Next Stop… Gen4 Testing!
Formula E Notebook has learned that this week’s Gen4 group manufacturer test at the Circuit Andalusia in Almería will include the first testing of the likely definitive high downforce bodywork package. The FIA and the suppliers to the majority of the car itself, Spark Technologies, elected to modify the high downforce kit from its original design. All of the manufacturers will receive the kit ahead of the test which begins on Tuesday.
Porsche will have Pascal Wehrlein on hand for the test, which will take place over Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of this week. His Porsche teammate Nico Mueller conducted all of the running at the first group test at Monteblanco in November.
Mueller told Formula E Notebook last week in Mexico that the Porsche Gen4 car was “not an evolution, it’s a revolution for this championship” and “it’s a pure joy to drive. I mean, the performance is impressive but it is very early days and we hope obviously to keep extracting more out of it.
“It’s going to change the way we race probably quite dramatically as well. It’s going to probably change some of the circuits we go to because the car just becomes very fast. It’s probably going to be tricky to race it on some of the tracks that we have been on.”
FEN can reveal that Sebastien Buemi will get his first taste of Gen4 power when he drives the Jaguar development car this week. He is expected to share the duties with test and reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne.
Buemi said in Mexico last week that regarding tracks the car could race on in Gen4 he would consider “if the car actually is too big now as it’s a lot wider, it’s a lot longer, so will it be too big to race on those tracks that we normally go? I’ve got to drive it and then, I guess once we’ve driven it, we will be able to say, ‘forget London, forget Tokyo, or no, maybe it’s still possible to go there.”
Nissan will have Benoit Treluyer on hand again at the test after the triple Le Mans winner was called up to do the initial runs at Monteblanco in November. Sam Bird will also be at the test and get his first running in the car, undertaking his first miles as a Nissan driver at Almería.
Mexico City EPrix Debrief
Nick Cassidy’s win for Citroën Racing was the second best result for a manufacturer in terms of races taken part in. A win in Citroën’s second Formula E race was impressive but is shaded by Sebastien Buemi winning the 2015 Beijing EPrix in Renault’s first ever race as a manufacturer back in October 2015. DS won its fourth ever race at Buenos Aires in 2016, Mercedes took 11 races to win, while Nissan took a first victory in its 12th race. Porsche took 29 races and Jaguar 31 EPrixs to hit the top step.
With victory, Cassidy also moved on to 12 EPrix wins, one more than his Citroën Racing teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, who unless he wins at Miami later this month will go three full years without a win in Formula E. Since Hyderabad in February 2023, 46 EPrixs have taken place, by far the longest winless period Vergne has had in the category since he began at Punta del Este in December 2014.
Edoardo Mortara’s second place was the Italo/Swiss’ second time on the Mexico City EPrix podium although the two performances were 2,530 days apart. Mortara finished third in the chaotic 2019 race in which Lucas di Grassi just beat Pascal Wehrlein on the finish line in Formula E’s most iconic race ending.
Porsche’s sixth and ninth place finishes for Pascal Wehrlein and Nico Mueller may not have been the results the previously dominant Mexico City performing manufacturer desired but the 100% points finishing record in two races means it is the first time ever the German manufacturer has performed such a feat.
Jaguar’s pointless start to the season is its worst start to a season since its inaugural campaign in 2016-17 season. However, at least then it did register three classifications in its first two races with Mitch Evans 17th in Marrakech in 2017, and Adam Carroll 12th and 14th at Hong Kong and Marrakech. So far this season, Mitch Evans’ 11th last Saturday is the only finish it has seen so far.
Blais of Glory
Citroën Racing Team Principal Cyril Blais praised both the Citroën Racing team and Nick Cassidy for the manner in which he won the French marque’s first ever EPrix in just its second attempt. The crux of the strategy was deciding to take a six-minute hit of 350kW Attack Mode power which cycled him up from a lowly position to the lead.
“We decided to react and go very aggressive and we took a first attack mode of six minutes, and then that pushed us to the front,” Blais told FEN.
“And then after that, we decided to really quickly take a second two-minute attack mode, knowing that we’ll have a two minute deficit compared to the guys behind. But doing that, they’ll be fighting each other.
“Honestly, we were fighting expecting P3 or P4, and then Nick’s pace on 300 when the other guys went 350 was just unbelievable. That’s also thanks to an amazing car and the engineers really nailed it. So that was the strategy that was well thought at the beginning, but also well executed during the race, being able to react to the way the race was going in the dynamic of the race.”
Bertrand on Mixed Mahindra Results
Mahindra boss Frederic Bertrand described Edoardo Mortara’s Mexico City EPrix as “a near-perfect weekend” in which he “executed the team’s instructions flawlessly, improved consistently throughout the event, and managed an almost perfect strategy.”
For Nyck de Vries, Bertrand said that the weekend “proved more challenging” with what he described as “fine margins in qualifying affected tyre preparation, resulting in a start from the back of the grid. Despite this, he delivered a strong and intelligent opening phase of the race, carefully managing energy and staying in contention.
“Unfortunately, a mechanical issue, likely linked to an interaction between the battery and the powertrain, forced him to retire.”
FEN understands that this triggered a red car status initially leading to the Full Course Yellow and then only Safety Car of the race.
James on Pointless Mexico
Jaguar TCS Racing team boss Ian James put a brave face on a second consecutive race without points in Mexico, saying that the Big Cat’s race “unfurled.”
James confirmed to FEN that da Costa’s DC/DC issue in the free practice two session which lost him an entire 40-minutes was a supplier issue, via the BrightLoop company that has the deal to supply the DC/DC component.
“That’s now been confirmed by the supplier as an issue with that particular component and that put Antonio on the back foot, not having any running whatsoever in FP2, but obviously his fast lap in quali was incredibly strong given the circumstances,” said James who travelled from and back to Saudi Arabia where the JLR Challenger entries are making their debut in the world’s most famous Rally Raid.
James added that the team had to “look at some of the things that are within our control, and I think it’s safe to say we’ve got to dive deep into the data to really get a good understanding of what we need to do going forward so that we can avoid this, this kind of outcome.
“But as always, I’ve got every faith in the team that we’ve got the right people on board to be able to do just that, and we’re looking forward to, hopefully, of addressing the balance back in in Miami,” he concluded.
Andretti Rues ‘Lost’ Podium
Andretti’s Mexico City EPrix initially looked nailed on for at least a podium position but a combination of a small mistake from Jake Dennis and over-consumption of energy rooted the 2023 champion to a fifth placed finish after he entered the last corner fourth, only to be overtaken by Taylor Barnard’s DS Penske on the finish line when his useable energy ran dry.
“I think we made the right decisions and drivers are always going to maybe have a different opinion,” said Griffiths.
“But all in all, I don’t think we did anything wrong in the execution of the race. Did we quite have the pace to take the battle to Nick (Cassidy)? I mean, certainly there was some robust defending from (Edoardo) Mortara on the front straight when Jake was in attack mode and trying to go past, and I think he moved more than once. But we needed to have got the job done. It doesn’t matter what the other drivers are doing, we needed to execute.”
Jake Dennis, who was compromised by Mortara’s power cut and then determined defending, told FEN that for “about 70% of the race, it looked like it was potentially ours to win. And then ultimately, when the pace picked up, we didn’t quite have the performance, and the only way I could try and keep up with the cars was to spend a lot of energy, and then we just had no energy left, and I had to basically get across the line.”
Felipe Drugovich took a lowkey and distant 15th position, his race compromised by missing the Attack Mode transponder loops, something which both Mitch Evans and Zane Maloney also did.
“When you miss it (transponders loops) you lose two spots, and then when you take it again, you lose another two spots,” said Griffiths on Drugovich’s error.
“He’d done well in the first time round, and got himself up into the points expected him to cycle through and maybe a P8 or P9 finish, ultimately. But not to be, another tough race for him, but he’s building up that database of knowledge and hopefully when we get to Miami, we can convert that into some point scoring.”
Maloney’s Misery
Lola Yamaha ABT had a disappointing second Mexico City EPrix with Lucas di Grassi starting 16th after his penalty for the Mortara collision in Sao Paulo and then finishing 13th. Teammate Zane Maloney was 14th on the grid and home a distant 16th.
“We just struggled a lot for efficiency as a team, so not much we could have really done,” Maloney told FEN. “I think we tried to go forward but I missed the attack mode loops, which wasn’t great, but we just struggled for pace.
“It’s as simple as that, so we need to obviously look through it as a team. But we struggled more this race than I think, any race so far. Last year we struggled a little bit. This year we struggled quite a lot, so the team are working hard I trust in them to turn things around for Miami.”
Next stop… Miami
Formula E now heads to the Miami Hard Rock Stadium road course, a race that Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds, told FEN could be a long term home for Formula E.
“It’s a great track and an amazing facility,” said Dodds. “I think it will be good racing, and it’s a premium facility, and it’s much closer to the centre of the city. So, we’re all excited and there’ll be a few announcements coming up this week about other things going on at that race, which will create a bit more of a vibe as well, and a bit more energy. I’m excited for it. I think it could be a long term, maybe one of many, a long term location for us in the U.S.”
Opel ‘Großer Käse’ in Mexico
Opel Motorsport chief Jörg Schrott was in Mexico City as a guest of Stellantis Motorsport. Schrott is overseeing the planned entry in to Formula E next season when Opel Motorsport is expected to make public its acquisition of a new licence effectively ensuring that 12 teams will be entered for the start of the Gen4 era. FEN understands that a possible unveiling of some or potentially all of the plans could take place at the Berlin EPrix in early May.
Dutch Master Joins FEO
Former head of NEOM McLaren Formula E team, Sjoerd van Wijk has joined Formula E Operations in a new role as Teams and Manufacturers Partnerships Director. Prior to his time at McLaren, van Wijk was with the Mercedes EQ squad as a Communications Manager.
Pod Alert!
The Race will be recording a Mexico City wrap-up this week discussing all the action from the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and the latest paddock news. You can access The Race’s Formula E podcast, which this season features a special section discussing stats collated by Infosys, HERE.
