New to Formula E? What you need to know

Recently I've been getting into Formula E in a big way. I wanted to share with you some thoughts and facts.

First some basics. Formula E was established by the governing body of world motorsport – the FIA – to demonstrate the ability of electric car technology in motorsport. Obviously the cars don't have engines, they have batteries and are run on electric. The racing format has evolved over the years. Back in the day a driver would need two cars to finish a race due to the cars battery not being efficient enough to last the whole race. 2017 was the final season to see mid-race car swaps and from the 2018 season it's one car, one driver. Formula E is currently on season 7 which is 2020/21 and the penultimate year of the Gen2 era. Everyone is getting excited as the future of this sport is looking electric with manufacturers such as Nissan (who are the latest to commit) to the sport for the Gen3 era which was starts in Season 9 (2022/23). The race calendar for this season is still subject to change due to COVID but these are the agreed races as it currently stands.

Race 1 - Diriyah E-PRIX - Feb 26 - Watch this race.
Race 2 - Diriyah E-PRIX - Feb 27 - Watch this race.
Race 3 - Rome E-PRIX - Apr 10
Race 4 - Rome E-PRIX - Apr 11
Race 5 - Valencia E-PRIX - Apr 24
Race 6 - Valencia E-PRIX - Apr 25
Race 7 - Monaco E-PRIX - May 8
Race 8 - Marrakesh E-PRIX - May 22
Race 9 - Santiago E-PRIX - June 5
Race 10 - Santiago E-PRIX - June 6

The races don't happen on historical traditional circuits as you might expect when you tune into Formula 1. They happen in every day regular streets of a city. Back in 2015 you can see a photo below of the first Formula E event in Battersea Park, London that my friend took. 

The Rules & Regulations

Similar to Formula 1, you have practice, qualifying then the race - spread out over a race weekend.

Practice
There are two practice sessions. An initial 45-minute session followed by a further 30-minute session. This is the first time the teams and drivers will take to the track under timed conditions as they get a feel for the track and adapt to the car set-up. Although the timer is on, it doesn't count towards the qualifying positions or the final result.

Qualifying and Super Pole shoot-out
Qualifying determines the order in which the drivers will start the race, with the fastest driver lining-up on pole position and slowest at the back. The session lasts one hour and sees drivers divided into four groups of up to six cars, defined by their position in the championship. Once out, each driver has six minutes to set their best time, with the top-six drivers proceeding to the Super Pole shoot-out in a bid to secure Pole Position and an additional three points in the championship. During the Super Pole shoot-out, the drivers go out one-by-one, with the sixth fastest driver from the group stages going out first. This format can give some of the fastest drivers and cars out of (usual) position on the grid. For example in the 1st race this season in Diriyah, the circuit was quite green and not rubbered in that much. So the first group who went out for their qualifying laps (remember the 1st group consists of the top 6 drivers in the championship) set the slowest times, with each group after gradually setting faster times.

E-Prix (Race Day)
The E-Prix lasts for 45-minutes. Once the 45minutes are up and the leader has crossed the finish line, there's still one more lap to go until the race finishes. 

Introduced for the 2018/19 season was ATTACK MODE, which lets every driver pick up an extra hit of power. To fire up ATTACK MODE, drivers will need to arm their car, drive off the racing line, and through the Activation Zone. As a reward for taking a slower line through the corner, they’ll be able to collect an extra 35 kW of power. Drivers that secure the extra speed, can use it for a few laps when they want to race harder, giving them the edge in a defensive or attacking strategy.

On top of that, there's FANBOOST - your chance to impact the race. The five drivers who receive the highly-acclaimed FANBOOST – as voted for by you, the fans - are awarded a significant burst of power, which they can deploy in a five-second window during the second half of the race. You can vote to FANBOOST your favourite driver in the six days prior to, and leading up to 15 minutes into, each race. Click here to cast your vote. 

Fans can also vote on social media using a #hashtag - posting a #hashtag with the name of your chosen driver, along with #FANBOOST.

Why do they race on street circuits?

I personally love the street circuits. I'm a fan of the close contact, the distinctive front wings were specially implemented in 2016 to withstand wheel to wheel street circuit racing. FE (Formula E) has said for the last couple years that they will never run on GP circuits, they want to only run city centre tracks.

This is partly because the bigger circuits would be far from the city for people to buy tickets to watch and also the bigger circuits means higher top speed so means more energy consumption. They need a lot of braking to recharge batteries, and many circuits with long straights will have them at top speed for almost half the straight and, losing a lot of energy.

How about the sound? 

This has been a bug bear of many of my friends and indeed Formula E fans that they struggle to make the transition from Formula 1 to Formula E. Yes the Formula E cars don't have that grunt and emphatic engine-roar synonymous with F1 engines. 

They have been likened to high pitched Tie Fighters (see every Star Wars film). Others envisage the bicycle races of Tron. There is no doubt there is a little disconnect. However, I've become fascinated in the sport as an evolution of electrical engineering. As a chess game. And you get to enjoy elements of the city much more than just the inside of a racing stadium. As one of the fastest growing car racing sports, Formula E has earned itself world championship status for its 2020/21. It made 200 millions euros in 2019 and it's certainly a sport that will capture a wider audience once more people become familiar with the platform.