With just three hours between qualifying and the race and the cars under parc fermé restrictions for much of that time, there’s little room to improve the car. “We can do limited work to the mechanical set-up, but a lot of the improvement comes from software,” says Techeetah team boss Mark Preston. “Software is huge in Formula E.” That’s clear from the phalanx of computers located at the back of the garage, where the engineers, mechanics and drivers devote much of their focus. Even when the teams are allowed to work on the cars, it’s limited: only 17 mechanics, each denoted with a special armband, are allowed to touch the cars. Everything is overseen by an eagle-eyed scrutineer stationed at the back of the pits.
With Formula E’s short, bumpy street circuits, the set-up focus on a race weekend is as much about driver comfort as it is about chasing lap times. “Drivability is key,” adds Chevaucher. “It’s about giving confidence to the drivers. Formula E circuits are very bumpy and the grip is changing all the time.”
The activity builds to a flurry as the green flag appears and the cars head to the start. There’s a manic intensity as VIPs flood the grid, but once it clears, a quiet intensity settles in. The garage fills for the race: as well as the mechanics, scrutineer and your Autocar interloper, DS boss Béatrice Foucher and Stellantis motorsport chief Jean-Marc Finot squeeze in to watch the race. Even so, with the lack of engine noise, the pits are surreally quiet, despite 24 cars readying for battle metres away on the other side of the pit wall.
“Go Jev. Have a good race, mate.” As the lights go out, the distinctive, purposeful whirr of 24 Formula E motors pierces the silence – but the loudest noise is the crunching of carbonfibre as the cars bump and bang into each other and the track walls.
Félix da Costa and Verge emerge from the first-lap chaos in 18th and 20th, and both are soon instructed to use their Attack Mode boost. To do that, they have to drive through a special zone on the circuit, after which they’re rewarded with extra power for eight minutes.
“Make the most of it,” Jev is instructed. But any chance of progress is soon ended after contact between other cars leaves the track strewn with carbonfibre.
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/overheard-london-autocar-listens-formula-es-uk-return
