BRG, on 18 Jul 2019 - 18:39, said:
I know that you won't want to hear this, but it is important because it is a symptom of the massive ramping up of costs that come with selling the series' soul to the manufacturers. And that could well kill the series off as it has done in so many other motorsport areas.
I want to hear all opinions, even if I disagree with them. How else am I supposed to expand my thinking if I don't know what everyone else is thinking as well?
A spending war left unchecked could well kill the series, you are right. But then if you were to believe early criticisms of FE then it should have had such an explosion of costs as soon as the powertrains were opened up; a single manufacturer would have dominated and the series would have collapsed before it reached Season 5. As it stands we are heading into Season 6 with two new manufacturers joining and with every major manufacturer competing in Season 5 having won at least one ePrix, a win for a smaller independent in Venturi and three wins for a customer team in Envision Virgin. That's really quite far from the early doom and gloom predictions so it follows for me that something is going right... at least so far.
And what happens if the ’so far’ ceases to be and a some manufacturers are left behind, don’t like being at the back and leave? Well, we’ve seen a glimpse of what would happen already with Techeetah. The slot is taken by a private team with new backers, they knock on the door of whichever manufacturer has the best powertrain and buy it at a capped cost. That has helped Techeetah become the team to beat going into Season 6. Even after they tempted DS away from Envision, all Envision had to do was walk over to Audi and buy their powertrains. That worked out pretty well for them too. So I feel pretty confident that, even if we see a mass manufacturer exodus, there is a sensible system in place to protect privateer interest and prevent the death of the series.
In the meantime, a full field of well paid professional drivers (with the very best earning significant enough money) I think is a significant position to be in. Agag said at some point in the last year that it would be more desirable now for the series to raise its profile by making stars out of its drivers because being in Formula E makes them look like stars, rather than tempting star drivers over from other series. And I have to agree with that ambition if Formula E is to be a sustainable success in its own right. Having higher driver earnings and prize money is a part of achieving that goal, because drivers see it as a more prestigious, valid career option.
I think the unkown now is how well the cost capped supply rule prevents or slows down a sprialing of costs. Worst case we end up with a field of mostly privateers buying a dominant powertrain or two and the racing still happens with the very best, highly developed electric powertrains on offer. Best case is we carry on as we have been this last season, with a vast majority of teams and manufacturers able to take a win on their day.
Edited by Vielleicht, 18 July 2019 - 20:31.
) give him a chance with Haas in place of Grosjean or Magnussen. But I think he will stay for Mercedes in FE.
