Analysing and reviewing the final two races of the 2022 Formula E season that were held in Seoul and how the weather impacted them, and what the energy factor was.
It was the first race in Seoul but the final ones of the season and the Qualifying sessions for both of the races were interesting at the least. What ended with Vandoorne not winning a single race there but winning the championship was also what saw the end of an era. Sun, rain, sliding, crashing, attacking, defending and a lot of racing. It was all there in the Seoul E Prix 2022
An important note in both the races was that the 22 drivers on the grid were not all the usual. Sam Bird was replaced by Norman Nato in both races after an injury to Bird in London. Nato, although a former Formula E driver, and currently a reserve and test driver, is still an irregular driver and even though he kept good control of the car in both races failed to support his teammate in any driver but that is something that Evans and the team would not find new given that in 22, unlike in 21, the pairing hasn’t worked in coordination anyway. In the second race, Giovinazzi, who had another better quali in Race 1 was replaced by a debutant duye to certain issues.
R15 WEATHER DYNAMICS
The weather played quite a significant role in the ever Formula E race in Seoul, especially with it being volatile in the sense that the weather kept changing. That made the whole of the qualifying and the race very hard to drive in, something that helps the ones who are very good when it comes to feeling the conditions and creating the right setup. Something that was done a bit surprisingly but truly by Jaguar TCS Racing who understood the track and the conditions well at a new venue this time. Drivers reported witnessing very good traction on the Jaguar during the race which is evident from also the start that Evans got and the fact that he made no such mistake or slide in places others did.
The weather also introduces the aspect of not just having pace but being able to manage the to keep the car in control, something that Rowland was able to do better than the rest in the Qualifying. He took Pole Position but even more impressively, in what was worsening track conditions, he set laptimes better than all others in those duel sessions. He was again a bit wavy in the QF but then improved back.
Then the braking technology, the water on the track and the aggressive nature of the drivers lead to the turning chaos that had the race red flagged for a long long time. What happened about 2 minutes ago was that Evans took the lead with a much superior getaway. Several drivers just did weren’t able to turn and were binned into the wall as a result.
Even after the race restarted, the track condition wasn’t completely dry and drivers need to be precautious about it. There was a very apparent issue when it came to anticipating and then braking well with the aggression vs defence factor playing a role with drivers going into each other in the process. Sims crashed in the drying conditions which then saw the race finish under Safety Car conditions. In all, although there wasn’t a huge load of action, quite a big part of it was chaotic.
Mahindra Racing saw it’s complete 2023 driver line – up on the podium, Evans did what he could but Vandoorne also snuck up just high enough to need a devastating R16 to lose the championship.
MORE REFINED R16?
It was the 100th Formula E race. It was all dry. And that meant a racing order was seen that saw more of what was expected and analyzed even in the preview. A cleaner qualifying session that saw Da Costa whop took the first pole position in Gen2 take the last one as well. It was the last race atleast temporarily for a few years, where Mercedes would race in Formula E and Michelin tyres would be used.
The grid was set, heavily favouring a Vandoorne championship win. A much simpler start to the race and a much cleaner race overall filled with a couple of spectacular moves, especially the one for the lead by eventual race winner Mortara, who pushed and cleanly swept past Da Costa at a turn keeping it clean and rotating the car smoothly. That overtake also saw Dennis taking the advantage of a Da Costa on the outside, and following Mortara to P2 in the first 4 minutes itself.
Then, it was a strong hold on the lead in front while in the rest of the field, incidents were lesser and it was more individual retirements that did take place. The race continued with Evans trying to make places but Vandoorne successfully doing the same and eventually, getting a better result and ending the race and becoming a World Champion. Jaguar Racing admitted to simply not having being able to work their tyres in the dry conditions because of the nature of the track and the fast flowing sections.
The race had a much more expected result and at the same time had less number of incidents overall, but was it more refined or just a race that had less chaos because of no rain is something that can’t be as easily or definitely defined.
BOTH RACES HAD AN ENERGY CONNECTION
There was the factor of the winner in both races having a very good energy advantage over the others on the podium. Evans was comfortable on the energy part with Rowland not attacking him as much as he wanted to ensure he managed his energy targets and in Race 2, Mortara had a whole percent of energy remaining whereas the others in the Top 5 just crossed the line with close to 0.1 percent energy remaining. This isn’t the first time either of these cars have been so efficient on energy but in Seoul it was special feature given how outstanding it was in both the races for the two winners in the races.
spielens 