Misano Formula E Notebook – Friday

Formula E will unveil the new Gen3Evo car on Thursday 25th April in Monaco. The new-look car will feature updated Hankook rubber, a different aerodynamic kit and an active spec front powertrain, as well as some other updates.
Formula E Notebook (FEN) understands that a version of the development car is on-site at Misano and will undertake some running for filming purposes at the circuit on Friday evening with safety car driver Bruno Correia completing a small number of laps.
Manufacturers have received an initial bodywork kit for fitting and some low-level testing is believed to have recently been undertaken. Further evaluations are set to take place in the coming weeks before race kits are sent to teams this summer/autumn to update their cars.
The free practice held for rookies took place on Friday afternoon with Taylor Barnard positing the best time for NEOM McLaren with the fastest lap of 1m18.762. Barnard’s time was 0.154s quicker than Robert Shwartzman in the DS Penske, while Zane Maloney’s Andretti Porsche was third, albeit 0.5s off the ultimate pace.
Jordan King’s Mahindra was brought back to the paddock on a flatbed recovery truck after a RESS issue which triggered a red light scenario. King was using Edoardo Mortara’s car for the 30-minute session, which was then made unavailable for the first practice session.
The 30-minute FP1 session witnessed a DS Penske 1-2 with Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske setting a best lap of 1m:17.546s and teammate Stoffel Vandoorne second Penske 0.197 behind. Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy was third on a best of 1m17.907.
Porsche Formula E rookie Matt Campbell told Formula E Notebook that his time at the wheel was important for data collection that race drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix da Costa will use for the Misano double header.
“Definitely a lot of learning to be had in the FP0 session, and then going onto the rest of the weekend going with Pascal and Antonio, so they’ll be definitely some things happening in FP0 so we can learn as much as possible for the remainder of the race weekend,” indicated Campbell.
“We’ve already outlined a few of those areas that we’ll be focusing on and I’m sure they’ll be some evolution throughout the session as well.
“It is a new track for all so compared to our sim the reality right now is at the track there are a few differences, which I’ll have to try and learn and feedback on as quickly as possible for the rest of the weekend. We’ve got our plan and we’ve just got to try and stick to it.”
New Envision Racing signing Paul Aron told FEN that despite the late nature of his Misano appearance he was gelling well with the Chinese owned, British based reigning champions as he gets set to make his all-electric debut at Berlin Tempelhof next month.
“Things have been quite last minute but I was able to get a day of sim running in before arriving here,” said the F2 racer.
“I think it was quite crucial to get some first experience with the team and with their Formula E sim because it is a very specific championship, it is a very specific car so any experience is useful and I think for the rookie test it’s nice I got at least one session of running,” concluded the Estonian.
Porsche powered cars are being considered as the favourites for the duo of Misano EPrix after proving to be largely the most efficient powertrain in races this season with some of the Porsches ending races with relatively large amounts of energy left. Being unable to make progress through the field after difficulty in qualifying sessions and getting stuck in traffic during races is believed to have masked the potency of the Porsche 99XElectric on occasions.
At Misano, which will see extreme energy management chess matches of races, the Porsches are expected to have the advantage over the opposition, although Porsche Formula E programme manager Florian Modlinger told FEN that track limits will be a feature of the racing this weekend.
“I think we need to improve a bit to get us to the top spots on the podium, but the powertrain and the car concept was competitive on all types of tracks, therefore we look forward to this track,” said Modlinger.
“This track is quite different, especially compared to the last two (Sao Paulo and Tokyo). This is a permanent racetrack and with all the modifications, track limits and how you can run the track limits will be a topic. Also, the energy management will take a more important role again than in the last races.”
Race director Scot Elkins has consulted with some teams and drivers about managing track limits. It is initially believed that the FIA will monitor corners with CCTV and have a simple two wheels over the kerb ethos on limits. It is believed that a degree of management with other methods could then come in to effect, particularly at the T8/9 chicane should they be warranted.
Andretti team principal Roger Griffiths has told FEN that there is some possibility of the Formula E team using aspects of the new Andretti facility in Silverstone instead of or in conjunction with its present workshops in nearby Banbury, UK.
The Andretti F1 personnel were working out of the Banbury facility for a short time before moving to Silverstone recently.
“I’ve had a couple of conversations with Nick Chester (formerly of Mercedes Benz EQ Formula E team) about if and when the Formula E team were to look at moving, this is the kind of facility that we would need or the amount of space that we need,” said Griffiths.
“It appears that is available for us in Silverstone but it’s not in our immediate future to be moving over there. I think that the F1 team needs to get established, they need for sure to get the entry, and then we can talk more seriously about what the next steps are. But It’s not something that I’m immediately worrying about.”
The Porsche and Andretti teams had an expensive Friday after the stewards handed out a €10.000 (5.000 € per car) fine for a breach of Article 3.3 of 2023/2024 FIA Formula E World Championship Technical Regulations.
This was detailed as an issue with “the (wiring) looms within the Manufacturer scope of supply (pin-out) was not declared with a minimum of 7 days between a request and presentation to scrutineering prior to a competition.” FEN understands that Porsche put the problems down to administrative errors on its part.
Tokyo EPrix winner Max Guenther believes that he and the Maserati MSG squad can sustain its current title threatening contention in the second phase of the world championship that will now see all bar one of the remaining six events be double-header rounds.
“I think it’s a possibility [to stay in contention for the championship to the end], probably six or eight other drivers with the same possibility as us, to fight for the championship,” Guenther told FEN.
“Already from last year you’ve seen how we turned last season around, second half of the year was already very strong and consistent as well, we were one of the best point scorers of the second half of the year and achieved good things already there.
“We had very different kinds of tracks from low grip, higher grip, slow tracks, fast tracks, a bit of everything and we were always there.
“This is what you need in Formula E, to constantly be in the top ten to score these points. It’s a result at the end of a lot of hard work and constant search for improvement,” concluded the Maserati MSG driver.
Ds Penske’s Phil Charles said that Misano could be the hardest race of the year on the spec Hankook tyres and may even see some graining, depending on the temperatures in the races.
“On a street circuit you’ve got lots of slow corners, the car wants to rotate but the tyres are having an easy life,” said Charles.
“This one here, you’re leaning into that tyres, making it scream all the way around those long corners. It’s also a very long lap, so lots of energy into the tyre during that lap and obviously when you go into the race repeated high speed corners over and over it’s really hard on the tyres.”
Mahindra’s Frederic Bertrand explained to FEN that he and his senior team chose Jordan King as Nyck de Vries’ replacement in Berlin next month because “he has a lot of mileage already in the car, in testing or in previous rookie tests so he has a bit of additional background and additional understanding about the car. We felt that it was something important for him to have.”
King got the nod over F2 driver Kush Maini largely due to his greater experience in driving the Gen3 car.
“We gave a little preference to experience in the car compared to lack of experience of Kush, but the difficulty of the decision was clear as Kush has a very strong momentum right now,” said Bertrand.
“So, it was also tempting to put him in the car and say, okay, let’s see what’s going on. On any side, it was not ideal because we would prefer to have Nyck in the car. But we went for experience instead of just the current momentum.
Former Audi Abt team principal Allan McNish will return to the Formula E paddock for the Berlin and Portland EPrix later this season as part of the official broadcasting team. McNish is currently working on Audi’s integration into F1 with the current Strike F1 Team.
Maserati MSG Racing has announced a multi-year technical partnership with Petronas Lubricants International in the FIA Formula E World Championship. The strategic collaboration will see Petronas become Maserati MSG Racing’s Official Fluid Solutions Partner from Season 10 and beyond.
FEN understands that Geely sports brand Lotus Cars will be evident in the Shanghai paddock next month with a major activation. Lotus has previously insinuated that it would be open to a future involvement in electric motorsport.
Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds went on a media fishing mission with the Financial Times last week declaring that the 12^th licence, the last available slot on the Formula E grid, was available for ‘between €20mn to €30mn’ according to the publication.
“When it’s gone, it’s gone, we can’t have a 13th team on the grid,” said Dodds.
A six-page feature looking back on Lucas di Grassi’s 22 season career in motorsport is available in this week’s Motorsport News. Written by FEN’s Sam Smith, it explores the Abt Cupra drivers career journey in detail. You can read the article here.