Analysing what the two rounds of Formula E in Valencia in 2021 this help understand about Formula E and what can be done to make the series better.
Valencia E – Prix, the first round of which was seen by many as one that would ruin the image of Formula E and is a bad look for Formula E and was a joke and so on and so forth. Well, it might have been a disaster and only some teams might be happy from the outcome but the two rounds (R5 and R6, and also the two laps at the end of R5) in Valencia did help learn a lot about the features of and what needs to be done to try and make Formula E better.
Firstly, with the track being a traditional racing circuit mainly used for Moto GP, it had long sweeping corners and was not as narrow as the street tracks and so, Formula E did some changes. Formula E requires tighter corners to help conserve energy and increase regen and to make the racing even more challenging, but what did the still wide circuit with long straights and lesser number of tight corners and chicanes than a general Formula E track provide was more overtaking, more racing and some very spectacular racing which made the race feel as if it had been set free.
But also important to understand that it was the tight and narrow corners that also helped bring out that kind of racing and overall as seen in Race 2, which also did provide a good number of overtakes to perform and witness, teams after understanding the circuit an the strategies to save their energy well properly and helped by lesser number of Yellow Flags and Safety Car periods, were able to successfully finish the race as well. Race 2, i.e. Round 6 of racing in Season 7 that took place in Valencia was a success.
Valencia provides us with what could be a perfect circuit for Formula E to also focus on. Such circuits provide new challenges and some freedom to these cars which can achieve higher speeds at such tracks which have good run – off areas and wide and long straight, and sweeping corners. Most Formula E tracks do not have all of these or so many characteristics together. Tracks like the one in New York are wide have some good length straights but all turns are very sharp. Tracks like Rome lack not only sweeping corners but are a little too narrow throughout.
Secondly, the Valencia circuit gave more room to the drivers to experiment. Alex Lynn, in Qualifying for Round 6, took his car to the extremes of the track limits and the drivers were able to use more kerbs which provided racing and driving that was more interesting as the prospective actions that a driver could do, were in a bigger range, making the racing not only about the speed of the car but also about the drivers understanding and intuition.
Then, since Formula E cars are not that aerodynamically heavy and hence, can stay very close to each other, Formula E provides good racing at almost all kinds of circuit and as seen on circuits like Rome and Berlin, it helps racing a lot lot more as more cars are going side by side, and drivers have the opportunity to overtake into a turn even at places like Monaco. Thanks to the design of the Valencia E – Prix circuit, this characteristic of Formula E shined even brighter due to two main factors: the first being that there is a huge wealth of run – off areas, which meant there were no red flags and it also allowed the drivers to be more ambitious with their moves, and secondly the progression and flow of the circuit. It started with wide and fast corners, and ended with a very tight chicane which was followed by the long start – finish straight, and hence gave ore dynamic racing as the drivers had to drive all kinds of sections – slow, fast, medium speed, tight, wide and narrow.
And finally, although drivers were disqualified for using up 100% of the energy, it was not 100% of the energy that the battery has, but 100% of the 52kWh energy that FIA allows as per its regulations for the race. And as FIA noted themselves, mot of the cars still had around 40% state-of-charge (SOC) remaining which meant that they could have done more than just a sprint finish of two laps. The low energy consumption limit, helps make it a big factor but the understanding that the cars actually have a lot more energy that they can use, opens a whole new space and regulation to explore.
So what does this help understand about Formula E and what can be done to make it better?
Firstly, when you see all 4 circuits race on in 2021, and the ones previously raced on as well, Valencia shows how Formula E is capable of racing at circuits that are permanent and how Formula E needs such circuits alongside circuits like Monaco, two extremes in a way to reach its true and magnificent potential. It also brings new challenges for teams and helps shake up the championship even further.
Secondly, how much more important the driving style is as compared to the cars and how Formula E races generally suffer from red flags is understood. Formula E is a series which can fit on tracks like Rome as well as Valencia, and tracks like Valencia help understand more about the drivers and help build a better future for them as well.
And finally, Formula E needs to revisit its regulations for energy usage, as it is a crucial aspect and makes the racing more challenging but what if the limits could be increased to allow for more extreme racing at high speeds, or what if it could be introduced as a challenge from another aspect as well – Changes and Volatility. Two way to do this could be: 1) Lesser reduction for Safety Car periods if Safety Car is out for more than a certain amount of total time through the race. Could this help maybe keep the race even more interesting till the end as it will mean lesser reduction if more time spent under Safety Car. This could also open a new point for the leader to consider about at the restart. 2) What if the energy consumption limit changed from round to round, depending on the track and maybe even be different for two races on the same track to provide different challenges and give a new life to the races. These areas can and should be looked at seriously by the FIA and Formula E.
All in all, there has been a lot more to takeaway from Valencia than just the final two laps of Round 5, i.e. the first race in Spain, especially when you compare that with what was seen at other tracks.
|ELECTRIC RACING HAS BEEN ELECTRICAL IN 2021|
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