Bicycles, Roombas, and Humility: What Formula E Has Taught Us Since Valencia
Copyright FIA Formula E
With Formula E having taken part in something of a rollercoaster ride since it journeyed to Valencia in April, it’s worth recapping the races in Valencia and Monaco, and discussing where the category stands after those two races. What can we learn, and what has Formula E taught us about itself from those two contrasting races?
Valencia E-Prix: a cautionary tale
With Formula E going to Puebla in Mexico for the next round, it’s important to look at what went wrong in the first race in Valencia, and why the weekend as a whole was a poor advert for the series, while also highlighting what positive upshots there were from a difficult weekend.
The first race was won, almost apologetically, by Nyck de Vries, after the majority of the field ran out of usable energy on the final lap of the wet race, or having to crawl to the finish. The reason for this occurring was because of there being five Safety Car deployments throughout an incident-packed race - far more than would normally be factored-in by teams. Behind the Safety Car, usable energy is subtracted each lap, to prevent the earlier scenario where drivers have enough energy to sprint to the finish with impunity after a green flag.
The fix implemented by the FIA since that race is to prevent usable energy from being manually reduced after the 40-minute point in a 45-minute race. This was a diplomatic compromise, with teams blaming the FIA for not using their discretion and allowing them to hold onto enough energy to complete the race, and the FIA after the race flatly telling media that teams should be able to plan for situations like these.
Jake Dennis wins in Valencia (copyright FIA Formula E)
Race two was won by BMW i.Andretti’s Jake Dennis for his debut Formula E victory, in a heartwarming end to the weekend. Dennis had taken advantage of a qualifying session which strongly disadvantaged the early groups, taking pole position and then leading away. While Dennis was followed closely by Alex Lynn in the Mahindra early-on, and Andre Lotterer in the Porsche sporadically it was notable that there was a limited amount of the usual daring manoeuvres we have come to expect from Formula E. Dennis led from lights to flag, for easily the best moment in his fledgling Formula E career.
Monaco E-Prix: showing Formula E at its best
Mitch Evans leads Dennis at Monaco (copyright FIA Formula E)
Formula E, then, came to Monaco with arguably the loudest conversation about its place in motorsport since the earliest days of the championship. It felt like, in a year when Formula E had reached World Championship status for the first time, it was advertising itself in entirely the wrong way. What was badly needed was a Monaco race which would beat all the previous ones, and take full advantage of the prestigious surroundings, while also demonstrating that Formula E could carve out its own niche and create a compelling show on a Formula One circuit.
This was the first time Formula E had come to Monaco to race on what was ostensibly the Formula One layout; prior to this event, the track had been a bowdlerised version without Casino Square, Mirabeau, Portier, or the Tunnel. The race we got, with Antonio Felix da Costa overtaking Mitch Evans in the closing stages of the race, out of the Tunnel and into the Nouvelle Chicane, showcased the best of both the venue and the category.
Robin Frijns through the Tunnel (copyright FIA Formula E)
The fierce three-way battle between da Costa, Evans, and Robin Frijns, with Evans pulling off an incredible double-pass on his way up the hill from Ste Devote to Casino Square, showed not only that Formula E belonged at Monaco, but that arguably it was better suited to the twisty street circuit than Formula One, which was to follow and which produced another Grand Prix marked by difficulty overtaking.
Formula E cars are considerably smaller than F1 cars, which were extended to the length and width of a family SUV in the 2017 rules package. Nelson Piquet senior commented that Monaco was like riding a bicycle in your living room; that was in an earlier era of F1, on a track that has only changed for safety reasons since. Formula E on the full Monaco circuit managed to humble F1 on this occasion, showing that any track can host a great spectacle in a race run with cars suited to it. It was the contrast of a bicycle in the living room, and a Roomba in the living room.
What can Formula E learn from the averted crisis?
Nico Müller in the Dragon-Penske at Monaco (copyright FIA Formula E)
The energy issue should not repeat thanks to the rules tweak, and yet with Formula E heading next to Puebla, another permanent circuit, as part of its rejigged calendar, there were other matters highlighted by the Valencia race which it will be interesting to see if the Mexican round repeats.
Permanent circuits do not suit Formula E aesthetically; the feeling of speed is far less on a wider track with run-off areas . The Ricardo Tormo Circuit was not designed with Formula E in mind and vice versa; Puebla, with its compact layout taking in part of an oval-style track, should offer more dramatic viewing angles, and corners more closely identifiable as those for which Formula E cars are usually set up.
The upshot
Comparing Valencia, Monaco, and Puebla is impossible because of the many differences between the circuits, and yet Formula E’s all-time low point being followed by possibly its all-time high point - a legendary race on one of the most legendary tracks - leaves the teams and race organisers with plenty of food for thought. The outcome of Puebla will help further establish if Formula E ought to focus solely on the city-street-circuit format it began with (a major challenge to maintain in a post-COVID world), or if it can, when called-upon to do so, produce something thrilling in a different kind of location.