São Paulo Formula E Notebook – Friday

FEN has learned that manufacturers could get the first kits of the new for 2024-25 season Gen3Evo car at the end of this month. The new-look bodywork will be part of a new package that also includes an upgraded (active) front MGU and new spec Hankook rubber.
DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne was one of a handful of drivers, including Oliver Rowland, Mitch Evans and Pascal Wehrlein, that have already sampled some aspects of the new technical package in Mallorca last November.
Vergne told FEN that he believed “the tyres for Gen3Evo are actually quite a lot better and the car is more enjoyable (to drive).”
“The [Front MGU – FPK] felt good, very good. I feel very optimistic about the future of my team and the future of Formula E as well as the technical side of things and the pure driving thing.
“At the moment I don’t like driving this car, I think it’s clear for everybody – no one likes it, neither the look of it. I think Formula E has finally understood to give us a proper car to drive and it’s all going in the right direction.”
Some of the Ateiva provided FPK’s could start to be upgraded for testing purposes as early as after the Portland EPrix in June in order for manufacturers and teams to have them ready for pre-season testing which is likely to commence from August onwards.
The practicing opportunities for additional trialling of the Attack Charge charging equipment in free practice sessions at Sao Paulo has now become non-mandatory by the FIA. Teams are allowed one full charge in FP1 at their discretion and can also test in the build-up to the session, albeit only on one car per team.
FEN understands that the FIA is still targeting a debut of the Attack Charge devices at the Misano double-header in April. Further testing is scheduled at Tokyo later this month.
Reactions to that plan is largely negative with Envision Racing team boss Sylvain Filippi telling FEN at Sao Paulo yesterday “the last time we used it (in Mexico City), our charger ended up at the end of the pitlane, with people in hazmat suits looking at it!
“That’s not ideal and it came with a bit of a scare for my team. Then we still haven’t got to report on what happened to it, so…”
Andretti’s Roger Griffiths gave extra detail on the fallout from Jake Dennis losing two points in the second Riyadh race for being deemed to have overtaken under yellow flags.
“We got penalised for overtaking under yellow, because Mitch Evans went through the attack zone during the FCY,” Griffiths told FEN.
“So, we stayed on the racing line and he got penalty for it because he overtook because he went offline,” explained Griffiths.
“But my argument was ‘what we’re supposed to do?’ Actually, that could have been a really dangerous situation, if that had been old peloton of cars coming into it, and then suddenly somebody goes off and then comes back on, who knows.
“The stewards applied the regulations as per the letter of the law, but they also agreed it was a situation that needed revisiting.”
Abt Cupra team principal Thomas Biermeier is missing the Sao Paulo race after recent surgery on one of his knees. 2011 DTM champion Martin Tomcyk is the acting TP working alongside sporting manager Frederic Espinos in the senior team at Abt Cupra this week.
A manufacturers meeting took place on Tuesday 5^th March with one significant subject on the agenda being the ongoing dialogue between the promoters Formula E Operations, the FIA and the manufacturers and teams as regard to the Non-Recurring Engineering costs that will underpin the Gen4 era.
NEOM McLaren’s Ian James has told FEN that he believes the recent talks relating to the NRE costs have been “generally positive.”
But James caveated that with saying that he didn’t think that “we’ll ever get to a solution where everybody’s sort of shouting up from the rooftops and is super happy.
“But I’m absolutely confident that we’ll get to a solution that is workable, and that everybody can live with, and we’re pretty, pretty damn close to that now,” added James, who acts as chair of the Formula E Teams and Manufacturers Association.
Should Mahindra have to replace Toyota contracted Nyck de Vries for the Berlin EPrixs in May, the race will be between 2024 test and development drivers Jordan King and Kush Maini.
King is on-site here in Sao Paulo and does have more experience of the Mahindra Gen3 car than Maini, although the Indian F2 racer could do the Misano free practice for rookies ahead of Berlin in readiness of joining the grid.
If one of the two replaces de Vries it would leave Mahindra with needing a second rookie driver for the Berlin test on Monday 13^th May as one of the two would be invalidated as rookies if they race at Tempelhof.
Mahindra boss Frederic Bertrand told FEN in Sao Paulo on Thursday that “it’s definitely between those two (King and Maini).”
“There is no need to rush for us right now though,” added Bertrand.
“The need is more on understanding what is also good for those drivers. Kush is doing a super good F2 season so far and maybe he prefers to focus on that and not to lose too much energy.
“But on the other side he is really keen on learning. We would really like to have him in the team because he’s very curious and very motivated to learn.”
Jaguar’s Mitch Evans told FEN that he believes contact between drivers who are taking attack mode and re-joining the circuit needs a closer look by stewards.
“Not really, I would say,” was Evans’ response when asked if he viewed the incident with Vergne differently after the Riyadh weekend.
“You know, he’s openly said to me, that he was aiming to put me in the wall. We’ve had incidents where this has happened before. I remember in Puebla there was some bad accidents and I don’t know if there needs to be a kind of a slight look as at how that’s policed. But I was literally side by side with him.”
The ERT Formula E team has publicly expressed its desire to work with an OEM in Formula E after recent uncertainty about its position on the grid has permeated the paddock.
“As a manufacturer entry, our greatest chance for long-term value add, growth and success lies in our knowledge and intellectual property (IP),” said deputy team principal and chief operating officer Russell O’Hagan.
“Our clear ambition is to bring another OEM on board, enhancing our resources and potential while offering global performance branding and valuable track-to-road technical transfer in return.”
The first simulator runs on the new Tokyo EPrix circuit were completed last week with drivers expressing to FEN that the track will have some characteristics to the London EPrix venue in its tight sector one.
Sebastien Buemi told FEN in Sao Paulo that there was one noticeable ramp drop at one corner that he believes will be “quite spectacular to watch” during the event.
A new documentary called Formula E Flashback is being shown on several broadcasters including the TNT channels in the UK. The series features looks at formative early races in the championship’s history and features Sebastien Buemi, Jean-Eric Vergne, Lucas di Grassi, Alejandro Agag, Dario Franchitti and FEN’s Sam Smith sharing their memories of the first season in 2014-15.