Formula E: Season Preview – All You Need To Know

As December rolls in this is the time of year where we motorsport fans were formerly left with a gaping hole in our lives, as all the series wrapped up for the winter and we would be forced out to be social on a weekend. However, for the past four years the FIA has very kindly provided us with a saviour in the form of the Formula E Championship.

Now I’m sure it wasn’t the primary goal of the FIA to spare us from spending time with friends and family during the festive period but, courtesy of what has consistently been one of the most exciting racing series to watch since it’s inauguration in 2014, Formula E has achieved just that. From chaotic mid-race car changes to drivers treating their machines like Touring Cars rather than open-wheeled racers, Formula E has been able to engage with an ever-growing audience throughout its first four seasons.

In Season Five though Formula E is being put through a real test as it receives its first set of major regulation changes. The cars have been completely redesigned with a brand-new chassis, Batman-esque body-kit and more powerful, longer lasting batteries which take away the need for the mid-race car changes.

What’s more we even have changes to the race format with each E-Prix to run for 45 minutes plus 1 lap and a new power boost system that drivers can utilise during the race. Originally it was being dubbed ‘Hyperboost’ but that name has been replaced with ‘Attack Mode’ which we will see in action for the first time on December 15th when Formula E rolls into Saudi Arabia.

This new system, which took me a bit of time to get my head round, will allow drivers to drive through a designated activation zone, that will be placed off-line to slow the cars down to give them an increase in power up from 200kw to 225kw. The number of uses and duration of this power increase will vary each weekend depending on the circuit.

To help fans who are watching the races know who is using the ‘Attack Mode’ there are LED’s built into the Halo that will change colour depending on which power mode is being run. It should be noted that this is not a replacement for the much disliked ‘Fanboost’ which is still in existence. This year ‘Fanboost’ can only be activated when a driver is already using the ‘Attack Mode’ and will see them boosted up to 250kw instead of 225kw.

On top of the new Gen2 cars we can look forward to seeing some high-profile drivers joining the Formula E grid. I am excited to see what Pascal Wehrlein and Stoffel Vandoorne can do with fresh starts away from Formula 1, Wehrlein a victim of the Mercedes junior programme and Vandoorne failing to impress over his two years alongside Fernando Alonso at McLaren. It is the other former F1 driver though that excites the largest group of fans, me included, and that is Felipe Massa, the man who was World Champion for all of 30 seconds in 2008. Massa is one of, if not the biggest name Formula E has had join its ranks so far.

Away from the former Formula 1 drivers you have current DTM Champion Gary Paffett who will partner Vandoorne at HWA, Formula 2 race winner Maximilian Günther and BMW racer Alexander Sims all making their debuts in the series. All these names will be hoping to make an immediate impression on the championship which has seen 4 champions in 4 years (Piquet Jr 14/15, Buemi 15/16, Di Grassi 16/17, Vergne 17/18). With all four champions still racing and looking to become the first ever 2x Formula E World Champion however, the new guys are in for a tough test.

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*Will be replaced by Felix Rosenqvist for the first race

The test in Valencia back in October was a great opportunity to see how teams and drivers would handle the new machines and give us a first glimpse of who might steal an early march on their rivals. Over one-lap it looked like the now fully-fledged BMW team and their drivers Alexander Sims and Antonio Felix Da Costa were the ones to watch as they took a clean sweep of all four days fastest times.

Unfortunately for their rivals the BMW’s weren’t much slower when it came to the race simulations, with Alexander Sims only being beaten on the run to the line by Lucas Di Grassi’s Audi due to a battery temperature issue during a test race the teams had requested during the time in Valencia. Di Grassi himself admitted that his Audi team had lost what was a comfortable pace advantage in season 4 and found themselves behind a couple of their rivals.

Thankfully we now don’t have long to wait until season 5 and a new dawn for Formula E gets underway. It is too early to say if all these changes will be good for the sport but on the face of things it’s all looking up.

For viewers in the UK there is the exciting news that on-top of being able to watch the races live on YouTube every single race will be broadcast on the BBC, though not on either of their main channels. However, as a fan of what Formula E has achieved so far, I thoroughly hope that this new-era will engage even more fans and continue to deliver what the series has done for four seasons; consistently exciting racing.