Formula E drivers again met with the FIA at Shanghai this week, as growing disquiet over stewarding decisions and aspects of race direction in the all-electric world championship continue to become key talking points in the paddock.
Specifically, several decisions made at the Sanya EPrix last month have come under close scrutiny in recent weeks, including the consistency and application of penalties for some competitors during an often chaotic race.
Among the decisions that came in for particular criticism by drivers and teams was the five-second penalty decision that cost Antonio Felix da Costa a podium position. The Jaguar TCS Racing driver was penalised for moving under braking on the first lap of the re-started race at Turn 6, following a red flag period.
Formula E Notebook has learned that Pascal Wehrlein, Taylor Barnard, Nick Cassidy, Edoardo Mortara and Nico Mueller met with senior championship figures, including race director Hanaczewski, on Wednesday afternoon.
While the specific details of that meeting are unknown, it is understood that aspects of the Sanya decisions were reviewed, as well as ongoing dialogue between drivers and officials which has been enhanced since the infamous driver letter was delivered to FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem in March.
Reflecting on that and also the deeper topic of consistency in penalty decisions, da Costa told FEN that “we are working closely with the FIA and we have been working closer since Madrid, at how to look at incidents.
“They (the FIA) are including us in the process a bit more. But I’m not going to lie – I still want to see more consistency because some of these penalties are not fully understandable for us.”
Da Costa added that he was aware that ‘the stewards have an incredibly difficult job, especially in a race like Sanya when there are so many drivers having contact with each other’ but also said that “maybe they need more people” which is an opinion that has been raised by several other drivers recently in Formula E.
When pushed further on resources and what a possible solution could be, da Costa said that an insinuation that Formula E has parity with F1 so has adequate cover on incidents, was “not the same.”
“They (the FIA) tell us they have the same amount of people in F1, but in F1 you maybe have two or three accidents a race that the stewards need to look at, and sometimes we have two or three a lap,” said the Portuguese driver.
“We are not the same; we might need more stewards to make it fair. It’s a bit frustrating because we put everything on the line to fight for championships and sometimes things that are not in line with what we want to see.”
One of the contentious decisions at Sanya was the quick deployment of the red flag after a low-speed incident at Turn 9 halfway through the race. Race director Marek Hanacewski said that the decision to stop the race had been influenced by a need to check a wall after the accident, although many questioned that because a wall was not impacted in the incident.
Reigning Formula E world champion Oliver Rowland reckoned that “arguably it could have been a safety car” but also added that he was “met with a blocked track and lost eight places.”
“It could have been a safety car because it was not fair on the people that were met with a blocked track. But I guess race control didn’t know in the moment how many people would be able to get going again and if the track would stay blocked.
“On a short track like that, I don’t think they made a mistake there.”
