed to get back into P4 before his race ended prematurely due to a puncture. Compatriots Luca Di Grassi and Felipe Massa came together in the latter stages of the race, with Di Grassi trying to squeeze the Venturi into the hairpin at turn 1 but the move backfired and the former champion was left out of the points. Massa picked up a late penalty for the incident dropping him too out of the points.

Frijns continued his momentum by making quick work of Lynn before taking P3 from D’Ambrosio before the safety car was brought out for an incident in the mid pack which left Sergio Sette Camara and Neel Jani stranded in the middle of the track and the safety car deployed.

Credit: Formula E

As racing resumed, Guenther closed the gap on Vergne but when the second round of attack modes were deployed, Vergne managed to stay ahead of the chasing BMW but not for long as Guenther managed to get the Techeetah into turn seven with five minutes remaining.

Vergne lost momentum after the move, and struggling with energy management, he was forced to yield P2 to Frijns who began to chase the race leader Guenther in the dying stages of the race but it was too little, too late.

Guenther picked up his second win of the season to move to second in the championship standings ahead of Frijns and Vergne, whilst Da Costa had to settle for P4 with a stunning drive up through the order to add another glut of points to his own championship tally.

One Hand on the Title? Da Costa impresses with another masterclass in Berlin

Is there any stopping Antonio Felix da Costa on his charge to his first Formula E title? After the first two races in Berlin, it’s beginning to certainly look that way.  There was a sense of deja vu in Formula E’s second race of the season finale as da Costa continued his assault on the title with a stunning performance to put himself squarely in title contention.

The Techeetah man dominated qualifying again, pipping Nissan’s Sebastien Buemi to the pole position by three tenths. It was another masterclass from the Portuguese driver to hand himself another three points and secure his second pole position in two races. A surprise addition to superpole was Alex Lynn. Returning for the third time to the electric series into the seat vacated by Pascal Wehrlein, Lynn scored bragging rights over teammate Jerome D’Ambrosio and again highlighted the exceptional pace of the Mahindra over one lap. De Vries again featured in superpole but was only able to manage P4 after struggling with oversteer on his flying lap. However, it was a better day for Audi power with both Robin Frijns and Lucas di Grassi managing to slide into superpole, but ultimately, both drivers had scrappy laps and had to settle for P5 and P6 respectively.

Credit: Formula E

Da Costa led the race from pole and again looked unbothered by his competitors, with only a slight wobble when he took his first attack mode,  just managing to stay clear of Buemi in P2. He held off the Nissan man to take his third win of the season and extend his advantage on his title rivals, opening up the gap to a massive 41 points. On the other side of the garage, reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne struggled again with Max Gunther and Sam Bird both managing to jump him at the start. After scoring no points in the first round of the first race, he eventually had to settle for P10 after struggling with tyre degradation in the latter stages of the race, allowing both Edo Mortara and ex-teammate Andre Lotterer to get the jump on him.

Robin Frijns had a reversal in fortune as the Envision Virgin Racing driver managed to send it up the inside of Alex Lynn to snatch P4 in the opening stages of the race, before pouncing on de Vries for the final podium position a few laps later. However, his hopes of a podium were dashed by Lucas di Grassi who pounced during the first round of attack mode, taking advantage of Nyck de Vries’ stricken Mercedes who came to a halt, bringing out the full course yellow.

Frijns began to fight back in the dying stages of the race, but it was to no avail and the former champion held out for the final podium position. Vandoorne was also brought into the podium fight as he executed a stunning move, sweeping past both Oliver Rowland and Sam Bird. However, despite using his fanboost, he was not able to get past Frijns and di Grassi to record his first podium finish of the season, leaving Buemi and di Grassi to reap the benefits.

DAC is back! Da Costa reigns supreme for first race of FE finale

Driving a Techeetah, winner of Formula E’s constructors championship last year, Antonio Felix da Costa was always expected to achieve great things at the Chinese-based team. The Portuguese driver has had somewhat of an interesting journey in Formula E, starting out from the doldrums of Aguri, a team that couldn’t keep up with the financial demands of the electric series and folded in the second season. Da Costa settled at Amlin Andretti, but it wasn’t until the fifth season when BMW entered the fray full-time that the team began to really challenge for race wins. It wasn’t a shock last year when Da Costa was announced to be filling the seat alongside double world champion Jean-Eric Vergne. His previous season with BMW i Andretti had been one of his strongest showings and he had claimed victory in the first race at Riyadh before trailing off towards the latter end of the season. Da Costa entered this season, hungry and eager to prove himself – and he has so far. Before the covid-20 pandemic put the season on pause, Da Costa had taken his first win with the team in Marrakesh and had two second place finishes in Santiago and Mexico.

Credit: Formula E

It was critical that he kept the momentum going and pressure on his other title rivals after a lengthy break as Formula E returned to Berlin for a blockbuster six race season finale to be held over the next nine days. The Techeetah man did his job by taking a dominant pole position, beating out his teammate and defending champion Jean-Eric Vergne by a margin of three tenths. Andre Lotterer put in a decent first two sectors to slot into P3, whilst Nissan’s Sebastien Buemi too held promise but fell just short in the final sector, having to settle for P4. Nyck de Vries had to settle for P5 after a costly mistake in sector 2, a disappointing result for the Dutchman who had been the quickest in the final practise session and Jerome D’Ambrosio was finally able to lift his struggling Mahindra into P6.

Da Costa held his position at the start of the race, whilst Lotterer made a poor start and was immediately pressured by Buemi. The Nissan man was forced to yield, but after a few laps, the train of cars behind Lotterer became difficult to ignore as the two Techeetahs of Da Costa and Vergne began to build a gap. However, it was soon wiped away as Robin Frijns was punted into the wall by Max Gunther, bringing out the safety car to erase the time the two Techeetahs had carved out.

Credit: Formula E

As the race restarted, Da Costa got away with no problems as Sam Bird managed to pounce on D’Ambrosio for P6 and began to pressurise fifth placed de Vries as Lotterer began to mount a challenge on his ex-teammate Vergne for P2. His hard work was undone as he missed the attack mode marker and fell victim to de Vries, before snatching the final podium position back a few laps later by pressurising the Dutchman into a mistake. Massa was the second casualty of the race, the Brazilian locked up on the approach to turn one, stranding for Venturi at the corner and bringing out a full course yellow as the time ticked down. The racing soon got underway once again and Da Costa just held onto the lead when deploying his final attack mode to stay ahead of teammate Vergne, as Lotterer and Bird battled for the final podium position, it was a fight that would continue into the latter stages. Vergne soon began to drop down the order in the final stages of the race, presumably struggling with energy consumption issues before any hope of points was wiped out as Audi’s Lucas di Grassi hit him on the penultimate lap, sending the reigning champion back to the garage to lick his wounds.

Da Costa cemented his status as championship leader and looked relatively unbothered for the majority of the race, despite a nervy last half lap where he looked in danger of running out of energy, claiming his second win of the season, ahead of Andre Lotterer and Sam Bird who finally got his championship hopes back on track. However, despite this seemingly easy win, Berlin threw some sparks out in the form of the building pressure between Da Costa and teammate Vergne, the Frenchman not impressed by what he felt was overconsumption of energy needed to make sure he kept up with his teammate. Only time will tell in the next nine days as Formula E will return tomorrow.

 

 

Why you should watch Formula E’s Big Berlin Finale

Image: Courtesy of Formula E

Its no secret that Formula E divides the motorsport community, but here’s why you should watch the Berlin finale that kicks off in just under a fortnight’s time.

The championship:

Image courtesy of Formula E

Formula E is undoubtedly one of the most competitive open-wheeled series you will find. With five different winners in the opening five races, the championship is wide open. Antonio Felix Da Costa has a slender lead going into the final six races; only eleven points clear of Mitch Evans in second. Third is Alexander Sims just a further ten points behind. In fact, eight teams are represented by drivers in the top ten. Both championships are wide open: lots of wheel to wheel action is certain.

New Faces:

The return of Formula E on the fifth August also sees the return of many drivers. However, three drivers that will not be returning to the grid are Dragon’s Brendon Hartley, Nio’s Ma Qinghua, and Mahindra’s Pascal Wehrlein. This opens up spaces for two new drivers to enter the frame: Rene Rast, and Sergio Sette Camara. Following Audi’s dismissal of Daniel Abt earlier in lockdown, the German team announced that Rene Rast would take his seat, with Abt later being confirmed for Nio. At the time, the dropping of Abt caused much controversy and many thought it a shame that he did not have a seat on the grid. However, Nio picked the German up and he is ready and raring to get racing again. Pascal Wehrlein and Brendon Hartley also announced that they had parted ways with their teams; leaving a seat for Alex Lynn’s to make his return at Mahindra and Sette Camara to join Dragon. With all the fresh faces wanting to prove themselves, we are guaranteed to see an exciting end to the season.

Six Races, Nine Days:

Once the season gets underway again the races will come thick and fast with three double headers, all in the space of nine days. Despite all taking place at the same venue, the Berlin Tempelhof, Formula E decided that there will be three different variations of the track, one for each of the double headers. On the fifth and sixth August, the drivers will drive the reverse layout of the traditional circuit, followed by the normal way around two days later on the eighth and ninth. However, for the final two races, we will see a new track, with turns four to fourteen given a complete shake up. These new circuits will add an extra dimension to the day as drivers have have to learn their way around and then race, all on the same day. Entertainment is certain to ensue.

More Environmentally Friendly Than Ever:

One of Formula E’s biggest selling points (at least for me) is it’s significantly better impact on the environment compared to other forms of motorsport. Any form of racing is going to have a negative impact on the environment, but being all electric, Formula E is going to be much better than that of the likes of Formula One. With all the races being at the same venue, the teams will not have to travel between events, greatly reducing their carbon footprint. Not only that, but the lack of spectators means less food and less travelling, both being two of the biggest contributing factors to the Climate Crisis. For people who love racing, but are concerned by Climate Change, the Big Berlin Finale is almost perfect.

In short, there’s many things to be excited about. Lots of racing, new drivers, championships wide open. The final six races of ABB FIA Formula E Championship are poised to be some of the greatest days of not only Formula E’s history, but arguably the entirety of motorsport.

Formula E history made as Gunther snatches win in Santiago

Last year, Max Günther’s days in Formula E looked numbered. Despite an impressive start with Dragon, the German looked set to lose his seat to ex-F1 driver Felipe Nasr. Indeed, he was forced to sit out three rounds before he was reinstated in Rome, repaying the team’s trust one race later by finishing in an impressive P5. When BMW lost António Félix da Costa to current champions Techeetah, Günther’s ability to fill the gap left by the Portuguese driver was questioned. But Günther silenced the critics with a hard-fought win in Santiago last weekend, taking his first career win and becoming the youngest driver ever to win a race in the series. In doing so, he solidified BMW’s stronghold at the top of the constructor’s championship.

Mitch Evans started the race in the top spot, claiming his and Jaguar’s second pole position, beating out Günther by a mere two tenths of a second. Pascal Wehrlein posted a half decent laptime to start in P3, with Felipe Massa matching the Mahindra’s time to the exact second. The biggest surprise was that of Oliver Turvey who managed to make his first superpole appearance in over a year, slotting his NIO into a respectable P5, whilst Sébastien Buemi failed to hook it up and had to settle for a disappointing P6. Mercedes again looked strong in qualifying with Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries both slotting into the top ten whilst Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara used the Mercedes powertrain to great effect and merely missed out in a spot in the superpole shootout. The Swiss driver managed to pull out a superb time after an amazing recovery to avoid Robin Frijns who lost control of his Virgin on the approach to turn one. Other casualties included Jérôme d’Ambrosio who suffered powertrain failure, leaving him to nurse his Mahindra to the finish line whilst Oliver Rowland, who was fastest in practise, made contact with the wall at turn 5, ruling him out of contention.

Credit: Formula E

Evans maintained his lead at the start of the race, as Wehrlein took advantage of Günther’s scrappy start to snatch away P2, whilst further down the field, championship leader Alexander Sims began his climb up the order, by forcing his way past the Porsches of André Lotterer and Neel Jani. However, the BMW picked up damage during the confusion and came to a stop on the track. It was to be a disappointing end to the weekend for Sims, after such a successful start to the opening campaign in Riyadh. Sam Bird also suffered more bad luck as he was spun around after an incident between Oliver Rowland and Daniel Abt into turn 11, dropping out of points contention and down to a lowly 19th place. Rowland was the next casualty as he lost part of his front wing, forcing him into the pits as Mortara passed Turvey and upped the pressure on the leading pair of Günther and Evans.

Santiago soon turned into the battle of the teammates as Felipe Massa joined his teammate at the front battle, and soon sparks were flying as the pair jostled for the top spot. Massa was forced to yield at turn 7 after being forced wide, opening the door for Techeetah pair Da Costa and reigning champion Jean-Éric Vergne to slip through. With just over twenty minutes left on the clock, Günther used his last few remaining seconds of attack mode to snatch the lead away from Evans. Vergne disposed of Wehrlein to secure P3 before disaster struck as the Techeetah’s front left tyre began to rub against the bodywork. Vergne tried to hold off his advancing teammate, but was forced to give up the position and pull into the pits, another unfortunate end to a poor opening campaign.

Credit: Formula E

Da Costa on the other hand, began to chase down the leaders. He managed to pass Evans with just over five minutes remaining, before he hunted down Günther. As the two cars approached turn 10, Da Costa forced the German wide, passing the BMW on the inside with more force than was necessary. As the time ticked down, with both drivers struggling with battery temperature, Günther sensed an opportunity and in the dying moments of the race, retook the lead into turn 9 and ultimately, the victory – his first career win and BMW’s second win of the campaign. He was joined by Da Costa in his first podium appearance for reigning champions Techeetah and poleman Evans, who was forced to settle for P3.

Formula E will return in Mexico City on 15th February.

Ad Diriyah ePrix: The tale of two different races

Season 6 of Formula E kicked off again this weekend and the double header certainly did not disappoint, treating fans to two action-packed races in the heart of Saudi Arabia’s capital. Ultimately, it would be BMW’s Alexander Sims who walked away from the weekend as the championship leader. The British driver snatched his second pole away in the opening race ahead of tough competition from Mercedes duo Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne, with a time of 1.14.563, allowing him to claim the crucial three points as de Vries’s final sector fell just short and he fell to P3 as his teammate Vandoorne snatched away a front row position. Venturi’s Mortara solidified Mercedes’ strong start to their debut season as he bagged P4 for the customer team ahead of Sam Bird and Jerome D’Ambrosio who both made costly mistakes on their flying laps.

Sims made a clean getaway from the chasing Mercedes at the start of race one and held the lead, whilst further down the field, Bird became locked in a battle with Mortara and D’Ambrosio as the trio fought to chase down the two Mercedes ahead. Bird finally managed to slip past de Vries with fifteen minutes left on the clock and that set the wheels in motion. As Vandoorne was trying to protect his position from a chasing Bird, he managed to take the lead from Sims who dropped back to P3. Bird continued to pressure Vandoorne who was yet to use his attack mode and took the lead with ten minutes remaining. The Envision Virgin driver was pressured a little later in the dying moments of the race by a safety car brought out by Daniel Abt’s accident but he held firm to scoop his ninth win of his Formula E career, with Lotterer and Vandoorne rounding off the podium and taking Porsche’s and Mercedes’ first podiums respectively as poleman Sims slipped to eighth.

Credit: Courtesy of Formula E

Sims however, was determined to not make the same mistakes again, and took pole position once more in the second qualifying session, taking the record of most consecutive poles – three – along the way. The BMW driver fought off stiff competition from Buemi and di Grassi to take the three points for the second time that weekend as D’Ambrosio tapped the wall on his fast lap and Da Costa struggled in the early stages compromising his lap. It was not the start that DS Techeetah wanted, with reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne having a weekend to forget as he was forced out of race one and into the pits, and was hit with a grid penalty prior to the second race, leaving him at the back of the pack.

Sims again had a strong start holding off previous champions Buemi and di Grassi for the lead as Da Costa sensed the opportunity to snatch P3 away from di Grassi, eager to hand Techeetah their first win of the season. However, as he chased down Buemi, he made contact with the Nissan driver, forcing spinning off the track for which he picked up a drive through penalty. Bird also made gains as he and Evans began a duel that would last until a slight contact sent the Envision Virgin driver into the wall and out of the race, leaving Evans also with a time penalty for causing the collision. Virgin’s luck did not improve when Robin Frijns sent his car into the wall, leaving the championship contenders with no points in the second race, a marked disappointment from the first.

As one of two safety cars was sent out in order for Frijns’ car to be recovered, on the restart, Max Gunther slipped past di Grassi and into P3, a manouvre that cost him dearly as despite claiming P2, the position was stripped away a few hours after the race and the German was served with a time penalty. Da Costa peeled into the pits to serve his penalty as his former team seemed set for a 1-2 finish. Di Grassi passed Vandoorne for the final podium position in the closing stages of the race, but it was to no avail as Sims clinched his first ever Formula E win. After penalties were applied, Di Grassi was promoted to P2 and Vandoorne joining him in P3 for his second podium finish of the season. However, his teammate de Vries was handed a time penalty for overtaking during the safety car, an unfortunate end to a stunning drive up into the points whilst NIO’s Oliver Turvey had his points cruelly snatched away and was disqualified from the race due to energy overconsumption.

Formula E will return in Santiago on January 18th.

Legendary Races Week: 2014 Beijing ePrix 2014

The proposal for a city-based electric car championship was initially conceived by Jean Todt, and presented before politicians Alejandro Agag, the eventual CEO of the sport, and Antonio Tajani in Paris on the 3rd March 2011. However, it would be over another three years before the series would actually come into fruition. The first Formula E race was held on 13th September 2014 in Beijing, the capital city of China. Twenty cars, all of the same specification lined up on the grid, all run by different teams, with some household names such as Renault and Audi amongst the mix. Many of the drivers involved too were familiar to people in motorsport – with the likes of Sebastien Buemi, Jaimi Alguersuari and Nick Heidfeld all participating in the inaugural race.

Nico Prost of Renault e.dams snatched pole position, ahead of the Audi Sport Abt cars of Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt, taking three valuable points for the coveted position. It was a sign of things to come – of the dominance that Renault would hold over the championship for the next three years, and the fierce rivalry between themselves and the Audi Sport Abt team. Prost held off pressure from the two chasing Abt cars at the start to keep hold of his lead, whilst Nick Heidfeld managed to get an excellent start off the line, picking off Franck Montagny and Karun Chandhok to place himself directly behind the leading trio. Contact on the opening lap lead to a broken suspension for Bruno Senna who found himself out of contention whilst Jarno Trulli was forced to stop after battery issues. The technical problems faced by the drivers and their teams were to be expected in a newly-fangled championship in which much of the technology had not been subjected to true racing conditions.

Credit: LAT/Formula E

Senna’s stricken car brought out the safety car on the second lap, where it remained for three laps before racing resumed. Montagny was immediately aggressive on the restart, forcing his way through on Alguersuari in the exit of turn 19 for P6. The Spaniard also fell victim to teammate Sam Bird, who monopolised on the opportunity to snatch away P7. Montagny continued to push as he disposed of Chandhok in the final corner on lap 10 before moving onto Heidfeld as the race approached half distance. However, Heidfeld held firm as the two cars entered the pitlane to jump into their second cars. The car-swap pitstop is another indicator of how far the battery technology Formula E has come within the last few years, with the Gen 2 cars lasting a maximum of 45 minutes without the need for a second car.

As the pitstops were completed, Prost continued to lead as Heidfeld got the jump on the two Audi Abt cars ahead of him slotting himself into P2, with Montagny beating Abt into P4. Heidfeld began to be pressured by Di Grassi almost immediately, allowing Prost to pull a gap of around 3.5 seconds, extending to just under 4 seconds on lap 16. However, within the next three laps, Heidfeld began to gain vital ground on the race leader, slashing Prost’s advantage to just under a second. The German continued to apply pressure on Prost until the final lap. Heidfeld swung to the right as they approached the final corner at turn 20, only for Prost to turn into the Venturi at the last moment, sending Heidfeld careering off the track and into the barriers. Prost sheepishly pulled over, allowing di Grassi to take the lead of the race and win the first ever Formula E race. It was almost apt in a way – di Grassi was sought out by Agag to become the official test driver for the first Formula E car and was heavily involved in aspects of its development. He was joined on the podium by Montagny and  Bird after Abt was penalised for exceeding the maximum amount of permitted energy, demoting him from the final podium position.

Credit: LAT/Formula E

However, as Heidfeld crawled out from underneath his stricken car, he probably never thought that he could have been the one to make history, his mind no doubt was clouded with anger towards Prost for ending his race. Looking back on the race now, and the strong position that Formula E finds itself in, with arguably the largest number of manufacturers in any single-seater motorsport series and the highest pedigree of drivers now pushing for careers within the championship, it showcases how far the series has come in a few short years – both in terms of technical development and public opinion.

Formula E is becoming a well-known brand, a far cry from the days where it was written off as a graveyard series for ex-F1 drivers – it now flourishes, bringing the concept of sustainable energy into the heart of cities with competition for seats in the series fierce and manufacturing giants such as Mercedes, Porsche and Audi actively creating programmes to race in the series. But every legend has to start somewhere – and for Formula E, it was in Beijing, where twenty cars lined up on the grid, not knowing that in a few short years, they would help to forge the beginnings of a new championship that grows from strength to strength. It is for this reason, that the Beijing ePrix will be remembered as a legendary race and for sparking the beginning of a new, exciting motorsport series that would continue to divide opinion.

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