Electrify, sleep, electrify, sleep, repeat.
It’s a familiar tale with Formula E over the seasons. Epic title fights, colossally action-packed racing, partner announcements and electrifying positive vibes and then…..nothing. Too much sleep?
The notion that a world championship can be a seasonal entity is clearly a nonsense. Motorsport is a 24/7, 365 days a year business. Of course, downtime is needed and is vital. But the vibe needs to be consistent and as Gen3 snaps into Gen4 things have to change.
“100% agree with you by the way,” says Formula E CEO, Jeff Dodds, when asked if the tendency to hibernate a bit is counterproductive.
“I think what’s interesting is that we talk a lot in the business about people do have to recharge. And so, you run a seasonal business, which means your year comes to an end on Sunday (after the las race).
“I’m not going to lie to you. I will disappear on the early hours of Monday morning, and I will try and recharge my batteries in a hybrid state, which means nothing stops in my executive world, nothing stops. And actually, across my executive team, a few people will go straight in (to action) but actually a few have already holidayed and won’t go at the end.”
Human resources is an intricate subject. But the philosophy of work is what sometimes sets motorsport apart. Some of the teams that ended a long season last weekend went straight into preparations for private testing last week. Lots of team members will not get a proper holiday this year, more like working days off. Adaptability in motorsport is absolutely central because the engineers and software eggheads can manage multiple channels of their work all at once, but they can’t stop time for two weeks.
Formula has just less than 12 weeks until Jarama. That notionally quiet time has to be maximised and with it must come what Dodds often describes in a broad manner as ‘noise’. Formula E has to match the anticipation with amplification.
“Our plan between now and testing in November in Jarama, which is not very long, with the amount of work we’ve got to do to start building the promotion for Disney especially and there’ll be drivers announced, etc which will be busy,” states Dodds.
“There’s a lot of work still to do in announcing teams, potentially for the next generation and we’ll start a load of new campaigns.
“But I think you’re completely right. We have to move into Jarama for the first test almost feeling like it’s a continuation straight off the back of London. And that’s what we’re planning for. So, I have the same observation that you have.”
Daily news on Formula E is not hard to find. It’s a gift that keeps on shedding its glitzy wrapping paper. Drivers will be announced, new team set-ups will be revealed, and vibrant films of the Gen4 car will be tantalised again.
Yet, as Dodds suggests, perhaps the key aspects of the new Disney-ised frame of the picture is really what will begin to make a change in tone, pitch and buzz.
Or maybe, like Disney’s enormously successful ‘Frozen’ franchise, Formula E’s collective efforts will, like the icy heroine ‘Elsa’s, find the magic to positively make ice and snow and help create a new intriguing kingdom.
