Sam Bird and Jaguar TCS Racing sign a new contract extension ahead of the first race of Season 8.
Season 8 may not have begun, but Sam Bird has already secured his future with Jaguar TCS racing by signing a multi-year contract extension.
The team and driver pairing enjoyed a successful season 7, their first year together, with Bird taking two race wins in Diriyah and New York. He also enjoyed a further podium finish in Rome. These results, alongside the efforts of his teammate Mitch Evans, helped the team to secure 2nd in the championship.
It was undoubtedly a successful first season together and this contract extension shows that Jaguar is confident Bird is the right man to continue this success. It will provide a huge boost to all parties so close to the first race of Season 8.
Image Credit: Formula E
The exact length of the contract has not been confirmed, however it means that Sam Bird will enter the new Gen3 era, in Season 9, as a Jaguar driver.
Bird stated “My first season with Jaguar TCS Racing told me everything I needed to know – I wanted to continue to be a part of the Jaguar TCS Racing family.”
He added that “The whole team is determined, focussed and ready to get results and that’s exactly who I want to be working with. Now it’s time to get season eight underway and ensure we put all our off-season practice and learnings into action to score as many points as possible.”
This sentiment was echoed by the Team Principle of Jaguar TCS Racing, James Barclay. “It is a really positive start to Season 8 as we confirm Sam Bird will continue his electric racing career with Jaguar TCS Racing after a great first season with the team. Sam’s results from last year demonstrate he fits in extremely well here at Jaguar TCS Racing, shares our goals and is very much part of the family.”
The all-electric Porsche Taycan will be the new Formula E safety car, launching at the first race of Season 8.
Shortly ahead of the first race of Season 8, Formula E has launched their new safety car. The Porsche Taycan is the first fully electric sports car made by Porsche.
Under the striking and colourful paint job, designed to represent all current Formula E teams, is 560kW of power, allowing the machine to reach top speeds of up to 260kh/h.
The aim is for this vehicle to highlight the “social values such as diversity and community” of all teams, as well as paying homage to the commitment of all 22 drivers.
Image Credit: Formula E
Vice President of Porsche Motorsport, Thomas Laudenbach, commented that “The distinctive design illustrates our commitment to the successful future of this innovative racing series. Although we’re rivals out on the track, we’re spreading this message to the world together. What’s more, we hope that this also enables us to appeal to a younger target audience who are not yet motorsport fans.”
Jamie Reigle, Formula E’s CEO added that “In designing the Formula E Safety Car, Porsche reimagined the critical on-track safety function to be a powerful symbol of the championship’s commitment to an electrified future and the unity of the competitors in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.”
Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer, Maserati, have announced they will be joining Formula E in Season 9.
When the new Gen 3 Formula E cars launch, a new team will be lining up on the grid. It has been announced that Maserati will be joining the all-electric series from Season 9.
Maserati, and their Folgore electric brand, are “proud” to be returning to single-seater motorsport after a long 60-year absence.
“We are very proud to be back where we belong as protagonists in the world of racing. We are powered by passion and innovative by nature” stated their CEO, Davide Grasso. He continued by saying “We have a long history of world-class excellence in competition and we are ready to drive performance in the future.”
Maserati’s successful motorsport history includes an F1 World Championship, won by Jan Manuel Fangio in 1957, and two Indy500 wins, in 1939 and 1940. Arguable, Maserati’s greatest successes came in Sportcar and GT racing, with 4 Targa Florio wins and, more recently, 14 FIA GT titles since 2004.
Image Credit: Formula E
The news comes after the announcement that three giant teams – Mercedes, Audi and BMW – will be leaving the sport at the end of Season 8. This much-needed boost will help to quash some of the discussions around the future of Formula E and the potential success of the Gen3 era.
CEO Jamie Reigle commented that “Formula E races in the heart of the most iconic cities in the world and is followed passionately by a progressive global audience. Our millions of fans will be thrilled to see Maserati line up on the grid as one of the world’s elite electric car brands.”
Alejandro Aga, Founder and Chairman, continued this by stating that “The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is the pinnacle of electric racing. It provides the perfect environment for the most dynamic and innovative high-performance car brands to showcase their technological capabilities alongside their sporting ambitions.”
Ahead of the 2022/2023 season, Formula E has provided us with a glimpse at their new net-zero carbon Gen3 cars, as well as announcing a new cost cap for manufacturers.
With the car due to officially launch in spring 2022, Formula E has provided some insight into the changes we can expect to see in their Gen3 cars. This new generation of all-electric racing machines will be used from season 9 onwards and, overall, will be more efficient and faster.
The teaser images shared at the end of November don’t give away too much about the car’s design but they do start to show the angular shape of the chassis and wings. This look has been inspired by an “aero-efficient delta wing of a fighter jet”.
The design also boasts a wider rear and a lack of wheel covers. The latter feature should allow for closer wheel-to-wheel battles as the cars will be able to cope with more considerable contact.
Image Credit: Formula E
When it comes to the technical specs, the most notable development is the increase in regenerative energy, harnessed from the braking system. Up to 40% of a Formula E Gen3 car’s power will now be produced in this way.
Additionally, all racing cars will also have a front and rear powertrain, with 250kW of energy coming from the front of the car and 350kW coming from the back. This development means that the Gen3 car will have more than double the amount of energy when compared to the Gen2 model. Thanks to this added front powertrain, the Gen3 car will also be the first formula car to not feature a rear hydraulic brake system.
With the overall cars being lighter and smaller than their Gen2 predecessor, the Gen3 machine will have a more efficient power-to-weight ratio and will be capable of top speeds of up to 200mph.
In addition to the changes to the cars, for the 9th season of Formula E teams and manufacturers will face a new cost cap. This means that powertrain manufacturers will be limited to spending €25 million across two consecutive seasons. However, with most teams already working on their Gen3 machines, this cost cap is unlikely to have an immediate effect on the teams.
Image Credit: Formula E
When discussing the developments we will see in the 9th series, Formula E’s CEO Jamie Reigle stated that: “In designing the Gen3 car, we set out to demonstrate that high performance, efficiency and sustainability can co-exist without compromise. Together with the FIA, we have built the world’s most efficient and sustainable high performance race car.”
“The Gen3 is our fastest, lightest, most powerful and efficient racing car yet. It is a creature designed for its habitat: racing on city streets in wheel-to-wheel combat. We look forward to witnessing it inspire and excite the next generation of motorsport fans in cities around the world from Season 9 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.”
The sun is beginning to set on another enthralling season of Formula E as the championship heads to Berlin with 18 drivers still in championship contention.
Formula E returns to the Berlin Tempelhof Airport for its season finale this weekend as both teams and constructors titles are still wide open. It will be the 6th time the all electric racing series has visited the airport, with the circuit making its debut in 2015, albeit with a different layout. With just 10 turns and only 2.4km long, the current layout was first used in 2017 and has since become a staple of the Formula E calendar.
This year, however, there is a slight change to the weekend. Following last year’s successful running of 3 different layouts, the second race will be run in reverse, with work needing to be done overnight to ensure that the barriers are all correctly positioned for the new design. The reverse loop was trialed in 2020 as part of the series’ unprecedented 6 races in 9 days season finale.
A staggering 18 drivers and 10 teams come in to the weekend able to win the championships, as Mercedes EQ driver Nyck De Vries edges out Envision Virgin’s Robin Frijns by just 6 points. A whopping 29 points is available for each of the two races so it really is all to play for.
In the teams championship, Envision Virgin lead Mercedes EQ by just 7 points. Jaguar are a mere 2 points further back.
Audi in particular will look to end the season strong as they say goodbye to the series. Created by Hans Jurgen Abt, the German team were among the first to enter the series back in Season 1. Despite some name changes along the way they have become one of the most successful and iconic teams the sport has ever had, finally winning the constructors championship in Season 4 (the 2017/18 season) with their drivers Lucas Di Grassi and Daniel Abt.
With the departure of Audi, we may also see the departure of their star driver Lucas Di Grassi. Di Grassi has driven every race for the German team since Formula E’s inception, and he has become one of the sports best ever drivers. From the very first race Di Grassi had etched his name into the history books, capitalizing on a collision between Nico Prost and Nick Hiedfeld to win the inaugural race. He then followed this win up a few years later with a Season 3 title win. Lucas himself is confident of remaining in the series next year, with rumors circling that he may take Norman Nato’s Venturi seat. However, if Formula E has taught us anything, it’s that this series is never predictable, so a Di Grassi exit cannot be ruled out.
Prior to this weekend it was also announced that several drivers will remain with their teams for next season, whilst BMW will also (sort of) leave the sport. Both Porsche drivers, Pascal Wehrlein and Andre Lotterer will continue with the German outfit, and Robin Frijns will still race for Envision Virgin. BMWi Andretti’s Jake Dennis will also remain at the team as it changes its name to Andretti Autosport. BMW will continue to supply the powertrains however.
It’s set to be a weekend of both firsts and lasts in Berlin and with both championships still wide open, you’d be a fool to miss it.
Formula E returned this weekend, after a two week break to what is considered the glittering jewel in the motorsport crown, the glamorous and iconic streets of Monaco. Although it was familiar territory to the drivers, the venue boasted a new track layout, with the cars able to use the full track for the first time in the electric series’ history. Nyck de Vries headed into the weekend as the championship leader, but for him and Mercedes, it threw up heartbreak for the German manufacturer. Reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa claimed a dominant pole position in the streets of the principality, beating Envision Virgin’s Robin Frijns by a mere whisker. Mitch Evans started in P3 in the Jaguar, who ran just a few tenths shy of the pole time. Former champion Jean-Eric Vergne and Max Gunther lined up in P4 and P5 respectively, whilst Oliver Rowland rounded out the top six, having his laptime deleted as he left the garage too late, a factor not aided by Sergio Sette Camara’s late crash in group 4 which brought out the red flag and forced Sebastien Buemi and Tom Blomqvist to reattempt their flying laps. Title favourites Mercedes again struggled in the conditions, forced to start near the back of the grid, as was Jaguar’s Sam Bird who started in a lowly P16.
Credit: Formula E
Da Costa started well, getting the jump almost immediately on Frijns and Evans, however, the Dutchman was able to stay with the reigning champion and the pair of them began to pull away from the rest of the field whilst Wehrlein and Sims got tangled together in a bizarre incident at the famous Mirabeau hairpin. Within five minutes, Frijns closed in on Da Costa and snatched the lead away. Da Costa responded by taking attack mode, but it was to no avail. The pair of them headed at the front, as Bird and Di Grassi, both of whom had started down the order began to claw their way into the points-paying positions. Da Costa and Frijns fought for the lead as the time ticked away, both swapping positions whenever their attack modes were taken, which allowed Evans to come back into play, bringing Gunther and Vergne with him. Vergne looked impressive in the Techeetah, but made a mistake and failed to activate his second attack mode, which allowed Gunther through to fight for the podium. Da Costa used his fanboost to great effect to fly past Frijns for the lead going into the famous tunnel, whilst Evans too began his charge using his second attack mode to sweep past Frijns a lap later. Evans soon disposed of Da Costa for the lead with fifteen minutes left on the clock and everything looked in order, until Rene Rast’s Audi stopped on the climb up towards Casino Square bringing out the safety car and with it, the dreaded energy reduction.
Credit: Formula E
As in Valencia, Monaco showcased a thrilling sprint to the finish line in the dying stages of the race as Da Costa, desperate to shake off the demons of two weeks prior, swept past Evans for the lead for the race out of the tunnel, a move he had used previously to pass Frijns earlier. Evans was pipped to P2 by Frijns, after the energy reduction left him vulnerable and had to settle for the final podium position. The trio were followed by Vergne who just missed out on the podium, Gunther, Rowland and Bird rounded out the top seven. Due to the failure of Mercedes’ driver and championship leader Nyck de Vries to score any points, Robin Frijns inherited the championship lead as we head to Mexico in five weeks time.
Season 7 of Formula E officially kicked off this weekend for the season’s first night race in history. Set in the sprawling desert of Ad Diriyah, the historical old city under carbon-friendly lights, the double header was certainly a tale of two halves with Mercedes driver Nyck de Vries heading to Rome as the championship leader, but by no means are Mercedes running away with their first potential title in the electric series. De Vries had shown a strong start to the weekend in topping both practice sessions and took a dominant pole in qualifying, by six tenths of a second from his nearest rival, Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein. Rene Rast was able to line up in P3 in his first full season in Formula E, whilst Edo Mortara was able to put the Mercedes powertrain to good use and claim P4 in the Venturi. Alex Lynn and Mitch Evans rounded out the top six, the pair promoted to the final two slots of superpole by a bizarre timing incident in the initial qualifying stages in which Sergio Sette Camara crashed at the end of qualifying. Nick Cassidy, Tom Blomqvist and Nico Muller’s laps were deleted by the stewards and they were not permitted to run again. The qualifying format again mixed up the grid with the reigning champions Techeetah and Mercedes’ Stoffel Vandoorne starting near the back having had to go out in the dreaded group one.
Credit: Formula E
De Vries continued his dominance in the first race, pulling away almost immediately from a struggling Wehrlein at the start, and from there, he never looked back. The Dutchman controlled the race perfectly, dictating the pace even throughout two safety car periods. Behind him, Wehrlein and Rast fought for track position, but the pair never threatened De Vries’ building lead. Despite Mercedes’ dominance, the driver of the day was surely Mortara. Starting fourth, he pulled a stunning manouvre on Evans and Wehrlein – passing them both on the straight by darting past the Jaguar and squeezing himself into the gap left by Wehrlein. The Porsche faded in the latter stages of the race, with Evans able to claim P3 from Wehrlein. On the other side of Jaguar’s garage, Sam Bird’s first outing did not go to plan. The Brit was looking strong, battling for P6 with Alex Lynn when the two collided, bringing out the first safety car of the season. A second safety car followed to recover Max Gunther’s stricken car, allowing the battle for P2 to be ignited in the dying stages of the race, Mortara using his attack mode to sweep into the second podium position. But it was de Vries who claimed his first win for Mercedes, and all eyes were firmly fixed on the second race to see if the German team would continue their winning streak.
Credit: Formula E
If Race 1 was heaven for Mercedes, then Race 2 was almost certainly hell. A horrendous crash in the sole free practise session for race hero Mortara saw the Venturi driver taken to hospital for additional checks and all Mercedes-powered cars were banned from taking part in the qualifying session. It was later discovered that this was the result of a software issue leading to brake failure. With Mercedes and Venturi out, qualifying became a mixed grid. Evans and Rast failed to set a time in the opening group as they didn’t reach the start-finish line in time, leaving them at the back of the pack. But it was another Dutchman – Envision Virgin’s Robin Frijns who stormed the field by half a second, joined in superpole by ex-teammate Sam Bird, the Dragon cars of Nico Muller and Sergio Sette Camara, and the Nio 333 cars of Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Turvey. Ultimately, Frijns took the first pole of his Formula E career ahead of Camara who took an impressive front row in the Dragon and Sam Bird slotting into P3. Turvey and Blomqvist filled P4 and P5, with Muller taking the final spot in the top six after a scrappy run. It was an excellent boost to Dragon and Nio to have both cars inside the top six after their previous struggles over the past few seasons. With the likes of Mercedes and Audi starting further back, the second race was expected to provide fireworks and it certainly did. Frijns pulled away at the front, taking Sam Bird with him as Camara suffered an initial poor start – and the pair began their duel in the desert with Frijns leading the way. However, the Dutchman began to struggle with energy consumption and fell behind Bird on lap 21. However, the ex teammates were not the only ones caught in a duel. The tension that had simmered between current reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa and former two time champion Jean-Eric Vergne was reignited as the pair began their rapid ascent through the pack in the opening stages of the race. However, after their initial harmony when arming themselves with attack mode, the pair came together at turn 23, narrowly avoiding an incident. Vergne never got to challenge Frijns for P2 after the race was red-flagged after a long safety car period with four minutes remaining on the clock.
Credit: Formula E
Mahindra’s Alex Lynn was involved in a massive incident with Mitch Evans in the latter stages in which his car became airbourne at one stage. Lynn was taken to the hospital and thankfully, has now been released. Due to the severity of the incident, the stewards deemed the order the cars were in behind the safety car the valid result – with Bird taking his first win for Jaguar, Frijns collecting his first podium of the season, and Vergne rounding out the top three. However, the Techeetah man’s podium was taken away a few hours after the race when he was served a penalty for not taking his second attack mode during the race. Rast and Blomqvist too were penalised for failing to use their attack modes, whilst Nick Cassidy who had finished an impressive P5 was handed a time penalty for speeding infringements.
Riyadh’s first night race served up some interesting fireworks, and it’s almost certain that the action will continue in Rome in six weeks’ time.
Today, it was announced that McLaren will branch out of their already extensive motorsport catalogue, with the news that they have secured the option to enter the 2022-2023 Formula E season ahead of the launch of the Gen3 electric car. Although it’s uncertain yet as to what role they will take in participating, whether as a full manufacturer outfit or otherwise, the signs are clear that they intend to make a move into the rapidly growing electric series. “We’ve been closely observing Formula E for some time and monitoring the series’ progress and future direction,” Chief Executive Officer Zak Brown said in a press release issued by Formula E earlier today. “The opportunity to take an option on an entry, together with the completion of the McLaren Applied supplier contract with the FIA at the end of Gen 2 gives us the necessary time to decide if Formula E is right for McLaren as a future competition platform,” McLaren is no stranger to Formula E, having been a part of the spec car back in the series’ infancy. The first version of the electric car contained an electric motor, transmission and electronics all created by the Woking-based manufacturer. Despite the fact that there is more creative freedom within Formula E in terms of the powertrain and gearbox in latter seasons, McLaren Applied Technology has supplied all the batteries that power the cars since 2018 – allowing them for the first time to complete the entire race distance without the need for pit stops or car changes. With the contract expiring at the end of the 2021/2022 season, it comes as little surprise that McLaren would choose to branch out into one of the fastest growing series in motorsport, particularly as they have been at the heart of the action since the very beginning. Their pledge to take an option with Formula E has particular significance, BMW and Audi have chosen to bow out of the series and McLaren may have sensed an opportunity to further their own prospects. With an already well established role within the NASCAR and IndyCar market in the United States, McLaren may have seen Formula E’s potential of bringing electric sustainability and racing to the heart of cities, particularly within places such as Jakarta and Seoul, lucrative markets which McLaren could potentially tap into. Mercedes and Audi have used their participation in Formula E with great effect, using it to promote their electric road cars and McLaren may well do the same – especially as they plan to launch their first hybrid road car in 2021, with the hopes of developing a roadworthy EV by 2025. McLaren as a motorsport constructor are now flourishing under Brown’s rule – a more relaxed approach than that of his predecessor Ron Dennis, and after several years of disappointment, are beginning to reap the benefits. It remains to be seen if McLaren will join Formula E in any capacity but the signs of them wanting to branch out beyond F1 are there.
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.
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.
image courtesy of Formula E
image courtesy of Sergio Sette Formula e
