Misano Formula E Notebook – Post Race

Jeff Dodds told Formula E Notebook on Sunday that an evaluation of the Misano event would be carried out soon and it would inform where Formula E would race in Italy in the future. There were modest crowds at the Misano EPrixs, which historically has always struggled to get large-scale attendances for anything other than Moto GP events.
Dodds admitted that a return to Rome or another Italian urban area is still on the agenda, saying “are we considering alternative venues in Rome or different setups in Rome? Yes, we are. But we’ve also got other conversations with other locations in Italy too.”
Dodds added that recently recruited Formula E Chief Revenue Officer Tiziana Di Gioia, was also playing in a part in suggestions for Formula E’s next Italian moves.
“Obviously she is Italian and worked for Ferrari and Juventus and she understands this market very well,” said Dodds. “She’s brought some of her own thoughts on the Italian market, which was quite helpful for me.”
“Everyone tells me that if we were here in Misano in two months’ time, there’d be another million people in the region. And that, from a fan point of view, would be easier for us to attract people to come and watch in the future.”
The possibility of Formula E racing in Thailand in 2025 or 2026 is believed to have taken a step closer in recent weeks. The northern Thai city of Chiang Mai is known to be a consideration for a future EPrix. The city is investing heavily in transforming itself in to both an eco and smart city, with major investment in electric public transportation over the coming years.
Sunday polesitter Jake Hughes described his erratic start to FEN where he made a stuttering getaway briefly losing the lead before re-capturing it into T1.
“Ideally you go into P2, but my start was that bad – and that wasn’t on purpose by the way – my start was that bad,” said the NEOM McLaren driver. “I had so much wheelspin that actually I would have been P4, P5, which was too far back. So I went, ‘ahh sod it I’ll go flat out and take the lead again’ because I thought that was the safest bet.”
“I was already P3 immediately, and then I was watching left and right and there were two guys and I was in the middle,” added Hughes. “I was like you can’t be in the middle, so I either stayed in the middle and lost another two places or go through the gap and take the lead again. So that’s what I did.”
Maserati MSG’s Maximilian Guenther’s post-race penalty on Sunday for hitting Jean-Eric Vergne and his consequent dropping out of the points means that there is now not one of the 22 drivers on the grid that have a 100% points scoring record this season.
Mitch Evans’ stoppage in Sunday’s race was caused by his DC/DC getting rattled over the kerbs stopping his use of the brake-by-wire which ultimately also shut down the powertrain. Evans re-started via a power cycle, but was not classified.
“I’m not sure on other teams, but in terms of the Jaguars I’ve had it three times,” Evans told FEN.
“Nick (Cassidy) didn’t have it, I’m not sure about the Envisions but I had it three times. Super random. I don’t know if it’s just how vicious the oscillations are on the kerb because it’s really vicious.”
Evans’ Jaguar TCS Racing teammate Nick Cassidy said that his Porsche rivals in Sunday’s race, Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis, were “just so much better than us in the corners.”
“I didn’t feel like I was that strong in the race,” said the Kiwi. “The Porsche was just next level, the Nissans were next level, the McLarens, the DS, I thought even the Abt Cupra was a bit better than us in the corners.
“When you add up how many cars and teams that is, then to walk away with a podium it’s probably one of our best races, but it’s frustrating too.”
Sacha Fenestraz told FEN that he feels he still has to “do a better job, especially in qualifying” despite a season best fifth place finish in Sunday’s Misano EPrix.
“I’m still missing a little bit. I think I did a step forward, but compared to Oliver I was much closer in qualifying. Of course, it’s fine margins on this type of track; half a tenth and I wasn’t through (to the duels).
“I still need to work on myself and put the whole weekend together, it’s very hard to do and that will only come with experience. I need to accept that a little bit that it will take a bit of time but that’s the target. This weekend it wasn’t achieved yet but it was close.”
Maserati MSG driver Jehan Daruvala scored his first Formula E points with a ninth place finish on Sunday but told FEN that he could have achieved more.
“It’s been difficult so far in the races, as well after I feel like we had good pace yesterday and today in qualifying,” said Daruvala.
“Yesterday we had an issue on the car and today I made too many mistakes so we could have been in the duels on both days. I feel like this result is rewarding. I’ll enjoy it while I can.”
Andretti’s Jake Dennis was one of the few drivers who admitted that he enjoys aspects of the pack-running in ultra-high-energy management races. He told FEN on Saturday evening that “there is obviously a limit but from my side I enjoyed it.
“If the fans enjoy it then that’s the main thing,” he said. “Us drivers, we’re here to put on a show ultimately and that’s what we’re doing. If the fans are enjoying it then that’s great, if they’re not then maybe we do something about it. From my understanding everyone (fans) seems to enjoy it.”
The majority of the drivers, though, had little good to say about this style of racing, particularly on Saturday’s race. Envision’s Robin Frijns even compared it to being in a circus.
“It’s like a circus and we’re the animals,” he told FEN.
“Honestly, once you broke your hand (as Frijns did in Mexico last year) you take some margin. Some people don’t, they just put the nose in, they push you on the sidepod and hope for the best. It’s not racing.”
Frijns’ miserable Misano weekend was summed up in his radio comms with engineer Ben Scott after being pinballed out of contention early on in Sunday’s race:
- RF: Yeah, f*** me man I got sandwiched. What a s*** race man. Honestly, what are we doing?
- BS: I guess you’re stuck, yeah? Just stay in the car and we’ll wait for the race director’s instructions.
- RF: I am done with this, honestly.
Former Mahindra team principal Dilbagh Gill made a return to the Formula E paddock on Saturday and paid a visit to his old team. Gill, who lives close by to the Misano World Circuit, is readying his all-electric single-seater series for a planned 2025 kick-off and is soon set to announce key suppliers and additional plans for the junior racing vehicle.
Formula Three driver Arvid Lindblad paid a visit to the Formula E paddock last weekend to support mentor and coach Oliver Rowland. The British driver currently sits fifth in the FIA F3 series after winning on his debut in Bahrain last month for Prema.
Current Visa Cash App RB F1 Team Principal, Laurent Mekies, was a curious visitor to the Misano EPrix on Saturday. The former Ferrari staffer was in attendance with Visa Cash App RB technical manager Alessandra Ciliberti who formerly worked for the FIA and was technically responsible for the current Gen3 cars.
FEN understands that Formula E has a new director communications in the shape of former McLaren and Extreme E media manager Charlotte Sefton. She will attend her first race in the role at the Berlin EPrix in May.
Maserati MSG’s Max Guenther will appear on the next episode of The Race’s Formula E podcast, which will be released on Wednesday. You can hear previous episodes here.