- FEN can reveal that the Valencia test ahead of the 2024-25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will take place over four days (three days of running and one media day) across the 5th and the 8th November.
- Cars are expected to then be shipped to the first race of Season 11. This could take place as early as the end of November or early December if plans for a race in Los Angeles come to fruition. However, it is believed that a third Sao Paulo EPrix could also open the season with a potential LA race then coming in December or January more or less back-to-back with Mexico City.
- FEN has uncovered that titanium skid plates were trialled at the Diriyah EPrix in January. The idea, which was originally mooted by Antonio Felix da Costa, did not have the expected results with a combination of the track resurfacing and the ride heights of the car combining for a lack of the anticipated spark showers.
- The plates have since been removed from the cars and are unlikely to be used again but could be implemented on to the Gen3Evo car which will be debuted in late summer during testing and then publicly from the early November pre-season test at Valencia.
- A special meeting has been convened in Sao Paulo today to discuss the Attack Charge plans and if they will be introduced midway through the 2024 season. It now appears increasingly unlikely that it will be used in races before the Berlin EPrixs in May.
- Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds told The Race website this week that all options are still open for if and when the boosting pit-stops will be utilised in 2024. The full article can be read HERE.
- Scot Elkins has been replaced as FIA Formula E Race Director for the Sao Paulo EPrix for personal reasons, with former incumbent of the position Oliver Grodowski taking over for one race only.
- Elkins, who will return to his position in Tokyo, has been an ever-present at Formula E race control since 2017. Grodowksi will be supported in Brazil by current ABB FIA Formula E Deputy Race Director Marek Hanaczewski.
- Sebastien Buemi’s survival cell has been changed after his accident in qualifying at the Diriyah EPrix last time out. The damage on his Spark/Dallara supplied monocoque was evaluated at last month and was repaired but will now be used as a spare by the Envision Racing team.
- The extra Misano free practice session that will take place next month for 11 rookie drivers is set to feature several new names to Formula E. Among these are Caio Collet for Nissan, Kush Maini for Mahindra and Tim Tramnitz for Abt Cupra.
- 19 year old Tramnitz could become the youngest ever Formula E driver if he is chosen to replace the Spa WEC committed Nico Mueller at Tempelhof. Nominated reserve Kelvin van der Linde is scheduled to drive for the Akkodis ASP Lexus team in Spa but is believed to have flexibility in his plans for that weekend.
- Collet, who finished seventh in last weekend’s St Petes Indy NXT opener, is on site in Sao Paulo this week and is being used as a reserve for some races in 2024 for both Nissan and NEOM McLaren. He will share those duties with NEOM McLaren reserve and development driver Taylor Barnard, who will be in Tokyo at the end of the month filling the role.
- FEN understands that other drivers in discussions for potential drives at the official Berlin Tempelhof test in May include current F2 racers Richard Verschoor and Paul Aron.
- Phil Charles and Vincent Gaillardot have both started their new roles at DS Penske and the FIA respectively recently. Charles attended February’s Formula E Teams and Manufacturers Association meeting in Munich and is on-site at Sao Paulo this week. Gaillardot is effectively taking over from former FIA Technical Manager, Alessandra Ciliberti, who joined the VISA Cash App F1 team in January.
- Charles will give his first interview since making the switch from Jaguar to The Race this afternoon in Sao Paulo. This can be read in full tomorrow at the-race.com
- Mahindra and Porsche tested between the Diriyah and Sao Paulo races with Jordan King and Antonio Felix da Costa/Pascal Wehrlein undertaking laps at the Calafat and Almeira circuits respectively.
- Two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato will be on-site at the Tokyo EPrix later this month. Sato, who started the first ever Formula E race at Beijing in September 2014 for the Amlin Aguri team, is a long-time friend of Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds, who worked with Sato at Honda between 2002 and 2007.
- Formula E executives visited the Chiang Mai area of Thailand this week to study the feasibility of holding an EPrix for the first time in the country, possibly as early as 2026.
- Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds met with Thai Prime Minister, Srettha Thavisin, recently to discuss possibilities. They were joined by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, leader of the ruling Pheu Thai Party and deputy chair of the National Soft Power Strategy Committee.
- Former Nissan engineer Baptiste Allain took up his new role at the Ferrari AF Corse WEC squad last month. Allain previously worked with Sebastien Buemi and Norman Nato at the French based Japanese entrant.
- Brazilian racing legends Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Massa and Emerson Fittipaldi will all be at the Sao Paulo EPrix this week.
- Nissan has announced the renewal of its deal with the sustainability aware Coral Eyewear company. The partnership will see Coral Eyewear supply its distinctive products, crafted using recycled plastic and plant-based materials, to all Nissan Formula E Team members throughout the 2023/24 campaign and beyond. In addition, the marque will release special edition Nissan Formula E Team sunglasses, decorated with team colours and logos, ahead of the inaugural Tokyo E-Prix at the end of March
- Leading independent Formula E news and features website The Race will broadcast a special podcast episode ahead of the Tokyo EPrix featuring key personnel from the Nissan Formula E Team as they ready for their first home race in the all-electric championship.
- You can listen to the latest episode featuring a preview of the Sao Paulo EPrix HERE.
Monaco Formula E Notebook – Post Race
Barnard’s Monaco heroics with Hughes’ seat, Daruvala transponder issues explained and Porsche’s Gen3Evo test are all discussed in the latest FE Notebook full of post-race paddock news from Monaco.
