M.N.D
Oversteer Expert
First of all, I didn't follow the previous seasons of Formula E, mainly because I didn't like the circuits design that are designed in an urban environment...
However, since the fourth season is starting this Saturday, 2nd of December 2017, and the fact that some big names decide jump on board for future seasons (BMW for season 5 in 2018-2019, Mercedes and Porsche for season 6 in 2019-2020, while Audi and Jaguar have active teams already), I'll give it a shot by following the races, which are live streamed on their official YouTube channel. So, I think that it might be a good idea if this thread will be used for discussing Formula E and its related topics (races, technology, future direction of the sport, etc...). I'll try to provide an introduction post for the sport after preparing it to be considered as a start.
Looking forward to see your input
Edit: Thank you @WAND for opening the thread in the first place, hope you don't mind what I've added
However, since the fourth season is starting this Saturday, 2nd of December 2017, and the fact that some big names decide jump on board for future seasons (BMW for season 5 in 2018-2019, Mercedes and Porsche for season 6 in 2019-2020, while Audi and Jaguar have active teams already), I'll give it a shot by following the races, which are live streamed on their official YouTube channel. So, I think that it might be a good idea if this thread will be used for discussing Formula E and its related topics (races, technology, future direction of the sport, etc...). I'll try to provide an introduction post for the sport after preparing it to be considered as a start.
Looking forward to see your input
Edit: Thank you @WAND for opening the thread in the first place, hope you don't mind what I've added
M.N.D
Oversteer Expert
The official website:
Formula E
The official YouTube Channel:
FIA Formula E Championship
If you are unfamiliar with Formula E, it is a global racing series that runs fully electrical single seater / open wheel racing cars that compete on street circuits.
This video is from 2015, but gives a good insight on the sport:
A newer video (2017) shorter and a bit less detailed:
Race tracks are temporary street circuits in cities worldwide, with a length varies from 2~3.4 km / 1.25~2.13 miles.
Each team has two drivers, and all drivers drive the same car, which makes Formula E a spec series. However, there are some components that differ from a manufacturer to another.
Speaking of the car, it is called Spark-Renault SRT_01E. It is powered by a 170 kW / 225 HP electric motor provided by McLaren (output is increased for 2017-2018 season). The chassis is built by Dallara, while the tires are a single compound Michelin 18 inch that look like regular street cars.
The car in Audi's livery, which is officially named Audi e-tron FE04
Some videos for a better understanding of the Formula E car (season 2 2015-2016)
Some changes for season 3 (2016-2017)
THE VIDEO IS IN THE LINK BELOW ⇩
How Are Formula E Cars Different In Season 3?
Edit: The racing format has been moved to the following post below, as the videos are not embedded directly on the post due to the 5 media files limit on each post.
M.N.D
Oversteer Expert
Edit: The race format information that was available above have been moved to this post for an easier access to the videos provided.
The racing format is a single day race (some cities like Hong Kong and New York have two races on two days). There are two unsual features that cannot be found in other racing formats, fanboost and car change during the pit stop.
Point scoring is similar the usual 25-18-15 down to 01 that is found in F1 and other racing formats, with a bonus of 3 additional points for pole positioin.
These videos below discuss racing format and strategy:
The main quirk of Formula E is FanBoost, which I believe is formed to attract to the social-media-driven crowd.
The pit stop looks like this
Do you feel TL;DR? See this video below
The racing format is a single day race (some cities like Hong Kong and New York have two races on two days). There are two unsual features that cannot be found in other racing formats, fanboost and car change during the pit stop.
Point scoring is similar the usual 25-18-15 down to 01 that is found in F1 and other racing formats, with a bonus of 3 additional points for pole positioin.
These videos below discuss racing format and strategy:
The main quirk of Formula E is FanBoost, which I believe is formed to attract to the social-media-driven crowd.
The pit stop looks like this
Do you feel TL;DR? See this video below
M.N.D
Oversteer Expert
Anyway, for the upcoming season 4 (2017-2018), here is the calendar:
Round 1
02 DEC 2017 - Hong Kong
Round 2
03 DEC 2017 - Hong Kong
Round 3
13 JAN 2018 - Marrakesh, Morroco
Round 4
03 FEB 2018 - Santiago, Chile
Round 5
03 MAR 2018 - Mexico City, Mexico
Round 6
17 MAR 2018 - Sao Paulo, Brazil
Round 7
14 APR 2018 - Rome, Italy
Round 8
28 APR 2018 - Paris, France
Round 9
19 MAY 2018 - Berlin, Germany
Round 10
10 JUN 2018 - Zurich, Switzerland
Round 11
14 JUL 2018 - New York City, USA
Round 12
15 JUL 2018 - New York City, USA
Round 13
28 JUL 2018 - Montreal, Canada
Round 14
29 JUL 2018 - Montreal, Canada
------------------------------------------
Teams and Drivers:
The format is as follows:
Team name / Nationality
Manufacturer
Chassis
Nationality / Number / Driver
* The information is copied from Wikipedia after checking the official website
-----------------------------------------
/ Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
Spark-Audi
Audi e-tron FE04
/ #1 / Lucas di Grassi
/ #66 / Daniel Abt
-----------------------------------------
/ DS Virgin Racing Spark-Citroën
DS Virgin
DSV-03
/ #2 / Sam Bird
/ #36 / Alex Lynn
-----------------------------------------
/ Panasonic Jaguar Racing
Spark-Jaguar
Jaguar I-Type II
/ #3 / Nelson Piquet Jr.
/ #20 / Mitch Evans
-----------------------------------------
/ Venturi Formula E Team
Spark-Venturi
Venturi VM200-FE-03
/ #4 / Edoardo Mortara
/ #5 /Maro Engel
-----------------------------------------
/ Dragon Racing
Spark-Penske
Penske EV-2
/ #6 / Neel Jani
/ #7 / Jérôme d'Ambrosio
-----------------------------------------
/ Renault e.dams
Spark-Renault
Renault Z.E. 17
/ #8 / Nico Prost
/ #9 / Sébastien Buemi
-----------------------------------------
/ NIO Formula E Team
Spark-NIO
NextEV NIO Sport 003
/ #16 / Oliver Turvey
/ #68 / Luca Filippi
-----------------------------------------
/ Techeetah
Spark-Renault
Renault Z.E. 17
/ #18 / André Lotterer
/ #25 / Jean-Éric Vergne
-----------------------------------------
/ Mahindra Racing
Spark-Mahindra
Mahindra M4Electro
/ #19 / Felix Rosenqvist
/ #25 / Nick Heidfeld
-----------------------------------------
/ MS&AD Andretti Formula E
Spark-Andretti
Andretti ATEC-03
/ #27 / Kamui Kobayashi
/ #28 / António Félix da Costa
Round 1
02 DEC 2017 - Hong Kong
Round 2
03 DEC 2017 - Hong Kong
Round 3
13 JAN 2018 - Marrakesh, Morroco
Round 4
03 FEB 2018 - Santiago, Chile
Round 5
03 MAR 2018 - Mexico City, Mexico
Round 6
17 MAR 2018 - Sao Paulo, Brazil
Round 7
14 APR 2018 - Rome, Italy
Round 8
28 APR 2018 - Paris, France
Round 9
19 MAY 2018 - Berlin, Germany
Round 10
10 JUN 2018 - Zurich, Switzerland
Round 11
14 JUL 2018 - New York City, USA
Round 12
15 JUL 2018 - New York City, USA
Round 13
28 JUL 2018 - Montreal, Canada
Round 14
29 JUL 2018 - Montreal, Canada
------------------------------------------
Teams and Drivers:
The format is as follows:
Team name / Nationality
Manufacturer
Chassis
Nationality / Number / Driver
* The information is copied from Wikipedia after checking the official website
-----------------------------------------
Spark-Audi
Audi e-tron FE04
-----------------------------------------
DS Virgin
DSV-03
-----------------------------------------
Spark-Jaguar
Jaguar I-Type II
-----------------------------------------
Spark-Venturi
Venturi VM200-FE-03
-----------------------------------------
Spark-Penske
Penske EV-2
-----------------------------------------
Spark-Renault
Renault Z.E. 17
-----------------------------------------
Spark-NIO
NextEV NIO Sport 003
-----------------------------------------
Spark-Renault
Renault Z.E. 17
-----------------------------------------
Spark-Mahindra
Mahindra M4Electro
-----------------------------------------
Spark-Andretti
Andretti ATEC-03
Centurion
Apex Apex Predator
Besides spectating a Formula E race in London, I haven’t followed the sport much. Over the past year it has garnered more attention and participation from both manufacturer and racing driver unable to join F1. This next season I might watch a couple of races and hopefully be entertained.
How was the FE race in London as a spectating experience?
Centurion
Apex Apex Predator
First of all, the race took place in Battersea Park which was just 10-15min from where I lived at the time of the race in 2015. When I went to the Silverstone GP in 2014 I had to leave the house at 0730 and returned home at 2000 after enduring maddening traffic on the way home. Just from an accessibility point of view, FE is much more inclusive.
Because Batterpark is flat, spectating the race wasn't very memorable. Standing up against a fence and watching a car whizz past didn't spur much excitement within me, compared with sitting on a stand at Silverstone where you can follow a car from approaching, passing to drifting away in the distance.
The bottom line: F1 races are much more exciting to spectate, however if you live or visit a city during the weekend of a FE race, go watch it and soak up the atmosphere as it's very accessible.
That's kind of what I thought. I'm all about the venue, experience and atmosphere when it comes to motorsport - the fact is that as far as watching a race goes, seeing it live is frankly a pain in the ass compared to watching multiple video feeds, with commentary from the comfort of a sofa. I sense with an FE style venue, as far as the racing goes this is even more true, but as a location goes Battersea Park probably is far far better than a desolate, sparse, depressing old airfield. Also, as an amateur snapper, I detest crash fences, and from what I've seen on TV, getting a good angle of the action without a fence being in the way would be problematic at a venue like Battersea. FE no longer visits London anyway, but it is an event I would support at least once.
For the record, I think Silverstone is awful. It's my most visited circuit simply because it's local, but I hate it. I resent having to pay to go there and after doing the GP in '06 I vowed I'd never waste money on Formula 1 there again (which outside of the £10 ticket to watch at test days I've stuck to). Everything about Silverstone f#cks me off and if money was no issue I would visit Spa for every event that I'd currently watch at Silverstone.
M.N.D
Oversteer Expert
I randomly watched some live racing footage, but I didn't complete the race because I wasn't interested enough. The design of the tracks is plain, and the high buildings, fences, and some narrow roads make for some less than desirable footage. I'm not that familiar with the gimmicky fan boost and how it might affect the race, and the car swap is not much of problem for me at least for the time being, since the whole setup is more of a test bed for future implementations, so I won't complain about that until I become more familiar with the series.
The different thing about watching these tracks on TV compared to the standard, authentic race tracks across the world is that you cannot see much of the race. You are left with a small, claustrophobic angle to see the cars, unlike the race tracks where you have open space, plus we are already familiar with their chicanes, straights, and corners. Since when a manhole cover is considered a reference point in racing?
"They're going full throttle as Piquet Jr. is trying to go for a pass before reaching the square manhole turn!"*
What's good, however, is that I am somehow familiar with almost all drivers on the grid, which is good as you know who you're going to root for.
Anyway, I'll try to become more open minded, and try to follow this season from the beginning. Let's see if it'll be better this time around...
*This is fictional stuff, never happened
The different thing about watching these tracks on TV compared to the standard, authentic race tracks across the world is that you cannot see much of the race. You are left with a small, claustrophobic angle to see the cars, unlike the race tracks where you have open space, plus we are already familiar with their chicanes, straights, and corners. Since when a manhole cover is considered a reference point in racing?
"They're going full throttle as Piquet Jr. is trying to go for a pass before reaching the square manhole turn!"*
What's good, however, is that I am somehow familiar with almost all drivers on the grid, which is good as you know who you're going to root for.
Anyway, I'll try to become more open minded, and try to follow this season from the beginning. Let's see if it'll be better this time around...
*This is fictional stuff, never happened
A lot of temporary / street circuits have the same problem, if the racing that goes with it is good, it's not so much of a problem though.
M.N.D
Oversteer Expert
I agree. A good racing quality is what is needed to make any series worth watching, but for me, at least, a wide angle and some open space help to have a better view of what is going on.
Several discussions on motorsports-related websites mentioned that overtaking is abundant and the overall racing is good to watch, despite the dentist drill-like sound, which I don't think I have much of a problem with. I'll try to catch the race online tomorrow and will provide some feedback later.
M.N.D
Oversteer Expert
All right, so the first two races of the 4th season of Formula E in Hong Kong are over. Here are the full replays and the highlights
Race 1 / Full replay (Skip to 39:40 if you're interested to watch the race only)
Race 1 / Highlights:
Race 2 / Full Replay (Skip to 1:00:00 if you're interested to watch the race only)
Race 2 / Highlights:
Race 1 / Full replay (Skip to 39:40 if you're interested to watch the race only)
Race 1 / Highlights:
Race 2 / Full Replay (Skip to 1:00:00 if you're interested to watch the race only)
Race 2 / Highlights:
Thoughts after having just watched race one (youTube coverage is geo-blocked here, fortunately its on catch-up on one of our free TV stations, Channel 5)
Cars look faster not than I remember from earlier seasons.
Track width is clearly a problem, position after first lap seems to be a little bit of a lottery for the guys not on the front row, it does seem exceptionally easy to get caught up in an incident that you really have no room to avoid... the flipside of that is some pretty close frenetic opening action, which was captured well with the on-boards. It's poor planning though to have a combination of too slow a steering rack, too tight corners, further limited by monster curbs.. which caused some of that opening lap fiasco... and the Restart/Red Flag procedure took far too long.
Audi on Audi after the restart... lolz. Buemi vs Di Grassi... lolz
Short lap means the camera is constantly flitting back and forth, makes the action somewhat harder to follow. Really not sure if the track offers enough overtaking opportunities though, Heidfeld on Verne for half the race is good evidence of this. Narrow (for race tyres) rubber, with grooves, seems to make the cars move around quite a bit, which is good, it really all does combine to make it look like they're properly chucking the car around the circuit.
Sam Bird understeering into people in the pits is a bit of a shocker too, I'm really surprised they have them drive into the garages to do the car change, seems like a recipe for disaster... and there's people all over the place, that is not a tightly run pitlane.
Seems to me likely sensible strategy following good qually performance is the key, that and some blind faith overtakes.
Reasonable race.
Sam Bird is a midget... just sayin'.
Cars look faster not than I remember from earlier seasons.
Track width is clearly a problem, position after first lap seems to be a little bit of a lottery for the guys not on the front row, it does seem exceptionally easy to get caught up in an incident that you really have no room to avoid... the flipside of that is some pretty close frenetic opening action, which was captured well with the on-boards. It's poor planning though to have a combination of too slow a steering rack, too tight corners, further limited by monster curbs.. which caused some of that opening lap fiasco... and the Restart/Red Flag procedure took far too long.
Audi on Audi after the restart... lolz. Buemi vs Di Grassi... lolz
Short lap means the camera is constantly flitting back and forth, makes the action somewhat harder to follow. Really not sure if the track offers enough overtaking opportunities though, Heidfeld on Verne for half the race is good evidence of this. Narrow (for race tyres) rubber, with grooves, seems to make the cars move around quite a bit, which is good, it really all does combine to make it look like they're properly chucking the car around the circuit.
Sam Bird understeering into people in the pits is a bit of a shocker too, I'm really surprised they have them drive into the garages to do the car change, seems like a recipe for disaster... and there's people all over the place, that is not a tightly run pitlane.
Seems to me likely sensible strategy following good qually performance is the key, that and some blind faith overtakes.
Reasonable race.
Sam Bird is a midget... just sayin'.
M.N.D
Oversteer Expert
I promised that I would share my thoughts on the first two races as well, but decided to wait till I see other contributions, because I felt a series of successive posts by the same person seems a bit forced.
Anyway...
As this is my first time I watched a complete race of Formula E, it felt different from a usual motorsports event, so I understood that I should not compare it to other forms of racing. I'll discuss what I thought was good, then I'll mention what I didn't like.
The race itself was good with the level of fighting and overtaking, and it is nice to be familiar with almost everyone on the grid. Although the second race didn't have much of a fight for the first positions, the unpredictable off-the-track of Rosenqvist and Mortara gave me that "OH NO!" feeling. The first race was a bit more predictable after the restart, with some fights here and there.
I think I need more time to know who I'll be following and supporting, but for the current time, I'm happy for Sam Bird's win on the first race since I follow FIA WEC, and as a GT fan (and a Ferrari fan as well). Antonio Felix da Costa is another familiar name for me, and it's good to be considered as a BMW driver until they'll join officially next year.
Anyway, there are somethings that I didn't digest for the time being...
The track is characterless. It's an almost two straights with a square connecting them. The narrow roads are annoying, and the sidewalls still give me this claustrophobic feeling. I couldn't recognize the sectors of the track, which made understanding how the overtake occurred and where it happened difficult for me.
I have another problem. During the introduction of the track and the championship in general before the start of the race, the commentators talked about how the tracks are narrow and the corners are somehow "blind" which confuse the drivers and force them to make mistakes. Seriously? This is not bumper cars where it is fun to crash into each other!
And Why don't they show telemetry of the cars, or the lap times?
Fanboost seems unfair, although it didn't help any of the drivers who got the highest vote during both races. This is just the beginning of the season, so I won't give a personal opinion just yet. But it may force the drivers to be more of instagram stars. If Formula 1 has fanboost, Hamilton will get 98% of the votes every race
Car swapping is understandable due to the battery size, but I believe that it means there is no pit stop strategy, since the cars drain the battery charge at virtually the same time. However, I won't complain that much.
Maybe I'm complaining too much. The season has just begun, and we have more races to enable us to become more familiar with this sport, and the free online stream is nice to have.
It has been 5 days since I watched the race, so I can't remember everything. Next time I'll try to post my thoughts as soon as I finish the race to be more relevant.
Anyway...
As this is my first time I watched a complete race of Formula E, it felt different from a usual motorsports event, so I understood that I should not compare it to other forms of racing. I'll discuss what I thought was good, then I'll mention what I didn't like.
The race itself was good with the level of fighting and overtaking, and it is nice to be familiar with almost everyone on the grid. Although the second race didn't have much of a fight for the first positions, the unpredictable off-the-track of Rosenqvist and Mortara gave me that "OH NO!" feeling. The first race was a bit more predictable after the restart, with some fights here and there.
I think I need more time to know who I'll be following and supporting, but for the current time, I'm happy for Sam Bird's win on the first race since I follow FIA WEC, and as a GT fan (and a Ferrari fan as well). Antonio Felix da Costa is another familiar name for me, and it's good to be considered as a BMW driver until they'll join officially next year.
Anyway, there are somethings that I didn't digest for the time being...
The track is characterless. It's an almost two straights with a square connecting them. The narrow roads are annoying, and the sidewalls still give me this claustrophobic feeling. I couldn't recognize the sectors of the track, which made understanding how the overtake occurred and where it happened difficult for me.
I have another problem. During the introduction of the track and the championship in general before the start of the race, the commentators talked about how the tracks are narrow and the corners are somehow "blind" which confuse the drivers and force them to make mistakes. Seriously? This is not bumper cars where it is fun to crash into each other!
And Why don't they show telemetry of the cars, or the lap times?
Fanboost seems unfair, although it didn't help any of the drivers who got the highest vote during both races. This is just the beginning of the season, so I won't give a personal opinion just yet. But it may force the drivers to be more of instagram stars. If Formula 1 has fanboost, Hamilton will get 98% of the votes every race
Car swapping is understandable due to the battery size, but I believe that it means there is no pit stop strategy, since the cars drain the battery charge at virtually the same time. However, I won't complain that much.
Maybe I'm complaining too much. The season has just begun, and we have more races to enable us to become more familiar with this sport, and the free online stream is nice to have.
It has been 5 days since I watched the race, so I can't remember everything. Next time I'll try to post my thoughts as soon as I finish the race to be more relevant.
It's much more marginal, but the drivers can try and stretch out the charge for an additional lap or so, which can give them the benefit of being able to pit out in clean air or not.. but for next year they don't do the car change, so I'm not sure if stops will be done at all. The tyres don't seem to be an issue so it could be it'll just be a pure sprint race, that's not a bad thing.
Personally I'm not expecting big things this year, I just want to be familiar enough with it to enjoy it when we get the clash of the manufacturers next year!
M.N.D
Oversteer Expert
The second race of the 2017-2018 season, Moroccan E Prix is supposed to take place today. However, the YouTube channel doesn't show the live stream of the race which is supposed to be "ON" at the moment, so I suppose the organizers have stopped the live stream on the channel and they will upload the replay later. It seems that I'll wait for the replay to watch the race and share some thoughts.
This is my conclusion. If anyone knows better please share
This is my conclusion. If anyone knows better please share
The second race of the 2017-2018 season, Moroccan E Prix is supposed to take place today. However, the YouTube channel doesn't show the live stream of the race which is supposed to be "ON" at the moment, so I suppose the organizers have stopped the live stream on the channel and they will upload the replay later. It seems that I'll wait for the replay to watch the race and share some thoughts.
This is my conclusion. If anyone knows better please share
The YT stream doesn't work here anyway, so I'd be watching it on a national broadcaster stream. As it happens, I've not seen anything about it yet as I've been catching up on the Dubai 24 and the AsLMS
M.N.D
Oversteer Expert
I assume the Dubai 24 is the better offer.
Unfortunately I cannot watch anything at the moment as I'm a bit busy... I'll try to catch up later and share my thoughts afterwards. But it's strange to live stream the first two races only to cut it, so I'm guessing TV broadcasting stuff I guess.
Let's wait for them to upload the Moroccan E Prix replay.
