When Formula E came to the UK
We go behind the scenes of Formula E with the DS Techeetah team as electric racing returns to London
“On street circuits, we adapt to variables. Get an idea of where the grip is, then get on with it” ANTONIO FELIX DA COSTA 2019-2020 Champion
SEVEN seasons in, Formula E has become a fixture of motorsport, attracting manufacturers keen to bask in its green credentials, reach younger audiences and use it as a laboratory for electric technology.
On the surface, there are similarities to F1. Both use single-seater chassis and boast impressive driving talent backed by big-name brands; the differences start with where they race. While F1 has its mix of historic venues and state-of-the-art modern circuits, Formula E has a “take it to the people” mentality that sees it race on tight and twisty temporary tracks in big cities. Last month saw its pandemic-delayed return to London, on a world-first indoor and outdoor circuit in the ExCeL centre. There, Auto Express joined the DS Techeetah team for an inside look at just how a Formula E race weekend unfolds.
Free practice
THE first thing a traditional motorsport fan will notice about Formula E is its compressed timetable. Free practice, qualifying and the race – which take place across three days in F1 – are squeezed into one busy day. As a double-header, London was extra-intense, with the same schedule repeated Saturday and Sunday.
To up the pressure on teams, Formula E holds back detailed data on new circuits until days before the event, and London was a good example of how this can throw a curveball. DS Performance director Thomas Chevaucher is the man in charge of responding to those variables.
“The big question mark is how much grip the indoor section will have,” he says on Friday. And as soon as the team’s drivers (2018-19 champion Jean-Eric Vergne and 2019-20 champion Antonio Felix da Costa) hit the track, it’s clear that the squad’s “best guess” was wrong.
“In the simulator, we’d modelled low grip indoors, but when we got out, we realised it was high grip,” says da Costa. He’s unflustered, though: “Racing on street circuits, we’re ready to adapt to variables. My mentality is to get an idea of what grip is where, then get on with it. Once you go through the transition from indoor to outdoor two or three times, you understand where you have to account for a little slide; you get used to it.”
Once practice has concluded without incident, despite a sprinkling of rain, the tight schedule gives Chevaucher and his team little time to relax: “We download data from the cars, and the engineers and drivers discuss set-up changes,” he says. “At the same time, mechanics are checking the car and charging the battery. It takes about 45 minutes to charge fully, but for qualifying 70 per cent is enough. Then we cool the battery – the cooler the better for performance.”
As Chevaucher is explaining the process, the DS mechanics are scooping piles of dry ice into the cars’ intakes to cool the cells, briefly creating dramatic smoke in the cramped garage area. Time seems to speed up in the ultra-focused world of the paddock, and after just enough of a break for lunch, it’s time to set the grid.
Qualifying
THIS is where Formula E and Formula 1’s philosophies diverge. The latter is a brutal meritocracy: you design and build the quickest car, lap the circuit faster than anyone else in qualifying, then get to start in front of them and pull away. But despite its growing popularity, Formula E has only a fraction of F1’s audience; it also needs both the cold, hard entry fees, and the increased exposure that comes with having multiple manufacturers involved. For those reasons, it needs to put on a good show, as well as prevent any one team or driver from dominating in Hamilton-and-Mercedes fashion.
Everyone running the same chassis and battery is part of that, but Formula E’s unique qualifying