Opinion: Matt Kew
Formula E’s Monaco lap times can’t hope to hold a candle to Formula 1. But for overtaking, for good racing, the electric series knocks F1 into a cocked hat
“The amount of show and amount of overtakes you have in Formula E is made for this track”
FIA president Jean Todt led the push for Formula E to use its own version of the full Monaco circuit to avoid lap-time comparisons with Formula 1 and, by extension, its support series. But late track changes put paid to that wish, with only a tightening of the Nouvelle Chicane to notably separate the two layouts. That seemingly left the all-electric heavyweights ready to be exposed to nascent mockery.
However, before a wheel had turned in the principality last weekend, those criticisms could have been batted off.
For the type of person who cared enough to keep an eagle eye on the stopwatch to poke fun was clearly already a dyed-inthe-wool motorsport fan. They well knew the 330bhp
Formula E cars – albeit quick in their own right – would be far slower than the grand prix thoroughbreds. They weren’t going to tread new ground.
Set aside the negativity for a moment to crunch numbers purely from a place of curiosity and fun, and in truth the batterypowered times were touring somewhere in no man’s land.
Antonio Felix da Costa landed pole with a 1m31.3s last weekend, a wholly unsurprising 21.2s shy of Lewis Hamilton’s 2019 qualifying record. The DS Techeetah circulated 10.6s slower than that year’s FIA Formula 2 polesitter and contemporary Formula E rival Nyck de Vries. When the
GP3 Series last visited Monaco in 2012, the Gt-bound Aaro Vainio topped the one-lap pace with a 1m28s. Da Costa would have missed pole in the dry Formula Renault Eurocup qualifying session in 2018 by just 0.2s. And to complete the set, the Portuguese lapped 3.6s quicker than triple Porsche Supercup champion Michael Ammermuller’s 2019 effort.
How about a more searching step back in time? Graham Hill, whose photo remains proudly above the bar in the famous Tip Top restaurant near Mirabeau, headed qualifying for the 1965 GP with a 1m32.5s effort. As the 1500cc era made way for three-litre upper capacity, Hill’s benchmark aboard the lipsticked BRM P261 was toppled by Jim Clark. The Lotus 33 pilot (with 2000cc) ran to pole the following year with a 1m29.9s. That puts da Costa in the middle by 1.2s to 1.4s in terms of the nearest lap times.
But his predecessors were faced with a more open Sainte Devote and a much less twisty final sector. Not to mention, the asphalt is now shiny smooth after annual resurfacing. There’s elevation and crests aplenty, but little in the way of the characteristic bumps and cracks of a more typical street circuit or even the Monaco of years gone by.
Six passes for the lead and 26 laps later, the Formula E paddock was avoiding comparisons with F1 once again. But in the eyes of 2016-17 champion Lucas di Grassi, that was only because the electric action had surpassed the normal grand prix offering.
The Audi driver, who started 17th and finished 10th, told Autosport:“on the bigger picture, Formula E racing here showed that the show we put on in a track like Monaco isn’t comparable. We cannot compare this race with F1 in terms of overtakes, fights. F1 is more of a procession.
“The cars are incredibly fast – they’re much faster, arguably even more difficult to drive. But the amount of show and amount of overtakes you have in Formula E; it’s just made for this track. I hope the Prince [Albert of Monaco] and the race organiser [Automobile Club de Monaco] and Formula E put us to race here every year because it was just amazing.”
He has a point. The F1 race in the principality receives its illustrious fanfare each year because of the setting, because of the history, not because of the on-track action – or lack thereof. Of the recent GP hits in Monaco – Daniel Ricciardo’s botched strategy handing Hamilton the win in 2016, Hamilton’s intermediate tyre-shod brilliance in 2008 and Olivier Panis’s unlikely heroics in 1996 – all could thank some kind of interference from rain as key to their tip-top entertainment.
Jaguar Racing driver Mitch Evans, completing the Formula E podium after late energy management strife, picked up di Grassi’s sentiment.“we’ve not been able to compare Formula E fairly to F1 or other categories that race on some of the tracks because we always race on very bespoke Formula E circuits,”he said.“i’m sure everyone wanted to compare the lap times, we know it’s way off F1 times. But the return you get is incredible racing. The main proving point of doing the longer [Monaco] layout was to show that on a track where the other categories really struggle to have good races. I’m glad it turned out the way [it did] and put a really positive light on the championship.”
In terms of speed, little to no new ground was uncovered by Formula E’s foray in Monaco. But where the spectacle is concerned, surely for those 45 minutes plus one lap of electric racing, even those who set out to throw jibes at the championship could appreciate the fine display delivered.