FIA - Formula E

[Kaan]

So I was bored yesterday watching paint dry... really. So I came back inside, tossed on channel 5 to see what NFC football game was on and there was Formula E. I'm not a hippy but I thought I'd see what this "new" racing is all about.

-Electric F1ish cars (they need two of them to complete the 31 lap race)
-Mandatory pit stop to change cars, minimum time is designated to "ensure no accidents"
-Fan "boost" for more power
-Drivers control their own regen/output in the car
-Michelin tires... they look like shaved street tires to me.
-Practice, Qualifying, and Racing... all in the same day

It started off with a lot of banging. Some people were messing with their regens while driving... you would have thought they worked that out during the practice/qualifying? The cars they are using are pretty fragile in general so any touching causes real issues.

I saw the fan boost being used and it didn't seem to help this driver that much, but then later on I saw it used and it was flying past people. I'm also not sure if the boost hurts your limited battery or do they just give you a little extra.

Overall it was pretty entertaining to watch once I got past the lap 2 caution. Its obvious the technology isn't there right now or one car would make the 31 laps... but they are doing 140+ on the straights so they are getting there.

[Kaan]

here is a pretty good basic article on it.

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